Coat of arms
- Object:
- Place of origin:
- Date:
early 16th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
della Robbia (workshop, maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Polychrome, enamelled terracotta
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Medieval and Renaissance, room 50a, case WS
- Download image
This stemma or shield of arms is made by the workshop of the Della Robbia, in Florence in the early 16th century.
The relief is composed of fragments from two separate works. The upper part carries the arms of the Spini family (a Tuscan shield bearing the charge: Barry nebuly gules and or), and the lower part an inscription with the name of Simonetto di Corso and the date 1512.
The Della Robbia family was an Italian family of sculptors and potters. They were active in Florence from the early 15th century and elsewhere in Italy and France well into the 16th. Family members were traditionally employed in the textile industry, and their name derives from rubia tinctorum, a red dye.
Luca della Robbia founded the family sculpture workshop in Florence and was regarded by contemporaries as a leading artistic innovator, comparable to Donatello and Masaccio. The influence of antique art and his characteristic liveliness and charm are evident in such works as the marble singing-gallery for Florence Cathedral. He is credited with the invention of the tin-glazed terracotta sculpture for which the family became well known.
Physical description
Within a rectangular recess frame at the top and sides with egg-and-dart moulding is set a Tusacan shield bearing the charge: Barry nubuly gules and or. On either side of the inner frame is a painted bramble or thorn. The lower sides are ornamented with a pattern of flowers and leaves; between them runs the inscription: SIMONETTO.DI/CHORSO.DALL/ARENA.PodestA.M.D.XII. The face is enamelled in white, yellow, blue and black, part of the shield being left unglazed (presumably for painting in red).
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
early 16th century (made)
Artist/maker
della Robbia (workshop, maker)
Materials and Techniques
Polychrome, enamelled terracotta
Marks and inscriptions
SIMONETTO.DI/CHORSO.DALL/ARENA.PodestA.M.D.XII
GIOVANNI.SALVETTI/PodestA.ET.CpodestO.MCCCCLIIII.ET/MICHELE.SVO.FIGL/VOLO.PodestA.MDXIIII
Dimensions
Height: 62.2 cm, Width: 52.3 cm, Height: 15.2 cm of 7397a-1860, Width: 31.8 cm of 7397a-1860, Depth: 10 cm, Weight: 22.5 kg
Object history note
The shield and impresa are those of the Tuscan family of Spini.
Acquired in Florence.
Descriptive line
Stemma or Shield of Arms, enamelled terracotta, workshop of the Della Robbia, Florence, early 16th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1860. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 12
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 84
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 250, 251
Labels and date
7397-1860
Stemma (Coat of Arms)
Polychrome enamelled terracotta
Workshop of the Della Robbia
Florentine; early 16th century
The relief is composed of fragments from two separate works. The upper part carries the arms of the Spini family (a Tuscan shield bearing the charge: Barry nebuly gules and or), and the lower part an inscription with the name of Simonetto di Corso and the date 1512. [2004]
Materials
Terracotta
Techniques
Enamelling
Subjects depicted
Flowers; Leaves; Ornament; Shield of arms; Tuscan shield
Categories
Sculpture; Arms & Armour
Collection code
SCP
