Giuliano da Maiano

He was born in the village of Maiano, near Fiesole, where his father was a stone-cutter who moved his family and business to Florence, where, according to Vasari, he operated a stonemason's yard, providing mouldings and carved stone detail for construction.

Giuliano showed early promise, and his father hoped at first to make of him a notary, but his talent for sculpture and design won out.

In 1480 he finished a tabernacle of the Madonna dell'Olivo for the Cathedral of Prato, executed in collaboration with his brothers Benedetto and Giovanni.

The Badia of Fiesole influenced the design of the Brunellesque church of Santa Maria del Sasso, outside Bibbiena, built in 1486-87,[2] where documents show craftsmen were presenting their bills to Giuliano for countersigning.

[4] Giuliano also erected the marble Porta Capuana closely flanked by the cylindrical towers of the Castello; it takes the form of a triumphal arch with Corinthian columns and an elaborate sculptural program; in the Sala Grande of the Castello he carved bas-reliefs above the doors, within and without (Vasari).