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Ascension Luca della Robbia Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker)

Artist

Luca della Robbia Florence [?] 1399/1400 – 1482 Florence

Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker) Firenze

Date 1446-1451 (original), 1907 (cast)
Object type plaster cast
Medium, technique plaster cast
Dimensions

200 × 270 × 35 cm

Inventory number Rg.186
Collection Sculptures
On view Star Fortress (Komárom), The Della Robbia Workshop in Florence, Gallery XIV

The original, glazed terracotta tympanum was made for the Duomo in Florence by Luca della Robbia between 1446 and 1451. The relief was to be placed above an entrance to one of the sacristies (Sagrestia dei Canonici). A pendant depicting the Resurrection had been made by the sculptor for the tympanum of the other sacristy (Sagrestia delle Messe) a few years earlier. In the Ascension, Luca portrayed the apostles and the Virgin in the same posture — kneeling around Christ — but with individual facial expressions and hand movements. In the middle of the carefully constructed composition, in front of Christ’s ascending figure, the circle formed by the apostles and the Virgin begins to open, thereby inviting viewers of the work to partake in the miracle.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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