BUGGIANO
(b. 1412, Borgo a Buggiano, Pistoia, d. 1461, Firenze)

Pulpit

1443-52
Marble
Santa Maria Novella, Florence

In 1443 Buggiano had begun to carve a circular marble pulpit for the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, based on a model by Brunelleschi and financed by the monk Andrea Rucellai. The pulpit, with its richly carved mouldings, betrays an element of ingenuity and repetition in the four panels depicting scenes of the Life of the Virgin; the work was completed in 1452, after much delay, and was assembled and evaluated by Antonio Rossellino and Desiderio da Settignano.