Madonna and Child
Luca della Robbia, Andrea della Robbia1465 - 1470
The Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo, United States
In 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.
- Title: Madonna and Child
- Creator: Andrea della Robbia OR Luca della Robbia
- Creator Lifespan: 1435 or 1399 - 1525 or 1482
- Creator Nationality: Italian
- Date Created: 1465 - 1470
- Physical Location: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
- Location Created: Europe, Italy, Florence
- Physical Dimensions: image: 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)
- Subject Keywords: renaissance; religion; religious; Christianity; Catholic; woman; infant; fruit; Virgin Mary; Madonna; Christ child; apple; ceramic
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: https://toledomuseum.org/collection/image-resources/
- External Link: Toledo Museum of Art
- Medium: Tin-glazed earthenware
- Fun Fact: In this elegant ceramic relief sculpture, the Virgin Mary tenderly supports the Christ Child, who holds an apple with one hand and clutches his mother's robes with the other. The apple refers 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 "second Eve," brought eternal life. Staples of fifteenth-century Florentine sculpture, half-length reliefs of the Madonna and Child were in demand for private devotional use. The high-relief figures of Toledo's sculpture are deeply undercut and modeled with meticulous care, while the tremulous quality of the white glazed surfaces is of particular beauty. The blue glaze symbolic of heaven is mottled at the bottom to simulate clouds, emphasizing the spiritual aspect of the image. The della Robbia dynasty of Italian Renaissance sculptors was founded by Luca della Robbia (1399/1400-1482). Contemporaries esteemed his work in bronze and marble, but his wider fame is based on the medium that he was the first to use for sculpture: glazed terracotta. The ancient use of terracotta (hard-baked earthenware) for sculpture had been revived in the fifteenth century, but Luca's innovation was to paint it with glaze made opaque by the addition of tin oxide. The technique was used for maiolica ware (see 1969.283), but Luca greatly refined it, and his formulas for glazes remain a della Robbia family secret. Scholars have disagreed over whether Toledo's sculpture is the work of Luca or of his most talented pupil, his nephew Andrea della Robbia, who often collaborated with him. The sculpture's intimate scale, sense of humanity, and serene charm are hallmarks of the finest Della Robbia sculptures.
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