Not currently on display at the V&A

Panel

late 15th century to early 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This enamelled terracotta panel showing the Virgin and Child is from the school of the Della Robbia and made in the late 15th or early16th century in Italy.

The Virgin is represented seated with the Child on her knee, profile to the left, with her left leg outstretched and her right knee raised. Her head is inclined over the Child, who holds her veil with both hands, and gazes up into her face.

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
Enamelled terracotta in its original carved and gilt frame
Brief description
Panel, enamelled terracotta, Virgin and Child, school of Luca Della Robbia, Italy, late 15th or early 16th century
Physical description
Virgin seated with Child on her knee, profile to the left, with her left leg outstretched and her right knee raised. Her head is inclined over the Child, who holds her veil with both hands, and gazes up into her face. Eyes are painted in dark purple. The has been broken across all four corners. Some repaint and make-up in the corners at the base.
Dimensions
  • Height: 44.5cm
  • Width: 38.1cm
Object history
bought
Subject depicted
Summary
This enamelled terracotta panel showing the Virgin and Child is from the school of the Della Robbia and made in the late 15th or early16th century in Italy.

The Virgin is represented seated with the Child on her knee, profile to the left, with her left leg outstretched and her right knee raised. Her head is inclined over the Child, who holds her veil with both hands, and gazes up into her face.

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
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1858. 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. 7.
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Luca della Robbia. Oxford, 1980, pp. 66, 256, pl. 107.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 35.
  • 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. 120, 121
Collection
Accession number
4411-1858

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Record createdJuly 2, 2008
Record URL
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