Tondo

Giovanni della Robbia

ca. 1500–1520 · Tin-glazed terracotta · Robert Lehman Collection

The della Robbia were a family of Florentine sculptors who were famous for their tin-glazed terracotta relief sculptures. The family expanded the traditional blue and white palette of glazes to a broader range of colors, as seen in the present work, which was produced by the workshop of Giovanni della Robbia. The tondo bears the emblem associated with the church of San Lorenzo in Florence or with its dependency -- the suburban church of San Marco Vecchio. The emblem consists of a cross and two ears of wheat above a gridiron, set in a white-glazed egg-and-dart frame, surrounded by a wreath of fruit, pinecones, and leaves bound with ribbons.

Artist

Giovanni della Robbia

Date

ca. 1500–1520

Medium

Tin-glazed terracotta

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975