Giovanni della Robbia (Florence 1469-1529/30) and Workshop, Italian, Florence, early 16th century

Lisa and Heinrich Arnhold, Dresden;

Thence by descent to their son, Henry H. Arnhold;

Thence by inheritance to the present collector.

The present relief depicts the Madonna tenderly gazing at the Christ Child, surrounded by the young Saint John the Baptist, Saint Joseph, and two oxen. In the background, an angel hovers above as another figure approaches.

The composition closely follows that of a relief in the Detroit Institute of Arts (accession no. 57.167), attributed to Giovanni della Robbia and dated to around 1525. Giovanni may have drawn inspiration from the work of his father, Andrea, who frequently used the Adoration as a central theme in his own reliefs. Two reliefs in particular—one in the Victoria and Albert Museum attributed to Andrea,¹ and another in the Louvre (accession no. LP 3410) attributed to the workshops of Andrea and Giovanni—include the young Saint John the Baptist alongside the Virgin and Child.

Over the course of nearly a century, the Della Robbia family enjoyed sustained patronage from the Church and numerous prominent Italian noble families, including the Medici, the Pazzi, and the Tournabuoni. Their workshop produced sculpture for church interiors, the façades of Florentine palazzi, and objects for private devotion, continuing the tradition established by Giovanni’s renowned grand-uncle, Luca della Robbia (1399/1400–1482), who established the studio and pioneered the technique of glazed terracotta sculpture. Giovanni, the most distinguished of Andrea della Robbia’s (1435–1525) sons, assumed leadership of the workshop after his father’s death.¹

¹https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O166002/circular-relief-andrea-della-robbia/