Madonna med Barnet

1415

A trip to Venice: glass, mosaic, terracotta

In 1415, together with Niccolò Lamberti and Bernardo Ciuffagni, he travels to Venice, where he becomes acquainted with work in glass, mosaic and terracotta.

1421

In Donatello's workshop: friendship with Brunelleschi

After Nanni di Banco's death in 1421 he moves to Donatello's workshop, falls strongly under his influence and befriends the architect Filippo Brunelleschi. In the 1420s Brunelleschi uses him for the sculptural decoration of his buildings.

1 September 1432

Joins the guild of stone and wood masters

On 1 September 1432 he joins the Guild of Stone and Wood Masters (Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname) and becomes a full-fledged sculptor; the commission for the cantoria had come before this.

early 1440s

Develops the technique of glazed terracotta

In the early 1440s he develops his technique of colored glazed terracotta and from then on works mainly in it, while remaining a leading sculptor in stone. He is traditionally credited with inventing the opaque white tin glaze, although by other accounts the technology took shape gradually through the efforts of different masters.

1471

Elected head of the sculptors' guild, he declines

In 1471 he is elected president of the Florentine Guild of Sculptors but refuses on account of his age and infirmity; the election itself shows the very high esteem in which his contemporaries held him.

10 February 1482

Died