This angel forms a pair with the angel 7614-1861. They are tin-glaze terracotta made by a member of the della Robbia family, possibly Andrea or his son Giovanni. They may have formed part of a larger relief, as their hands and knees are missing.
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
A kneeling Angel, figure in white enamelled terracotta. The angel, which forms a pair with 7614-1861, is represented turned to the right and kneeling on the right knee, in a tunic or alb covered by a heavy cloak. The hair is dressed in curls and falls in locks on both sides.
The figure is more extensively damaged than 7614-1861, and has sustained two major diagonal breaks. The hair in the left centre of the forehead has been made up. The back is hollow and not finished off.
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
1450-1525 (made)
Artist/maker
Andrea della Robbia, born 1435 - died 1525 (workshop, artist)
Materials and Techniques
White enamelled terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 81.9 cm, Width: 65 cm, Depth: 30 cm
Object history note
See 7614-1861
Historical significance: See 7614-1861
Historical context note
See 7614-1861
Descriptive line
Figure, white enamelled terracotta, A Kneeling Angel, Giovanni della Robbia, Italy (Florence), late 15th century to early 16th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Migliarini, M. Museo di sculture del Risorgimento raccolto e posseduto da Ottavio Gigli, Florence, 1858, plates 52 and 53.
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 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. 13
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 51
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, p. 232
Gentilini, Giancarlo. ed. I Della Robbia, La Scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento. Florence: 1992, illus. p. 213 + illus
Robinson, J. C., Italian sculpture of the Middle Ages and the period of the revival of art: a descriptive catalogue of the works forming the above section of the South Kensington Museum, London, 1862, p.66.
Cavalllucci, C. J. and Molinier, E. Les della Robbia, leur vie et leur oeuvre, d'apres des documents inedits, suivi d'un catalogue de l'oeuvre des Della Robbia in Italie et dans les principaux musees de l'EuropeParis, 1884,p.76, 267, no.383.
Marquand, A. Andrea della Robbia and his Atelier,vol. ii, Princeton, 1922, fig.144
Labels and date
7615-1861
Kneeling Angel
White enamelled terracotta
Workshop of della Robbia (1460s-1529/30)
Florentine; late 15th or early 16th century
This angel and its companion (displayed nearby) formed part of a larger group or altarpiece, the missing hands and knees being included in the adjoining relief (now lost). They are closely related to the early works of Giovanni, such as a lavabo in Santa Maria Novella, Florence (1497). [2004]
Subjects depicted
Angels; Robes
Categories
Sculpture; Religion; Christianity
Collection code
SCP
