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The Porta della Mandorla is the left side door of the north side of the Florence Cathedral. It was built from 1391 to 1423, with various sculptors, including Donatello and, above all, Nanni di Banco. It owes its name to the representation in the tympanum of the Assumption of the Virgin within an almond-shaped halo.
On the basis of their style, the six pieces that make up the jambs of the Porta della Mandorla are ascribed to each of the four sculptors recorded as having worked on them, attributing the lower and upper blocks on the left jambs to Giovanni, an attribution supported by their dimensions, which are cited in the contract. The three half-figures of angels on these blocks (1391-93) clearly reveal stages in a fast-moving development towards the emergence of the body as an independent entity beneath the draperies.
Contrapposto pose is apparent in the subject-matter of the small figures of Hercules and Apollo, which are framed by acanthus leaves laid out in the shape of a lyre and separated by two reliefs with angels. It is evidence of the influence of antique sculpture.
The picture shows the upper part of the left jamb.
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