Group, the Virgin and Child, workshop of Michele da Firenze, Florence, ca. 1440

Terracotta relief. The Virgin sits on a low chair, holding Christ on her left arm. To the left is a standing figure of St John the Baptist holding a scroll, and to the right is a saint with book and staff, probably James the Greater. A curtain is suspended between the fluted pilasters which flank the group. Above, in the foliated arch is a roundel with Christ as Man of Sorrows. The relief appears to have been fired in two parts, and is joined across and irregular line which runs from the base of the pilaster above the head of St John to the base of the capital on the right. The head of St James is a replacement.

Bought along with other pieces of renaissance sculpture from the Gigli-Campana collection. Its earlier history is unknown.

Historical significance: Michele da Firenze was important in both disseminating the style of Ghiberti into Northern Italy, and also in combining 'renaissance' with 'late gothic' stylistic motifs in his works. This image also blurs other boundaries - it combines features of both altarpieces and purely devotional images in its composition.

The composition of this image, with the Virgin and Child flanked by two standing saints, is inspired by compositional formulae used on altarpieces. However, it is also similar in size and type to the large number of Virgin and Child reliefs surviving from fifteenth century Florence, many of which are attributable to the workshop of Ghiberti. These devotional reliefs seem to have been widely used both as street images, and also within palaces.

This relief might have been set into a wall behind a side altar in a church, but it is more likely that it was intended as a devotional image, which could have come from a number of different public or private contexts.

The date of the work given here and its attribution to Florence are those given by Pope-Hennessy, although they are in fact mutually exclusive - in 1440, Michele da Firenze (or to give him his correct name, Michele di Niccolò Dini) was in the middle of a long period of work in Northern Italy, taking in the Veneto and Emilia. In 1440, he executed an 'ancona' for the church of S. Maria degli Angeli di Belfiore in Ferrara.

Michele's documented career was highly peripatetic. He is documented at the beginning of his career, from 1403 to at least 1420, in Florence, and spent time, like most other young sculptors of his generation, in Ghiberti's workshop. He would have known such pioneers of the renaissance style as Donatello and Nanni di Banco; in fact, he appears listed with both these artists in a group of 'maestri' described in a document of 1420. Thus it is customary to label his works as 'Florentine', but this is an oversimplification. As we have seen, from 1433 to 1443, he was active in a number of Northern Italian cities, and seems to have spent this whole period away from Florence.

Of the many reliefs attributed to him comparable to the V&A's example none is securely dated, which creates a problem in hypothesising where and when such works were made. It seems reasonable to suggest that the floridly late gothic foliage and architecture which is so typical of his style developed slowly over time, and that his sojourn in Verona contributed to this development. It is hard to imagine that they could have been typical of his early Florentine career, although they are discreetly present in the tomb of Francesco Roselli in San Francesco, Arezzo (ca. 1431) which is usually attributed to him. It is possible that he established a workshop for the serial production of devotional reliefs at some point during his time in Northern Italy. Nevertheless, many commentators assume that these works were produced in Florence, either in the 1420s or during a hypothetical return to Florence after 1443. The framing and draperies on the V&A panel seem closest to Michele's surviving works in Florence and Verona, perhaps suggesting that a date somewhat earlier than that given by Pope-Hennessy should be considered.

Michele da Firenze and his workshop specialised in creating sculptures in terracotta. Here the seated Virgin and the Child are flanked by St John the Baptist on the left and probably St James the Greater on the right. The relatively small scale of the altarpiece suggests that it may have been made for a side altar or private chapel.

7572-1861