Five Scenes of the Old Testament

Jacopo della Quercia was commissioned in 1425 to design the western doorway of the San Petronio in Bologna. He worked several years on the Bolognese masterwork and he left the work unfinished when he died. The two sides of the door, carved of limestone from Istria, were decorated with scenes from the Old Testament. Della Quercia placed free-standing statues on the tympanum above the gate. The Museum purchased copies of ten reliefs of the lateral pilasters and the figure of the Virgin and Child (Rg. 164) from the lunette in 1907, and the plaster casts were exhibited in the Renaissance Hall. In 1999 and 2005 the two reliefs were restored and exhibited in The University and National Library University of Debrecen.