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There is documentary evidence to show that the hereditary names were employed among the patricians of the Republic of Venice in the tenth and eleventh century. As among the Romans, where a gens-name, derived from the founder of the family tree was added to the praenomen, or first name applied to an early ancestor. This name was itself derived from a number of very diverse sources. The italian surname Pisani is of toponymic origin. Toponymic names are those surnames which derive their origin from a particular place name near which the original bearer resided or held land.  Pisa was probably founded by Greek colonists, but before it came under Roman control it was in the hands of the Etruscans (3rd and 4th centuries BC), who it seems, gave it its name - although the placename is of obscure meaning. The earliest record of the name PISANI dates to 905, when the PISANI family of Pisa, who were Counts, moved to Venice. Other branches of the family are recorded in Milan, Pavia, Bologna, Sicily and Naples. As happened with most Italian surnames, there are numerous variations of the name due to major changes in the language and local spellings. Variations include Pisa, Pisari, Pisano, Pisani, Pisanello and others. One of the most influential members of the Pisa branch of the family, was Nicola PISANO, who was born in 1200. He was a famous marble sculptor and one of his outstanding works is the Baptistery in Pisa. His son Giovanni, sculptor and architect, worked with his father on the pulpit of the Siena Cathedral. Another notable bearer of the surname Pisani was one Antonio Pisano, known in history as Pisanello. He was born circa 1830 in San Visilio near Verona, and he was a renowned painter and medalist. Of his two frescoes, only two survive - St. George mounting his horse and The Miraculous Stag appearing to St. Eustace. His medals considerd the first struck in the IV century represent his many patrons as well as John Palaeologus, emperor of the Byzantium. The arms were granted to the Pisani family of Gaude, Sicily. |