Biography

Nicola [Niccolò] di Bartolomeo da Foggia, Italian sculptor. His name occurs in an inscription on the pulpit of Ravello Cathedral, dated 1272: EGO MAGISTER NICOLAUS DE BARTHOLOMEO DE FOGIA MARMORARIUS HOC OPUS FECI. He is presumed to be the son of 'protomagister' Bartolomeo da Foggia, whom Frederick II commissioned in 1223 to build the royal palace in Foggia. Nicola probably trained in his father's workshop, and he may have carved the crypt capitals of Foggia Cathedral in the 1230s. The pulpit in Ravello Cathedral is his only signed and dated work.

In 1275 he worked in the Fortress of Lucera with Pierre de Chaulnes, a French architect. His recognized skills as an artist subsequently led Charles I of Anjou to request him to work on the sculptures of the Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria di Realvalle, under construction near Scafati. Both monuments fell into disrepair and unfortunately it was not possible to recover concrete evidence of his work as a sculptor.

Other sculptures sometimes attributed to Nicola are a crowned female bust from Scala, the capital of the Paschal candlestick in Santa Maria di Bominaco and some of the sculpture at Lucera Museum, Lagopesole and Castel del Monte. French Gothic influence is evident in the crocket capitals, and Classical influence in the figure sculpture, particularly the female bust. Both of these characteristics are derived from workshops active in Apulia and Campania under Frederick II. A relationship has also been suggested with the work of Nicola Pisano.