Jacopo della Quercia

Jacopo della Quercia
Born	Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri 1374 Quercegrossa near Siena, Italy
Died	20 October 1438 Siena, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	The Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto
Movement	Early Renaissance

Jacopo della Quercia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈjaːkopo della ˈkwɛrtʃa]; c. 1374 – 20 October 1438) was an Italian sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.

Jacopo della Quercia takes his name from Quercia Grossa (now Quercegrossa), a place near Siena, 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 and Arnolfo di Cambio 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. He left with his father to Lucca, owing to party strife and disturbances.

In Pisa, della Quercia likely studied the huge collection of Roman sculptures and sarcophagi in the Camposanto. These and later influences made him a transitional figure in the history of European art; his work shows a pronounced midcareer shift from the Gothic style to that of the Italian Renaissance. As in the case of Ghiberti, this development probably results from exposure to his contemporary, Donatello.

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's Baptistery, but lost to Ghiberti. The unsuccessful entry's whereabouts are unknown.

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