This floral ornament is a plaster cast after an original of Tullio Lombardo from architectural components of the early Renaissance church of Santa Maria de' Miracoli in Venice.
This and other casts were part of an extensive assemblage of 487 such fragments purchased in 1851, among the earliest casts acquired by the museum as "a collection originally made for the use of Schools of Design under the Direction of the Board of Trade". Later in the 1850s, when the collection was moved to South Kensington, the casts were supplemented with composite photographs of other, related pilasters, and around 1900 such casts were being displayed alongside photographs showing fuller views of the buildings from which the details were taken.
Place of Origin
Italy (made)
Date
ca. 1851 (made)
Artist/maker
Tullio Lombardo, born 1450 - died 1532 (after, maker)
Materials and Techniques
Plaster
Dimensions
Height: 86.5 cm, Width: 21.5 cm, Depth: 3.5 cm
Object history note
This floral ornament is a plaster cast after an original of Tullio Lombardo from architectural components of the early Renaissance church of Santa Maria de' Miracoli in Venice.
Historical context note
This and other casts were part of an extensive assemblage of 487 such fragments purchased in 1851, among the earliest casts acquired by the museum as "a collection originally made for the use of Schools of Design under the Direction of the Board of Trade". Later in the 1850s, when the collection was moved to South Kensington, the casts were supplemented with composite photographs of other, related pilasters, and around 1900 such casts were being displayed alongside photographs showing fuller views of the buildings from which the details were taken.
Descriptive line
Cast, plaster, after an original by Tullio Lombardo in the Presbytery of Santa Maria de'Miracoli (ca. 1500), Venice, Italy, ca. 1851
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Baker, Malcolm and Richardson, Brenda, eds. Touring Exhibition Catalogue: A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. with The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1997, pp. 127-128., cat.no. 24, ill.
The importance placed on the study of ornament led to the acquisition of both original pieces of architectural decoration (cat.23) and casts such as these. All six were taken from Santa Maria de' Miracoli, an early Renaissance church in Venice. These casts were part of an extensive assemblage of 487 such fragments purchased in 1851, among the earliest casts acquired by the Museum as "a collection originally made for the use of Schools of Design under the Direction of the Board of Trade." Later in the 1850s, when the collection was moved to South Kensington, the casts were supplemented with composite photographs of other, related pilasters, and around 1900 such casts were being displayed alongside photographs showing fuller views of the buildings from which the details were taken (fig.74).Some of the casts from Santa Maria de' Miracoli were discussed and illustrated in Ralph Nicholson Wornum's Catalogue of Ornamental Casts in the Possession of the Department, 3rd Division, The Renaissance Styles, published in 1854. Wornum described the façade of the church as "one of the most remarkable in Italy as a monument of the florid Cinque-cento arabesque, and is in itself an admirable exponent of the style". Much of this collection of casts was photographed in groups in 1893-94. Examples of ornament were among the casts that the Government Schools of Design supplied to provincial art schools. The firm of Brucciani & Co., which produced many of the Museum's casts, including that of Portico de la Gloria (cat.25), continued to issue these until 1922 when, on the company's failure, the workshop was taken over by the Museum, which continued to issue casts until 1951 (fig.75). Although modernist reforms to the art school curriculum meant that drawing from casts was no longer considered a necessary part of an artist's training during the 1960s and 1970s, a renewed interest in the casts has developed among both artists and art historians in the past fifteen years. This shift is reflected in the refurbishment of the cast courts (see fig.52) in the early 1980s and the active use now made of them.
DIANE BILBEY
Exhibition History
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum 12/10/1999-16/01/2000)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 01/01/1999-30/09/2000)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18/10/1998-10/01/1999)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Royal Ontario Museum 20/06/1998-13/09/1998)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 25/02/1998-17/05/1998)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (The Baltimore Museum of Modern Art 12/10/1997-18/01/1998)
Production Note
After an original by Tullio Lombardo in Santa Maria de'Miracoli, Venice, ca. 1500
Materials
Plaster
Subjects depicted
Floral ornaments
Categories
Architectural fittings
Collection code
SCP
