Quercia, Jacopo della (1374–1438)

Italian sculptor who was born in the town of Quercia Grossa and trained in the workshop of his father Piero d'Angelo, a skilled goldsmith and wood-carver. Quercia assisted Nicola Pisano in carving the pulpit of the Cathedral of Siena. As a young artist he was strongly influenced by contemporaries from Florence, including the architect Brunelleschi and the sculptor Donatello (Quercia took part in the competition to design the Baptistery doors but lost this prize commission to Lorenzo Ghiberti). Although trained in the Gothic style of carving, Quercia's study of Roman artifacts and sculpture in the town of Pisa had a strong effect on his methods and his style, and early in his life he began incorporating Roman motifs and figures from pagan mythology in his work. One of his first important commissions was the carving of a monumental tomb for Ilaria del Carretto, the wife of the ruler of Lucca. This work combines Gothic style with elements borrowed from stone sarcophagi dating to Roman times—some of the earliest classical references of the Renaissance. For the cathedral of Lucca he also carved a famous altarpiece known as the Man of Sorrows ; another important work is the Seated Madonna (also known as the Madonna of the Pomegranate ) that he carved for the Cathedral of Ferrara.

In 1408 Quercia was commissioned by the city of Siena to design a fountain for the Piazza del Campo. The old fountain in this central square was being demolished, after drawing public superstition for its use of a figure of the pagan goddess Venus. Quercia designed a magnificent rectangular structure in marble, adorned with dozens of figures and scenes, with the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the city, taking a prominent part. In this work Quercia abandoned the stiff poses that were traditional of Gothic sculpture, and carved his figures with strength, movement and liveliness. The fountain, known as the Fonte Gaia, took the artist more than five years to complete and remains one of the most prominent Renaissance artifacts of Siena. The wide public admiration for the fountain earned another commission from the Sienese, who asked Quercia, Donatello, and Ghiberti to create reliefs for the baptismal font in the baptistery of the Siena cathedral.

He was commissioned to design an altar for the Trenta Chapel of the Church of San Frediano in Lucca, but had to halt work when he was accused of various crimes of immorality in 1413 and forced to leave the city. His fame as a carver in marble as well as wood survived this setback, however. For the Collegiata in San Gimignano he carved wooden statues of the Virgin and the angel Gabriel. His most famous work was the design of Porta Magna, a main entrance of the Church of San Petronio in Bologna. The doorway is decorated with ten elaborate sculptural reliefs of biblical prophets and scenes, including the creation of Adam, the story of Cain and Abel, and the temptation of Eve. This work inspired Michelangelo Buonarroti in his designs for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The city of Siena asked Quercia to supervise the construction of the city's cathedral in 1435, and also rewarded Quercia for his fine work with a knighthood.

See Also: Brunelleschi, Filippo; Ghiberti, Lorenzo; Michelangelo Buonarroti; sculpture; Siena