PORTA, Tomaso della - b. ~1550 , d. 1618 Roma

Italian sculptor, brother of Giovanni Battista della Porta. Apart from the works he carried out jointly with his brother Giovanni Battista, Tomaso made two seated marble angels and gable-figures (1580) for the chapel of St Gregory in St Peter’s, Rome. From 1585 he collaborated with Leonardo Sormani on a model for the bronze figure of St Peter placed on top of Trajan’s Column, Rome, in 1587 (cast by Bastiano Torrigiani). The design for the figure of St Paul on the Column of Marcus Aurelius, erected in 1588, is also ascribed to him.

A large marble altar in the oratory of the Lombardi of San Carlo al Corso, Rome, showing a Deposition and two sibyls, is a late documented work. Stylistically he was strongly influenced by Michelangelo and Guglielmo della Porta. Like his brother Giovanni Battista, Tomaso was also active as a dealer in antique sculpture.