The sculptor Wiligelmo da Modena, the founder…

The sculptor Wiligelmo da Modena, the founder of the Lombard Romanesque style, executes the richly decorated stonework of the facade of Modena Cathedral, consecrated only six years after its first stone was laid in 1099.

The “Genesis” marble reliefs for the west facade include portraits of prophets and patriarchs, and most of all the Biblical Stories, a masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture.

The scholars have pointed out the splendid achievements in the creation of Adam and Eve, the original sin and the story of Noah.

Wiligelmo imparts to the strongly bovine figures of Adam and Eve the quality of heaviness and earthiness that characterize the sturdy Lombard Romanesque style.

The first sculptor in Italy who begins again to produce large size sculptures, he signs his work.