Jacopo della Quercia (c. 1374 – October 20, 1438) was the best known
Sienese sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, a contemporary of
Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of
Michelangelo.
His father, the sculptor Pïero d'Angelo (1370-1410), gave him his first
training as a sculptor. Traveling with his father to Lucca, Jacopo della
Quercia was, together with Arnolfo di Cambio, the assistant of Nicola
Pisano on the pulpit of the cathedral of Siena. While in Pisa, he must
have studied the Roman technique and motifs of the huge collection of
Roman sculptures and sarcophagi in the Camposanto. All these influences
have made him a transitional figure in the transition from the Gothic
style to Italian Renaissance. Jacopo's work shows the influence of his
contemporary Donatello, although his work is considered to have a more
Gothic feel to it.
His earliest work is to be found in the Lucca cathedral, but the
authorship is contested : Man of Sorrows (Altar of the Sacrament) and a
relief on the the tomb of St. Aniello.
In 1401 he was one of the sculptors who competed to design the bronze
baptistry doors for Florence's cathedral, but was beaten by the 21-year
old Ghiberti. Jacopo's entry no longer exists.
In 1403 he sculpted the marble Virgin and Child for the Ferrara cathedral.
Another (possible) 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 to begin work at the tomb of his second wife Ilaria
del Carretto in the Lucca cathedral. The richly dressed woman rests on top
of the sarcophagus, delicately portrayed in a Gothic fashion, with her
dog, symbol of conjugate fidelity, at her feet. But his use of several
nude putti 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.
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 Sien'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. It was
called Fonte Gaia, because of the joy and the festivities when its was
brought into operation. It is now a center of attraction for the many
tourists. The old statues were replaced by copies in 1858 from Tito
Sarrocchi.
In 1412, contracted by a wealthy merchant Lorenzo Trenta, he started the
design of the Trenta Chapel in the basilica of San Frediano in Lucca. In
1413 he was accused, together with his assistant Giovanni da Imola, of
serious crimes (theft, rape and sodomy). 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 wifze Isabetta Onesti, on the pavement in front
of the altar.
When in 1416 Lorenzo Ghiberti was asked to design a hexagonal basin with
bronze panel for the Baptistery in Siena, political infighting brought
Jacopo della Quercia into the project. 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). 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 commisssion 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.
In 1425 he accepted another major commission : the design of the
round-arched Porta Magna of the San Petronio church in Bologna. 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 conceded that his Genesis in the Sistine Chapel in the
Vatican, was based on these reliefs. The architrave above the door
contains five reliefs with representations from the New Testament. The
lunette 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 for the cardinal Casini in the cathedral of Siena, but, part of
a relief of the cardinal, most work was done by his Siena workshop.
Jacopo della Quercia died in Siena on 20 October 1438. He was buried in
the San Agostino church in Siena.
His most important works include :
the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto (c. 1406) in Lucca cathedral,
the Fonte Gaia (1408-1419) in Siena,
the polyptych on the Trenta family altar (1422) in the Basilica di San
Frediano, Lucca,
stone reliefs in S. Petronio (1425) in Bologna
and two panels on the font in the baptistry of Siena's cathedral,
including the statuette of John the Baptist at the top.
He was already held in high esteem by his comtemporaries, such as Lorenzo
Ghiberti, Antonio Filarete and Giovanni Santi. Giorgio Vasari includes a
biography of Jacopo della Quercia in his Lives of the Artists.
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article "Italian Renaissance".