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Andrea della Robbia

The Adoration of the Child, after 1477

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 09

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.