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Roundel with Foundling Infant Andrea della Robbia Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker)

Artist

Andrea della Robbia Florence 1435 – 1525 Florence

Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker) Firenze

Date 1487 (original), 1907 (cast)
Object type plaster cast
Medium, technique plaster cast
Dimensions

100 × 80 × 20 cm

Inventory number Rg.193
Collection Sculptures
On view Star Fortress (Komárom), The Della Robbia Workshop in Florence, Gallery XIV

The foundling hospital (Ospedale degli Innocenti) in Florence, built after 1419 according to a design by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377—1446), had arcades on the façade that were decorated with coloured glazed terracotta tondi. In 1487, ten reliefs by Andrea della Robbia were placed between the crescent arches
on the façade. The tondi, constructed according to the same compositional scheme but with different details, depict foundling infants, in a reference to the function of the building. The glazed terracotta technique had been elaborated by Andrea’s uncle, Luca, in the early 1440s. The coloured and shiny terracotta sculptures soon became extremely popular in Florence. In 1907 the Museum of Fine Arts ordered plaster casts of four of the Ospedale degli Innocenti’s ten tondi depicting foundling infants.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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