Renaissance sculpture in Florence was forever changed around 1440 when Luca della Robbia created a secret formula for making glazed terracotta reliefs and statuary. Luca and his heirs, Andrea and Giovanni, daringly perfected these techniques. Over the next century, the family workshop transformed local clay and colored glazes into peerless sculptures that gleamed with light. Praised during the Renaissance as “almost eternal,” today Della Robbia sculptures are often as vibrantly luminous as when they emerged from the kiln five hundred years ago.
The Met has the largest, most significant collection of Della Robbia glazed terracottas in America. Most have remained in storage for decades. For the first time, Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met features in a single gallery eleven of the Museum’s masterworks by three generations of the Della Robbia family. Rescued from storage, revived through conservation, and re-attributed through fresh research, these sculptures are shown with two important loans from a private collector. Another two works are exciting, promised gifts from the Dick Wolf Collection. Together, the sculptures span monumental reliefs composed of many interlocking pieces to small statuettes, signaling the scope of the Della Robbias’ art.
Collaboration within the Della Robbia workshop fostered innovation. Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met itself results from a collaborative exchange among curators, conservators, and digital specialists. Highlights include the exhibition’s centerpiece featuring 32 newly conserved interlocking pieces of a 10-foot-tall altarpiece that has been off view for 70 years. These are shown alongside a large, animated virtual reconstruction that uses 3D-scanning technology to suggest how the entire altar originally was assembled. Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met offers visitors a compelling encounter with the superlative artistry and technical achievements of an ingenious family of Italian Renaissance sculptors.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art