God the Father
Head
ca. 1510 (made)
ca. 1510 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This relief is made by the workshop of Andrea della Robbia in Florence in ca. 1510.
The relief originates from the upper part of an altarpiece or doorcase, similar to that by Andrea in the Museo Civico, Montepulciano.
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.
Luca's nephew Andrea della Robbia, who inherited the workshop, tended to use more complex compositions and polychrome glazing rather than the simple blue-and-white schemes favoured by his uncle.
Trained as a marble sculptor in the studio of his uncle Luca, Andrea della Robbia also became an excellent modeller, unrivalled in his ability to capture the life of his subjects in glazed clay. His best-known works are 10 roundels of infants on the façade of Florence's Foundling Hospital (about 1487).
The relief originates from the upper part of an altarpiece or doorcase, similar to that by Andrea in the Museo Civico, Montepulciano.
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.
Luca's nephew Andrea della Robbia, who inherited the workshop, tended to use more complex compositions and polychrome glazing rather than the simple blue-and-white schemes favoured by his uncle.
Trained as a marble sculptor in the studio of his uncle Luca, Andrea della Robbia also became an excellent modeller, unrivalled in his ability to capture the life of his subjects in glazed clay. His best-known works are 10 roundels of infants on the façade of Florence's Foundling Hospital (about 1487).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Additional title | Head of an old man (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Terracotta, partly enamelled |
| Brief description | God the Father, relief in terracotta partly enamelled, workshop of Andrea della Robbia, Italy (Florence), ca. 1510 |
| Physical description | The relief shows the head and right shoulder of a bearded male figure. The head, which is inclined to the left, the hair, face and part of the drapery are unglazed, and the latter seems at one time to have been painted red. Part of the robe is enamelled in green and yellow, and the fragmentary background is light blue. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | The relief originates from the upper part of an altarpiece or doorcase, similar to that by Andrea in the Museo Civico, Montepulciano. Acquired in Florence |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This relief is made by the workshop of Andrea della Robbia in Florence in ca. 1510. The relief originates from the upper part of an altarpiece or doorcase, similar to that by Andrea in the Museo Civico, Montepulciano. 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. Luca's nephew Andrea della Robbia, who inherited the workshop, tended to use more complex compositions and polychrome glazing rather than the simple blue-and-white schemes favoured by his uncle. Trained as a marble sculptor in the studio of his uncle Luca, Andrea della Robbia also became an excellent modeller, unrivalled in his ability to capture the life of his subjects in glazed clay. His best-known works are 10 roundels of infants on the façade of Florence's Foundling Hospital (about 1487). |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 5890-1859 |
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| Record created | February 16, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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