Short answers, pulled from the story.
Nicola Pisano was an Italian sculptor born around 1220-1225 in Apulia who is sometimes considered the founder of modern sculpture. His work synthesized classical Roman sculptural style with Gothic and Christian traditions, and surveys of Italian Renaissance art often date the new era from 1260, the year he signed the Pisa Baptistry pulpit.
The pulpit at the Pisa Baptistry, completed and signed in 1260, is considered one of his masterworks. His pulpit for Siena Cathedral, sculpted between the end of 1265 and November 1268, is described as his masterpiece. Both are made of Carrara marble and depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Last Judgment.
Nicola Pisano was probably trained in the imperial workshops of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in Apulia. He was also deeply influenced by the Roman sarcophagi he studied in the Camposanto in Pisa, including the Phaedra sarcophagus and one depicting Meleager hunting the Calydonian Boar.
His major collaborators included his son Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, and Lapo di Ricevuto. Arnolfo di Cambio, born around 1250, is considered the truest inheritor of Nicola's classical style. Giovanni Pisano, by contrast, moved toward French Gothic expressionism.
The Shrine of Saint Dominic is located in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna. Nicola worked on it in 1264, and was responsible for the design, though his hands-on contribution was probably minimal. The shrine took close to five centuries to complete, with later contributions from Arnolfo di Cambio, Niccolò dell'Arca, the young Michelangelo, and others.
Nicola Pisano's last major commission was the relief panels on the Fontana Maggiore, the Great Fountain in Perugia, completed between 1277 and 1278. The fountain was designed by Fra Bevignate and Boninsegna and features three superposed basins. Most of the actual carving was executed by his son Giovanni Pisano and assistants.