1 / 1

download image
This image is in the public domain. You can copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Learn more about our image policies.

Andrea della Robbia

The Adoration of the Child, after 1477

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 9

Medium

glazed terracotta

Dimensions

overall: 127.8 × 77.4 cm (50 5/16 × 30 1/2 in.)

framed: 104.1 x 77.5 x 13.8 cm (41 x 30 1/2 x 5 7/16 in.)
gross weight: 90.719 kg (200 lb.)

Credit Line

Samuel H. Kress Collection

Accession Number

1961.1.2

Artists / Makers

Andrea della Robbia (artist) Florentine, 1435 - 1525

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

Purchased 1880 in Florence by Charles Fairfax Murray [1849-1919] for John Ruskin [1819-1900], Brantwood, Coniston, Cumbria;[1] by inheritance to his cousin, Joan Ruskin Agnew Severn [1846-1924, Mrs. Arthur Severn], Brantwood; by inheritance to her husband, Joseph Arthur Pallison Severn [1842-1931], Brantwood; (sale, Sotheby's, London, 8 May 1931, no. 66); purchased by Spanish Art Gallery.[2] (French & Co., New York), by 1938;[3] purchased 1945 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1961 to NGA.

[1] E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds., The Works of John Ruskin, London, 1903-1912, volume II of the letters, p. 311.

[2] Annotated sales catalogue reproduced in James S. Dearden, Sales & exhibition catalogues relating to John Ruskin, Oxford microfiche, 1981.

[3] The work was lent by French & Co. to an exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1938.

Associated Names

French & Company LLC
Kress Foundation, Samuel H.
Murray, Charles Fairfax
Ruskin, John
Severn, Joan Ruskin Agnew
Severn, Joseph Arthur Pallison
Sotheby's, London
Spanish Art Gallery

Exhibition History

1938: Eighteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Italian Gothic and Early Renaissance Sculptures [cover title: Italian Sculpture 1250-1500], Detroit Institute of Arts, 1938, no. 62, repro.

1946: Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. A-159.

2016: Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2016-2017, no. 73, repro.

Bibliography

1884: Spielmann, M. H. “A Conversation with Mr. Ruskin at Brantwood.” Pall Mall Gazette 21 April 1884: 11-12.

1898: Zimmern, Helen. “Illustri contemporanei. John Ruskin.” Emporium 8 (August, 1898): 91-110, esp. 91.

1903: Ruskin, John. Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds. London, 1903-1912: VIII (1903):84, n. 2; XXXIII (1908): 313; XXXIV (1908):665-666, repro. pl. 7; XXXVII (1909): 311.

1919: Marquand, Allan. Robbia Heraldry, Princeton, 1919: 39 no. 36.

1922: Marquand, Allan. Andrea della Robbia and his atelier. 2 vols. Princeton, 1922: 2: 39-40, cat. 140 no. 6, as workshop of Andrea.

1931: Carter, A.C.R. The Burlington Magazine 58 (1931): xlv.

1946: Eggen, J. B. “La galerie nationale d’art, Washington.” Mouseion 57/58, nos. 3-4 (1946): 1-168, esp. 98.

1959: Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 409, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 166.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 146, repro.

1971: Dearden, James S. "John Ruskin's art collection - a centenary." The Connoisseur 178, no. 715 (September 1971): 27-31.

1976: Middeldorf, Ulrich. Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century. London, 1976: 36.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 630, no. 979, repro.

1988: Kecks, Ronald G. Madonna und Kind. Das häusliche Andachtsbild im Florenz des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1988: 138, repro. 158a

1992: Gentilini, Giancarlo. I Della Robbia. La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento. Florence, 1992: 1:221, 270 n. 30, repro. 233.

1993: Clegg, Jeanne, and Paul Tucker. Ruskin and Tuscany. Exh. cat. Accademia Italiana, London, Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield, and Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca, 1993: 114-115, no. 232, repro.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 196, repro.

1998: Levi, Donata. “Appunti sulla fortuna dell’arte robbiana nell’Ottocento inglese. " In Giancarlo Gentilini,ed. I Della Robbia e l’arte nuova della scultura invetriata. Exh. cat. Fiesole, Basilica di Sant’Alessandro, 29 May – 1 November 1998. Florence, 1998: 117-130, esp. 122, repro., 123, repro, 125-126, 129 nn. 62-64.

1999: Dearden, James. John Ruskin: A Life in Pictures. Sheffield, 1999: 172-173, repro., 241.

2000: Elliott, David B. Charles Fairfax Murray, The Unknown Pre-Raphaelite. New Castle, Delaware, 2000: 84, 224 n. 25.

2023: Boyd, Rachel E. and Robert Price. "Creating and Re-Creating a Della Robbia Adoration of the Child." Daphne Barbour, ed.,Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 6 (2023): 2-35, repro.