Virgin and Child
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Virgin and Child” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
This composition was among the most popular products of the workshop of Andrea della Robbia; nearly twenty versions of this glazed terracotta roundel are known. The largest and probably the earliest of these reliefs is the so-called Foulc Madonna (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes). On account of the modelling and glazing, Marquand and Pope-Hennessy accepted the V&A relief as an autograph work by Andrea. Repairs in the figures, especially prominent in the Child's left hand, part of his face, and chest, do not detract from the quality of the relief and the serene composition.
Read on
The Della Robbia family of sculptors was active in Florence from the early fifteenth century and worked elsewhere in Italy and in France well into the sixteenth century. Andrea was the nephew of Luca della Robbia, who founded the workshop and invented a new method for creating terracotta sculptures covered with colourful ceramic glazes. Trained also a marble sculptor in the studio of his uncle Luca, Andrea became an excellent modeller, unrivalled in his ability to capture the life of his subjects in glazed clay. His best-known works are ten roundels of infants in swaddling clothes, installed on the façade of Florence's Ospedale degli Innocenti (foundling hospital) in 1487.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 5633-1859
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
