Quercia, Jacopo Della

Quercia, Jacopo della (yä`kōpō dĕl`lä kwĕr`chä), c.1374–1438, Italian sculptor. His work shows the transition from medieval to Renaissance art. He is especially noted for his imposing allegorical figures for the Gaia Fountain in Siena. About 1425 he began to decorate the main portal of San Petronio, Bologna, with scenes from Genesis and the life of Jesus. His grandeur of conception and vigorous modeling formed one of the sources of inspiration for Michelangelo.

Bibliography

See study by C. Seymour, Jr. (1973).

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Quercia, Jacopo Della 

Born circa 1374 in Siena; died there Oct. 20, 1438. Italian sculptor. Representative of the Early Renaissance.

In 1401, Quercia took part in the competition for executing reliefs on the northern doors of the Baptistery in Florence. He was active in Siena and Bologna; he also worked in Lucca in 1406 and Ferrara in 1408.

Quercia was influenced by the tradition of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano and by northern Italian sculpture of the turn of the 15th century. The influence of the French Gothic is seen in many of his works, such as the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto in the cathedral of Lucca (1406) and the Trenta Altar in the San Frediano Church in Lucca (1416–22). To a large extent he went beyond the Late Gothic in such later works as the austere and heroic reliefs on the portal of the San Petronio Church in Bologna (Istrian stone, 1425–38).

The dramatic and monumental qualities embodied in the powerful, laconic figures of Quercia’s best works exerted a considerable influence on Michelangelo.

REFERENCES

Libman, M. lakopo della Kvercha. Moscow, 1960.
Seymour, C. Jacopo della Quercia, Sculptor. New Haven-London, 1973.
Jacopo della Quercia nell’arte del suo tempo (exhibit catalog). Florence, 1975.