Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...

Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

Quercegrossa Quercegrossa is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a ''frazione'' of the ''comuni'' of Castelnuovo Berardenga and Monteriggioni, province of Siena.Siena, Tuscany, where he was born in 1374. He received his early training from his father, Piero d'Angelo, a woodcarver and goldsmith. Jacopo della Quercia, a Sienese, must have seen the works of

Nicola Pisano Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...

and

Arnolfo di Cambio Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240 – 1300/1310) was an Italian architect and sculptor. He designed Florence Cathedral and the sixth city wall around Florence (1284–1333), while his most important surviving work as a sculptor is the tomb of Cardin ...

on the pulpit in the cathedral of Siena and this must have influenced him. His first work may have been at the age of sixteen, an equestrian wooden statue for the funeral of Azzo Ubaldini. In 1386 he and his father moved to

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

, owing to party strife and disturbances. It is likely that della Quercia studied the huge collection of Roman sculptures and sarcophagi in the

Camposanto Camposanto ( Modenese: ; Mirandolese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northeast of Modena on the Panaro river. Although the name in ...

in Pisa. These and later influences made him a transitional figure in the history of European art; his work shows a pronounced mid-career shift from the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

to that of the Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

. As in the case of

Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

, this development probably results from exposure to his contemporary,

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

. Della Quercia's earliest work (though this attribution is sometimes contested) appears in the Lucca cathedral: ''Man of Sorrows'' (Altar of the Sacrament) and a relief on the tomb of ''St. Aniello''. In 1401 he entered a competition to design the bronze doors for

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

's

Baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

, but lost to Ghiberti. The unsuccessful entry's whereabouts are unknown. In 1403 he sculpted the marble ''Virgin and Child'' for the

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

cathedral. Another (possible) work from his period in Ferrara is the statuette of ''St. Maurelius'' (both on in display in the Museo del Duomo). Back again in Lucca in 1406, he received the commission from the city's ruler,

Paolo Guinigi Paolo Guinigi (c. 1372 - 1432) was a lord of Lucca from 1400 until 1430. Biography Paolo was born in Lucca in 1372. He was the youngest son of Francesco Guinigi, member of one of the most outstanding families of Lucca. He was sent to London in 13 ...

, to begin work at the tomb of his second wife

Ilaria del Carretto Ilaria del Carretto (1379 – 8 December 1405) was an Italian noblewoman and the second wife of Paolo Guinigi, the lord of Lucca from 1400 to 1430. Biography Ilaria del Carretto was born in Zuccarello, the daughter of Carlo, the Marchese del C ...

in the

Lucca cathedral Lucca Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Lucca, Cattedrale di San Martino) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours in Lucca, Italy. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca. Construction was begun in 1063 by Bishop Anselm (later P ...

. The richly dressed woman rests on top of the

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

, delicately portrayed in a Gothic fashion, with her dog, a symbol of conjugate fidelity, at her feet. But his use of several nude

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

at the flanks of the tomb clearly shows the classical influence of the Roman sarcophagi at Camposanto (Pisa). This is a first, a harbinger of the incipient Renaissance.

Fonte Gaia in Siena

In 1406 he was asked to build a new fountain in the Piazza del Campo in Siena. It had to replace the original fountain with a statue of the goddess Venus. This pagan statue was blamed for an outbreak of the Black Plague. The statue was destroyed and buried outside the city walls to avert its "evil influence". This prestigious commission shows that he was already being recognized as Siena's most prominent sculptor. The rectangular fountain, built in white marble, was dedicated to the Virgin, adorned on the three sides by many statues and multiple spouts. Because he accepted also other commissions at the same time, progress was slow. He started in 1414 and the fountain was only finished in 1419. He carved the panels in the workshop for sculptors, next to the cathedral. This workshop is now converted into the Cathedral Museum. It was called ''Fonte Gaia'', because of the joy and the festivities when it was brought into operation. It is now a centre of attraction for many tourists. The old statues were replaced by copies in 1858 from

Tito Sarrocchi Tito Sarrocchi (5 January 1824 – 1900) was an Italian sculptor. Biography Sarrocchi was born at Siena to a humble family, as a boy was orphaned of mother. He had to help support his two sisters and his father, who had become nearly blind. At ...

and are now on display in the lower levels at

Santa Maria della Scala Santa Maria della Scala (English: Mary of the Staircase) is a titular church in Rome, Italy, located in the Trastevere rione. Cardinal Ernest Simoni took possession of the titular church on 11 February 2017. Santa Maria della Scala is a titular ...

.

Other works

In 1412, contracted by a wealthy merchant Lorenzo Trenta, he started the design of the Trenta Chapel in the

basilica of San Frediano The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque architecture, Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the ''Piazza San Frediano''. History Fridianus (Frediano) was an Irish bishop of Lucca in the first half of the 6th century. He had a c ...

in Lucca. In 1413 he was accused, together with his assistant

Giovanni da Imola Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

, of serious crimes: theft, as well as rape and sodomy of one Clara Sembrini. He fled to Siena (and began working on the Fonte Gaia), but his assistant was incarcerated for three years. Jacopo della Quercia only would return to Lucca in March 1416, given a letter of safe conduct. He continued at the Trenta Chapel on the marble altar and several statues of saints, contained in niches. Some work was also performed by his assistant. Jacopo also designed the tomb slabs of Lorenzo Trenta and his wife Isabetta Onesti, on the pavement in front of the altar. When in 1416

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

was asked to design a hexagonal basin with bronze panel for the Baptistery in Siena, political infighting brought Jacopo della Quercia into the project (who had been his competitor for the bronze doors in Florence). He only completed one bronze relief ''The Annunciation to Zacharias'' because he was working at the same time on the Fonte Gaia and the Trenta Chapel. His lingering on this project brought him in legal difficulties with the authorities. Since he had been rejected in the competition for the "Doors of Paradise" in Florence, he had been reluctant to work with bronze. And when he worked on the tabernacle of the baptistery, he insisted on taking care only of the marble part. In 1421 he carved an ''Annunciation'', in a different style, with two wooden polychromed statues ''Virgin'' and ''Gabriel'' for the Collegiata in San Gimignano (the polychrome finishing was done by other masters, such as

Martino di Bartolomeo Martino di Bartolomeo or Martino di Bartolomeo di Biago was an Italian painter and manuscript illuminator active between 1389 and 1434. He was one of his generation's principal painters of the Sienese School. From specific aspects of his early ...

