Main portal of San Petronio, Bologna (1425-30)
by Jacopo della QUERCIA

On 28 March 1425 Jacopo della Quercia was commissioned to design a complicated portal for the west façade of San Petronio, a late medieval church, located in the very heart of the papal states. He produced a design for a round-arched entranceway framed by historiated pilasters with Old Testament reliefs, eighteen busts of prophets, five New Testament reliefs in the architrave above the door, decorative colonnettes and a lunette above the door containing free-standing statues of the Virgin and Child, St Petronius and the patron, Cardinal Lodovico Alemanno, papal legate to Bologna. The Virgin and Child, the prophet busts, the lintel reliefs and the colonnettes were all carved first, during the period 1426-September 1428, while the Old Testament scenes and St Petronius were added in 1429/30.

Jacopo della Quercia's reliefs in Istrian stone for the Porta Magna of San Petronio in Bologna, his preoccupation during the last thirteen years of his life, are recognized as his masterworks.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Main Portal
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1050*1400
True Color
286 Kb



Main Portal
1425-39
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

925*1500
True Color
158 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the left lateral support
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
273 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the left lateral support (detail)
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
290 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the left lateral support (detail)
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
275 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 1 Creation of Adam
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

1254*1480
True Color
274 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 1. Creation of Adam
1425-35
Istrian stone, 99 x 92 cm (with frame)
San Petronio, Bologna

844*1050
Grayscale
165 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 2. Creation of Eve
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

824*980
True Color
158 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 3. Original Sin
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

762*877
True Color
146 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 3. Original Sin
1425-28
Istrian stone, 99 x 92 cm (with frame)
San Petronio, Bologna

800*1020
Grayscale
129 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 4. Expulsion from Paradise
1425-28
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

840*1063
True Color
163 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 4. Expulsion from Paradise
1425-28
Istrian stone, 99 x 92 cm (with frame)
San Petronio, Bologna

800*995
Grayscale
129 Kb



Left reliefs on the portal: 5. Work of the Ancestors
1425-28
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

870*931
True Color
157 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the right lateral support
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
295 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the right lateral support (detail)
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
278 Kb



Main portal: reliefs on the right lateral support (detail)
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1125*1500
True Color
270 Kb



Right reliefs on the portal: 1. Sacrifices of Cain and Abel
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

738*751
True Color
128 Kb



Right reliefs on the portal: 2. Cain killing Abel
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

714*847
True Color
136 Kb



Right reliefs on the portal: 3. Disembarking from Noah's Ark
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

774*943
True Color
157 Kb



Right reliefs on the portal: 4. Drunkenness of Noah
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

798*1027
True Color
156 Kb



Right reliefs on the portal: 5. Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham
1425-30
Istrian stone, 82 x 68 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

816*937
True Color
144 Kb



Main Portal: Lunette
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

1400*933
True Color
287 Kb



Main Portal: Virgin and Child
1425-30
Istrian stone, height 211 cm
San Petronio, Bologna

637*800
True Color
116 Kb



Main Portal: St Petronius
1425-30
Istrian stone
San Petronio, Bologna

843*1280
True Color
213 Kb




Works by Jacopo della QUERCIA
Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto in Lucca | Trenta Altar in Lucca
Fonte Gaia in Siena | Baptismal font in the Baptistery in Siena
Main portal of San Petronio, Bologna | Various works