Madonna col Bambino in una nicchia (c.1460)

Robbia, Luca della (1400-1482)

Madonna col Bambino in una nicchia (Virgin and Child in a niche)
c.1460
Glazed terracotta with gilt and painted details, 47.3 × 38.7 × 8.9 cm
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

One of the most distinguished sculptors of the early Renaissance, Luca della Robbia created famous works in marble, such as the Cantoria (Singing Choir) for the organ loft of Florence Cathedral, and in bronze, such as the doors of the North Sacristy of the same church. His name is, however, most closely identified —  and indeed nearly synonymous with —  sculpture in tin-glazed terracotta. In this medium he specialized in images of the Madonna and Child, particularly for private devotions, and began a practice of reproducing them in casts, which members of his family and large workshop continued into the sixteenth century. (MET)