Madonna and Child

Abstract

Andrea della Robbia made many half-length reliefs of the Madonna and Child, some of which are known in multiple versions. This particularly fine and complex composition is the only one of its kind surviving. The Madonna and Child are enthroned, surmounted by the dove of the Holy Spirit and the hands of God the Father (making, with the baby Jesus, the Trinity). Framing the figures is a garland depicted using flat glazed tiles, a technique Luca della Robbia had used earlier in the Federighi tomb. Leonardo da Vinci would later praise glazed terracotta by saying that Luca had found a way to make painting permanent. This relief, now in San Gaetano in Florence, was previously in San Michele in Berthelde and may have originally been made for domestic devotion. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.