St John the Baptist as a Child

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Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Artist/Maker	Della Robbia (Style of)
Place of origin	Florence (made)

Both clay and terracotta objects can take a variety of surface finishes. These add detail, vitality and colour to the finished piece as in this instance. The hair and the animal skin have been glazed. Around 1440 the Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia developed the application of tin glazes to clay sculpture. After an initial ‘biscuit’ firing, the terracotta was painted with glaze. When it was fired again, the glaze fused with the terracotta to create a glassy, durable finish.

Object details

Categories	Sculpture Religion Christianity
Object type	Statuette
Title	St John the Baptist as a Child (generic title)
Materials and techniques	Terracotta, made from moulded clay, painted and partly glazed Terracotta
Brief description	St John the Baptist, terracotta, Italy (Florence), ca. 1520-5, style of della Robbia
Dimensions	Height: 29.2cm
Subject depicted	St. John the Baptist
Summary	Both clay and terracotta objects can take a variety of surface finishes. These add detail, vitality and colour to the finished piece as in this instance. The hair and the animal skin have been glazed. Around 1440 the Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia developed the application of tin glazes to clay sculpture. After an initial ‘biscuit’ firing, the terracotta was painted with glaze. When it was fired again, the glaze fused with the terracotta to create a glassy, durable finish.
Bibliographic references	Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1855. 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. 29 Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 79 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. 256-257
Collection	Sculpture Collection
Accession number	1028-1855

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Record created	April 12, 2005
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O111034/st-john-the-baptist-as-statuette-della-robbia/

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