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Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence

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Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence National Gallery of Art | February 5–June 4, 2017 “A new, useful and most beautiful art...” around when the Buglioni work- So Giorgio Vasari, in a biography shop began to emulate Della Robbia of Luca della Robbia ( / – ), methods, with mixed success. Five of described Luca’s colorful glazed terra- Andrea’s sons continued the art form cotta sculpture. Produced in the family into the mid-sixteenth century. After workshop over three generations from Luca’s serene, simpler figures, Andrea the s to about , Della Robbia developed a more elegant naturalism sculpture became a distinctive creation in the s, but also introduced a of Renaissance Florence. humbler approach using unglazed clay Luca was already a successful for flesh areas. Andrea’s son Giovanni marble sculptor when he began to pursued a wider range of colors, elab- experiment with his new technology orate detail, and heroic figures, as well around . Modeling and firing forms as landscape painting in glaze. Another in carefully prepared riverbed clay, he son, Girolamo, worked in France for covered them with special glazes that technique recalled not only the colorful King Francis I, adapting to di erent after a second firing provided a hard, pottery known as maiolica, but also the clay and glaze materials. Della Robbia opaque, shining surface. The resulting late medieval luxury art of enameled sculpture, appreciated internationally in material, sometimes misunderstood as gold sculpture (Luca reportedly started its own time, in the nineteenth century merely a cheaper and less laborious sub- out as a goldsmith). The pure white won the a ection of American visitors stitute for marble, had merits of its own. against deep blue, perhaps inspired by who sought to bring home something The weather-resistant surfaces with earlier Florentine marble sculpture set of Renaissance Florence. Most of the their bright, unfading colors, praised onto a ground of blue ceramic tiles, was works in this first American exhibition by Vasari as “almost eternal,” enlivened augmented with green, purple, yellow, of Della Robbia sculpture come from and exalted the humble underlying and brown. Painting in nuanced shades collections in the United States. material. Large white figures in relief, in of glaze could define details such as action against a sky-blue ground, were clouds, plants, or colored stone, as well The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in association with the far easier to read than a painting or a as figural compositions. National Gallery of Art. marble relief when seen from a distance Since clay lends itself to replication The exhibition is made possible by Altria Group in a dimly lit church. Luca had created in molds taken from three-dimensional on behalf of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, and by something luminous, legible, and lasting. models, favorite designs could be repro- Marchesi Antinori S.p.A. The glazes combined ground glass duced, often with details individualized Major support is provided by Sally Engelhard with oxides of tin and lead for bril- by hand. The works filled many needs Pingree and The Charles Engelhard Foundation. liant opaque white, while other metal in Renaissance life: statues for church Additional funding is provided by the Buy and compounds were added for colors. The altars (); multifigure reliefs for William Cafritz Family Foundation and The altarpieces; portraits and images of the Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art. Madonna and Child for private homes (); coats of arms to proclaim iden- : Giovanni della Robbia, Resurrection of Christ, c. –, Brooklyn Museum, Gift of A. Augustus tity, and colorful reliefs to brighten the Healy. The conservation of this work was made possible by Marchesi Antinori S.p.A. architecture of chapels, street facades, 1 courtyards, and villas ( ). The cheer- , : Luca della Robbia, The Visitation, ful fruit and flower garlands that often c., Church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas, Pistoia. surrounded an image, celebrating God’s Photograph: Scala/Art Resource, 3 abundant creation while demonstrating : Andrea della Robbia, Madonna and Child with intensive nature study, may in some Cherubim, c. , National Gallery of Art, Washington, cases have been cast from life. Andrew W. Mellon Collection 4 Luca passed down his methods to This brochure was written by the departments of sculpture his nephew and collaborator Andrea and exhibition programs, and produced by the publishing oce. © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, ( – ). Competition emerged Washington. 3 4 5 Luca’s Blue, White, Late Visitation and Beyond Experiments 2 5 Andrea della Robbia, Prudence, Andrea della Robbia, Bust of Luca della Robbia, Madonna and c. , The Metropolitan Museum a Boy, c. , Museo Nazionale Child, c. –, Oratory of of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer del Bargello, Florence, Courtesy San Tommaso Aquino, Florence. Bequest, (.). Image © of the Ministero dei beni e delle Photograph: Emanuele Vergari Museum of Fine Arts, Boston attività culturali e del turismo. Fotografo, Firenze. Conservation Photograph: Antonio Quattrone funded by Friends of Florence 1 2 4 1 Stairs to 7th Street A Family Exhibition Rotunda Entrance Enterprise Entrance Girolamo della Robbia, Francis I Santi Buglioni, Saint John of Luca della Robbia the Younger, King of France, , The Metro- Capistrano, c. , Los Angeles Adoring Angel, c. –, politan Museum of Art, New County Museum of Art, Gift of Private collection. Photograph: York, Gift of George Blumenthal, The Ahmanson Foundation. Image Bruce Schwarz (..). Image © The © Museum Associates / , Metropolitan Museum of Art, Licensed by Art Resource, 5 Image Source: Art Resource, 5 5 .
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