St Mary Magdalen

This statuette of St Mary Magdalen, is made by Giovanni della Robbia, in Florence in the second half of the 15th century.

Mary Magdalen is represented kneeling, with her long hair falling in tresses on her shoulders, her cloak drawn across her body, and her right hand on her breast.

The Della Robbia family was an Italian family of sculptors and potters. They were active in Florence from the early 15th century and elsewhere in Italy and France well into the 16th. Family members were traditionally employed in the textile industry, and their name derives from rubia tinctorum, a red dye.

Giovanni della Robbia (1469 - ca. 1529) was one of three of the sons of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) to enter his father's workshop. He received his own commissions from 1497 and increasingly took over the running of the workshop