Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Jacopo della Quercia

Ferrara appears first in a document of the Lombard king Desiderius of 753 when he captured the town from the Exarchate of Ravenna. Later the Franks, after routing the Lombards, presented Ferrara to the Papacy in 754. In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa, but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, it became a free commune. During the 12th century, the history of the town was marked by the wrestling for power between the Guelph Adelardi and the Ghibelline Salinguerra families. The Ghibellines won and in 1264 Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara. His rule marked the end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598. The museum is located in the former church of San Romano. Benedictine monks were already in the monastery of San Romano in the 10th century, but it was later given to the regular canons of Sant'Agostino. The "Madonna della melagrana" (Madonna of the Pomegranate) by well known Sianese artist Jacopo della Quercia (1403-1408). The statue was commissioned in 1403 and placed on a family altar in 1406.

The Baptistery of San Giovanni is located underneath the eastern bays of the choir of the Duomo. It was built between 1316 and 1325. In the center of the rectangular hall is this hexagonal baptismal font in bronze, marble and vitreous enamel. It was created between 1417-1431 and it must have been an artistic sensation (still is one!), as it was done by the main sculptors of the time. Among them Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Jacopo della Quercia. The panels represent the Life of John the Baptist.