Not currently on display at the V&A

Relief

second half of fifteenth century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This panel representing the Virgin and Child is made by Luca della Robbia, in Florence in the second half of the 15th century.

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Terracotta, in high relief, wood (frame)
Brief description
Panel relief in terracotta, The Virgin and Child, by Luca della Robbia, Florence, 2nd half 15th century
Physical description
The Virgin is standing full-length in a concave niche. She gazes down at the Child.
Dimensions
  • Height: 63.5cm
  • Width: 30.5cm
Subjects depicted
Summary
This panel representing the Virgin and Child is made by Luca della Robbia, in Florence in the second half of the 15th century.

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.
Bibliographic references
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 28
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1859 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. 39
  • 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. 117, 118
  • Gentilini, Giancarlo. ed. I Della Robbia, La Scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento. Florence: 1992, illus. p. 21, 23 and p. 147 note 30
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Luca della Robbia. Oxford, 1980, p. 256, fig. 29
  • Jolly, Anna. Madonnas by Donatello and his Circle. Phd Thesis, Cambrodge 1992, p. 56, cat. 66.1; p. 157, pl. 121
Collection
Accession number
5788-1859

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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