). The sophistication of this group, equal to the quality of his marble statues, shows that he was also versatile in woodcarving. This led some authors to ascribe other wooden statues to him, but most are attributable to his very active workshop. In his later years, he became even more active, working on different projects simultaneously. In 1427 he received the commission to design the upper part of the baptismal font for the Siena Baptistery. This hexagonal column, resting on a pillared base in the middle of the basin, contains five prophets situated in niches. The marble statue of ''St. John the Baptist'', at the top of the dome above the tabernacle, is also attributed to Jacopo della Quercia.

Porta Magna in Bologna

180px, della Quercia's Creation of Eve, the source for Michelangelo's fresco on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling In 1425 he accepted another major commission: the design of the round-arched Porta Magna of the San Petronio church in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. It would keep him busy for a good deal of the last thirteen years of his life and it is considered his masterwork. Each side of the door is flanked, first by a colonette with a spirally wound decoration, then nine busts of prophets and at the end five scenes from the Old Testament, carved into somewhat lower relief. In the ''Creation of Adam'', he uses the same arrangement as in the ''Fonte Gaia'' (in Siena), but in reverse order.

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

, who had visited Bologna in 1494, conceded that his Genesis on the

Sistine Chapel ceiling The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance Renaissance art, art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built with ...

was based on these reliefs (birth of Eve shown at right). The

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

above the door contains five reliefs with representations from the New Testament. The

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

contains three free-standing statues: ''Virgin and Child'', ''Saint Petronius'' (with a model of Bologna in his right hand) and ''Saint Ambrose'' (carved by another sculptor Domenico Aimo in 1510). Originally this third statue had to represent the papal legate Cardinal Alemmano, but this intention was quickly abandoned after the cardinal had been evicted from Bologna. He relied heavily on the artists of his Bolognese workshop, such as Cino di Bartolo, for assistance in this project. While working at the Porta Magna, he was asked in 1434 by the Sienese to design the Loggia di San Paolo, close to the Piazza del Campo. He was not able to finish this commission. At his death, he had only finished the capitals and six niches. In his final years, he was awarded several honours by the Sienese. In 1435 he was knighted and given the important position of Operaio of the cathedral. In his final years, he was also involved in the decoration of the chapel of Saint Sebastian (destroyed in 1645) for the cardinal Casini in the cathedral of Siena, but, as part of a relief of the cardinal, most works were done by his Siena workshop. This carved high relief, ''Cardinal Antonio Casini presented to the Virgin by St. Anthony of Egypt'', is on display in the Hall of Statues in the Cathedral Museum. Jacopo della Quercia died at Siena on 20 October 1438. He was buried in the San Agostino church in Siena. He was already held in high esteem by his contemporaries, such as

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

, Antonio Filarete and Giovanni Santi.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

includes a biography of Jacopo della Quercia in his ''

Lives of the Artists ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...

''.

Main works

Calco del monumento funebre di ilaria del carretto 01

*An equestrian wooden statue for the funeral of Azzo Ubaldini (1400 ?) * ''Knight of San Cassiano'' (''Il Cavaliere di San Cassiano'') (1400?) - Wood, height 185 cm Church di San Cassiano,

San Cassiano San Cassiano is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce and region of Apulia in south-east Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is lo ...

* (? ) ''Madonna'' on top of the Piccolomini altar in the Siena cathedral (1397–1400) *''Virgin and Child'' (''Silvestri Madonna'') (1403) - Marble, height 210 cm, Cathedral of Ferrara *''St. Maurelius'' (c. 1403) - Cathedral of Ferrara. * The tomb of Ilaria del Carretto (c. 1406) - Cathedral of Lucca *Fonte Gaia (1408–1419) -

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

*''Virtue'' (1409–19) - Marble, height 135 cm, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena *''Hope'' (1409–19) - Marble, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena *''Acca Laurentia'' (1414–19) - Marble, height 162 cm, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena *''Rhea Sylvia'' (1414–19) - Marble, height 160 cm, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena *''Annunciation'', ''Virgin'' and ''Gabriel'' -

Collegiata di San Gimignano The Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di San Gimignano is a Roman Catholic collegiate church and minor basilica in San Gimignano, in Tuscany in central Italy. It contains important cycles of Renaissance frescoes by artists including Dom ...

*

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a "triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapty ...

on the Trenta family altar (1422) -

Basilica di San Frediano The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the ''Piazza San Frediano''. History Fridianus (Frediano) was an Irish bishop of Lucca in the first half of the 6th century. He had a church built on this spo ...

,

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

* Porta Magna (1425) -

Basilica di San Petronio The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petroniu ...

,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

* Fountain, panels and statuette of ''John the Baptist'' (1427) - Baptistry of Siena's cathedral.

References

* Beck, James - ''Jacopo della Quercia'' - 797 pp, two vol., Columbia University Press 1992

External links

Jacopo Della Quercia
on the

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

Jacopo della Quercia - Web Gallery of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quercia, Jacopo Della 1374 births 1438 deaths People from Siena Italian sculptors 15th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Catholic sculptors