Quercia, Jacopo della

(c. 1374-1438)

   The most important sculptor of the Sienese School. Jacopo's father was a goldsmith and woodcarver from the town of Quercia, near Siena. In 1401, Jacopo is documented as one of the participants in the competition for the east doors of the Baptistery of Florence. In 1414-1419, he was working on the Fonte Gaia, a fountain in the Piazza del Campo, Siena, that included Virtues and scenes from the story of Creation. The fountain was modified in the 19th century and Jacopo's contributions, now in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, are in deplorable condition. In c. 1417, Jacopo collaborated with Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti on the font for the Siena Baptistery, and, in 1425-1438, he was in Bologna working on panel reliefs for the main portal of San Petronio that depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. These had an impact on Michelangelo who based some of his scenes on the Sistine ceiling (1508-1512; Vatican) on Jacopo's reliefs. The muscular, classicized nudes in complex poses, the compositional arrangements, and the emotive content in Jacopo's works are the elements Michelangelo adopted for himself.