 His father Giovanni Battista della Porta was a sculptor.He trained in his uncle's workshop in Genoa and moved to Rome about 1537, where he was very much influenced by Michelangelo.Della Porta provided legs for the Farnese Hercules when it was first excavated; when the original legs were found some years later, Michelangelo recommended that Della Porta's legs be retained, as showing how modern artists were capable of direct comparison with the Ancients.