At a glance
Brilliant glazed terracotta returns to life as The Met reconstructs the technical ingenuity of one of Renaissance Florence’s most inventive workshops.
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Artlovers Tip
Look at the technique as much as the religious imagery. The material innovation is what makes Della Robbia extraordinary.
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Description
This exhibition begins with a conservation project and expands into an investigation of one of Renaissance Florence’s most distinctive artistic innovations: glazed terracotta. A monumental altarpiece, unseen for seven decades, provides the centrepiece for exploring how the Della Robbia workshop combined sculpture, colour and technical experimentation. Conservation research and digital reconstruction help visitors understand both how these objects were made and how they originally appeared. The brilliant whites, blues and greens also challenge our tendency to imagine Renaissance sculpture as colourless stone.
Andrea della Robbia (1435–1525) belonged to the Florentine family workshop founded by his uncle Luca della Robbia. Their secretive glazing technique made terracotta durable, colourful and instantly recognisable, creating one of the most successful sculptural languages of the Italian Renaissance.
Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met
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