Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met

Saint Michael the Archangel, Andrea della Robbia
(1435-1525), ca. 1475, glazed terracotta

Before seeing the newly opened Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met last Sunday, my encounters with the art of the Della Robbia family had been few but memorable. My first came at the Vatican in October 2025, where I saw a pair of polychrome ceramics by Andrea and Luca della Robbia in the Papal Apartments. Then, in May 2026, I encountered another work by Luca at the Met’s magnificent Raphael: Sublime Poetry exhibition. Those brief encounters made the opportunity to see the current exhibit all the more compelling.

Prudence, Andrea della Robbia (1435-
1525), ca. 1475, glazed terracotta

Around 1440, Luca perfected a secret technique for glazing terracotta, transforming humble clay into brilliantly colored sculptures of remarkable durability. Andrea and his sons Girolamo, Giovanni, and Luca the Younger continued and expanded the family tradition. The Met has now brought together works by all three generations, many rescued from decades in storage and newly conserved.

The centerpiece is the monumental Assumption of the Virgin (The Marquand Altarpiece), assembled from thirty-three components that had not been displayed for seventy years. Five centuries after they emerged from the kiln, the sculptures retain the luminous quality Renaissance admirers described as “almost eternal.”

Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met is on view in Gallery 521 at the Met Fifth Avenue through January 17, 2028.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 23rd, Feast of Sant'Antonio di Gerace

Prudence is personified here as a two-faced figure. A young woman gazing
into a mirror symbolizes the present, while an old man looks backward
to past events. The snake represents wisdom, gained through
self-knowledge and living a just life

Head of a youth, Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), ca. 1465, glazed terracotta

(L) Madonna and Child (The Lehman Madonna), Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), ca. 1470-75, glazed terracotta. (R) Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), ca. 1470, glazed terracotta

François I (1494-1547), king of France, Girolamo della Robbia (1488-1566) or Luca della Robbia (Luca the Younger) (1475-ca. 1548), 1529, glazed terracotta

Madonna and Child with scroll, Luca della Robbia
(1399/1400-1482), ca. 1455, glazed terracotta

Mystic mandorla, Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529/30),
ca. 1515, glazed terracotta

(L) Dovizia (Abundance), Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529/30), ca. 1515-25, glazed terracotta. (R) Saint Michael, Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529/30), 1500-1510, glazed terracotta and metal

The Della Robbia family frequently reworked their models to create compositional variations. This figure of Saint Michael and that of Dovizia nearby were adapted from the same basic form. Where Dovizia raises a hand to steady a platter of fruit, Saint Michael wields a sword as he prepares to slay the devil, in the form of a dragon, writhing beneath his feet.

Cherubs' heads, Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525)
and Workshop, ca. 1500, glazed terracotta

Heraldic medallion with the arms of the Gaetani and Minerbetti families,
Della Robbia Workshop, possibly Giovanni della Robbia
(1469-1529/30), after 1493, glazed terracotta

(L) Madonna and Child in a niche, Luca della Robbia (1399/1400-1482), ca. 1460, glazed terracotta with gilt and painted details. (R) The Assumption of the Virgin (The Marquand Altarpiece), Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) and Workshop, ca. 1485, glazed terracotta

Sections of The Assumption of the Virgin (The Marquand Altarpiece), Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), ca. 1485, glazed terracotta

Sections of The Assumption of the Virgin (The Marquand Altarpiece), Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), ca. 1485, glazed terracotta

Architectural bracket, Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529/30)
and Workshop, ca. 1500, glazed terracotta