PASQUINO DA MONTEPULCIANO
Italian sculptor and bronze caster. His date of birth is calculated from the catasto (land registry declaration) returns of 1457 and 1480 (that of 1470 erroneously implies that he was born in 1428). In August 1435 he matriculated into the Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e di Legname. In 1445 he collaborated with Antonio Filarete on the bronze doors of St Peter’s, Rome; Filarete stated in his Trattato d’architettura that he trained Pasquino. From 1449 Pasquino was working as Maso di Bartolommeo’s assistant, and on behalf of his master he completed the portal of San Domenico, Urbino, from 1450 to 1454.
On 12 June 1453 he was elected choirmaster to the clerics of Florence Cathedral. In 1460 he began working on the bronze screen and gates of the chapel of the Sacro Cingolo in Prato Cathedral, a commission originally given to Maso di Bartolommeo and then to Antonio di ser Cola. Maso was responsible for the overall design, and both he and Antonio di ser Cola executed some of the delicate, openwork screen; Pasquino may have been responsible for the classicizing acanthus-leaf frieze. On 25 April 1461 Pasquino undertook to complete the work within three years. However, in 1467 the decorative frieze of candelabra and palmettes was being put into place, and the gates were finished only in 1468 or even later.
