The Madonna and Child

Luca della Robbia (1400-1482), a sculptor of the first rank, perfected the technique of applying vitrified glazes (colored with metal and mineral oxides) to terracotta sculpture, thereby laying the foundation for an enormously successful family business which prospered for generations.  Management of the business passed to Andrea, nephew of Luca, in the mid-1470s. At just that time Andrea received a prestigious commission from the architects' guild (Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname) for an arch shaped Madonna and Child; payment was authorized in March 1475, and the sculpture survives today in the Museo Nazionale, Florence. The central plaque of the Kansas City roundel, cast separately from the wreath, is an adaptation in circular format of the figure group in the Madonna of the Architects. It cannot be a version of the same model, however, for the original is somewhat larger. Recent thermoluminescence testing suggests that the wreath, itself cast in four sections, is of 15th century origin while the Madonna plaque is most likely a 19th century replacement.