Virgin and Child

Andrea della Robbia

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andrea was the nephew and disciple of Luca della Robbia, who developed the blue and white glazes used on terracotta sculpture with which the name della Robbia is associated. By the time he made the Lehman Madonna, about 1470–75, Andrea had for some years been chiefly responsible for the output of the family shop in the via Guelfa, Florence. Although he was a faithful follower of his uncle's style, his own personality emerged in works such as this, with its exceptionally high relief, in which he achieved monumental forms without sacrificing any of that sweetness and harmony of expression for which Luca is so admired.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art