Madonna and Child

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Madonna and Child

Artist Andrea della Robbia (Italian (Florence), 1435-1525)

ArtistOR Luca della Robbia (Italian (Florence), 1399/1400 - 1482)

Place of OriginItaly (Florence)

Dateabout 1465-1470

Dimensionsimage: 29 x 20 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (73.7 x 51.2 x 11.4 cm)
framed: 57 3/4 x 35 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (146.7 x 90.8 x 17.1 cm)

Mediumtin-glazed earthenware

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1938.123

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 19

Label TextIn this elegant ceramic sculpture Mary embraces the Christ Child, who holds an apple. The apple is a reference to the Christian belief that Adam and Eve caused the Fall of Man by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. While the first Adam and Eve brought death into the world, Christ and Mary, the “second Adam” and the “second Eve,” brought eternal life. Founder of a renowned family workshop, Luca della Robbia (1399/1400–1482) is credited with first applying tin oxide glazes (which turn white when fired in a kiln) to baked earthenware sculpture. Luca modified and refined the technique used for maiolica tableware (see case in this gallery) and his exact formula for glazes remains a della Robbia family secret. Luca’s nephew Andrea (1435–1525), who was his most talented pupil, eventually took over the workshop. Late in Luca’s career the two artists often collaborated. Works like this one—which remained in the della Robbia family collection until 1879—were used to embellish some of the most important buildings of Renaissance Florence.Published ReferencesCavallucci, C., and Molinier, E., Les Della Robbia, Paris, 1884, (illustrated with engraving by Eugene Abot).

Marquand, Allan, "The Madonnas of Luca della Robbia," American Journal of Archaeology, 1894, p. 3.

Bode, Wilhelm von, Denkmäler der Renaissance-Sculptur Toscanas, Munich 1897, vol. 5, pl. 243A (questions attribution to Luca).

Reymond, Marcel, Les Della Robbia, Florence, 1897, pp. 109, 140, repr.

Reymond, Marcel, La Sculpture Florentine, Florence 1898, vol. 2, pp. 224-225, repr. p. 227.

Bode, Wilhelm von, "Luca della Robbia," Jahrbuch Der K. Preussischen KunstSammlungen, vol. 21, 1900, p. 19.

Cruttwell, Maud, Luca and Andrea della Robbia and their Successors, London and New York, 1902, p. 134 (questions attribution to Luca, suggests Giovanni della Robbia).

Bode, Wilhelm von, Florentiner Bildhauer der Renaissance, Berlin, 1902, 2nd ed. 1921, p. 157.

Schubring, Paul, Luca della Robbia und Seine Familie, Leipzig, 1905, p. 81, repr. p. 83.

Burlamacchi, L., Luca della Robbia, London, 1906, p. 75.

Bode, Wilhelm von, Florentine Sculptors of the Renaissance, London, 1908, 2nd ed. 1928, p. 115.

Marquand, Allan, Luca della Robbia, Princeton, 1914, pp. 55-56, repr. p. 55.

Wulff, Oskar, "ein verkanntes Frühwerk von Luca della Robbia und des Künstlers Werdegang," Jahrbuch der K. Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, vol. 38, 1917, p. 240.

Nicola, Giacomo de, "A Recently Discovered Madonna by Luca della Robbia," Burlington Magazine, vol. 35, 1919, p. 49.

Richardson, E.P., "Italian Sculpture, 1250-1500," Parnassus, vol. 10, no. 2, February, 1938, p. 9.

Middeldorf, Ulrich, "Die Austellung Italienischer Renaissanceskulptor in Detroit," Pantheon, vol. 22, 1938, p. 317.

Kennedy, Ruth, and Clarence Kennedy, "Toledo's Great Luca della Robbia: the Rediscovered Demidoff Madonna Just Acquired," Art News, vol. 37, April 1939, pp. 8, 20, repr. p. 8.

Beaux-Arts, April 14, 1939, p. 4, repr.

"Toledo Acquires Notable Della Robbia," Art Digest, vol. 13, May 1, 1939, p. 13.

Parnassus, vol. 11, no. 5, May 1939, p. 44, repr.

Mouseion, Supplément Mensuel, May 1939, p. 6, repr. p. 3.

"The San Donato Madonna Acquired," Toledo Museum News, no. 87, September 1939, pp. 3-8, repr.

"Recent Important Acquisitions of American Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 2, 1939, p. 402b, repr. p. 398.

Museums Journal, vol. 39, 1939, p. 202, repr.

Prométhée, vol. 20, 1939, p. 185, repr.

Planiscig, Leo, Luca della Robbia, Vienna, 1940, pp. 10, 29, repr. pl. 3.

Middeldorf, Ulrich, "Two Florentine Sculptures at Toledo," Art in America, vol. 28, 1940, pp. 12-30, repr. p. 12.

Shoolman, Regina, and Slatkin, Charles E., The Enjoyment of Art in America, Philadelphia, 1942, repr. pl. 336.

Duveen Sculpture in Public Collections of America, New York, 1944, nos. 23-25, repr. with details.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, "Capolavori Italiani al 'Toledo Museum of Art,'" Le Vie Del Mondo, vol. 14, 1952, p. 1154, repr. p. 1146.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, "Toledo Museum of Art: Post-war Acquisitions," Connoisseur, vol. 136, 1955, pp. 133-134.

Bulla, J. M., An Introduction to Florentine Sculpture in the XV Century, London, 1957, p. 49.

Seiberling, Frank, Looking into Art, New York, 1959, p. 163, repr.

Faison, S. Lane, Jr., "From Lorenzo Monaco to Mattia Preti," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 444, repr. (b&w), fig. 1, p. 446.

Godfrey, Frederick M., Italian Sculpture 1250-1700, London, 1967, p. 132, repr. fig. 10.

Toledo Museum of Art, A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1966, repr.

Pope-Hennessey, John, Luca della Robbia, Ithaca, 1980, pp. 73, 254, 267, 268, repr. fig. 42.

Pope-Hennessey, John, "Thoughts on Andrea della Robbia" in The Study and Criticism of Italian Sculpture, Princeton, 1981, p. 173, 176, 189-190, no. 19. (as about 1470) (first published in Apollo, March 1979).

Gentilini, Giancarlo, I Della Robbia, Florence, 1991, vol. I, p. 175.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 64.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 116, repr. (col.).

Cambareri, Marietta, Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2016, no. 63, p. 93, repr (col.) p. 95.

Exhibition HistoryDetroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Exhibition of Italian Gothic and Early Renaissance Sculptures, 1938, No. 31, repr.

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art; Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence, August 8, 2016-June 4, 2017.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Palazzo San Donato Catalogue.