Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
A. Marquand, Andrea della Robbia and his atelier, Princeton, 1922, pp. 91, fig. 91; 101, fig. 71; 122, fig 84; 132, no. 9; fig. 105; 148, fig 226; 154-56, no. 96, fig. 122; II, pp. 100-1, no. 227, fig. 191; 150-1, no. 278, fig. 230
G.C. Gentilini, I Della Robbia; La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, Florence, 1990, I, pp. 236 and pp. 262-3
According to a Report on Thermoluminescence Authenticity Dating by Bortolot Daybreak Archaeometric Laboratory Services, dated 3 November 1997 (sample number 108A6), the present sculpture was last fired between 1467 and 1617.
The attribution of the sculpture to Andrea della Robbia has been confirmed by Dott. Giancarlo Gentilini in a letter dated 30 November 1997, who assigns the sculpture to the period circa 1495-1505. In support of this attribution and dating, Gentilini points to the many similarities the present work shares with glazed polychromed terracotta reliefs by Andrea della Robbia, and particularly those in the portico of the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti, Florence, from circa 1495. (See Gentilini, op. cit., I, p. 236 for comparative illustrations). As Gentilini observes, the figures in the Ospedale roundels -- especially Saint Elisabeth and Saint Claire -- are extremely similar to the female saint in the present work. For example, the facial physiognomy of our saint is nearly identical with that of the saints in the Ospedale reliefs, especially Saint Claire. Moreover, the treatment of the hands, in the emphatic modelling of the veins and tendons, is also highly alike. Additionally, the pose of the body and tilt of the head of our saint is entirely characteristic of Andrea della Robbia's sculpture: parallels are found in the roundels at the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti, the Prato Cathedral lunette (Marquand, op. cit., I, p. 122, fig. 84) and elsewhere. The soft, well-ordered folds of the drapery too are typical of the sculptor's work. The polychromy is another indication of Andrea's authorship: e.g. the yellow of the halo and the beige of the habit are the same as those of St. Elisabeth in the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti (Gentilini, op. cit., p. 238). It should also be noted that the shape of the present lunette is nearly identical to that of Andrea della Robbia's overdoor relief of San Zanobio in the Museo dell-Opera del Duomo, Florence (Marquand, op. cit., p. 148, fig. 226). The design, the polychromy and the details of the modelling and physiognomy of the present sculpture all support its attribution to Andrea della Robbia.
In an old, but undated certificate regarding the present sculpture, Prof. Giacomo de Nicola (formerly director of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence) also assigns the work to Andrea della Robbia. Furthermore, in that certificate, de Nicola identified the standing female saint in the relief as Saint Claire. That identification, however, is probably incorrect. The saint in the relief does not wear the knotted belt characteristic of the Franciscan order; and she also does not hold a lily, her most common attribute. (Indeed, for the standard iconography of Saint Claire, see the representation of her by Andrea della Robbia at the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti.) It is more likely that the saint in the present relief is Saint Brigitte of Sweden (Saint Brigida). The strongest evidence for this hypothesis are the attributes. Santa Brigida is often depicted holding a book and a distinctively-shaped cross with flared ends and a white disk at its center; moreover, at least two altarpieces show her receiving these very objects from an angel. In addition, Santa Brigida is always shown wearing a white wimple and hood. While she is often depicted wearing a black or dark blue habit; the nuns in her order in fact wore light colored robes, and this may explain the color of the saint's habit in the present relief.
The men flanking the saint are, of course, confraternity brothers, and the openings in the backs of their robes show that they are disciplinati. (Corporal punishment was a standard penintential practice in confraternities in pre-Modern Italy). Borghini (Il Riposo, Florence, 1584, p. 634) mentions a Compagnia di Santa Brigida and there appear to have been several confraternities dedicated to the saint in Renaissance Florence. Pian di Ripoli, in the countryside to the southeast of the city, was the site of the oldest monastery of the Brigittine order in Italy. In addition, construction of a church dedicated to Santa Brigida in Florence in via del Ronco was begun in the early 1430s. According to Paatz (Die Kirchen von Florenz, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1940-, I, pp. 406-8), this church was used until the 1730s; but Giuseppina Bacarelli, citing documents unknown to Paatz, states that construction of this church was abandoned in 1515 and never completed ("Storia del monastero di Santa Maria e Brigida al Paradiso: 1392-1776," in M. Gregori, ed., Il 'Paradiso' in Pian di Ripoli, Florence, 1985, p. 23); this point will require further research. There was also a confraternity dedicated to Santa Brigida in the church of SS. Apostoli. It is not possible as yet to determine which of these sites might have housed the confraternity that commissioned the present sculpture.
We are grateful to Frank Dabell who first identified the saint in the relief as Santa Brigida and kindly shared with us research on her cult in Florence.
A. Marquand, Andrea della Robbia and his atelier, Princeton, 1922, pp. 91, fig. 91; 101, fig. 71; 122, fig 84; 132, no. 9; fig. 105; 148, fig 226; 154-56, no. 96, fig. 122; II, pp. 100-1, no. 227, fig. 191; 150-1, no. 278, fig. 230
G.C. Gentilini, I Della Robbia; La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, Florence, 1990, I, pp. 236 and pp. 262-3
According to a Report on Thermoluminescence Authenticity Dating by Bortolot Daybreak Archaeometric Laboratory Services, dated 3 November 1997 (sample number 108A6), the present sculpture was last fired between 1467 and 1617.
The attribution of the sculpture to Andrea della Robbia has been confirmed by Dott. Giancarlo Gentilini in a letter dated 30 November 1997, who assigns the sculpture to the period circa 1495-1505. In support of this attribution and dating, Gentilini points to the many similarities the present work shares with glazed polychromed terracotta reliefs by Andrea della Robbia, and particularly those in the portico of the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti, Florence, from circa 1495. (See Gentilini, op. cit., I, p. 236 for comparative illustrations). As Gentilini observes, the figures in the Ospedale roundels -- especially Saint Elisabeth and Saint Claire -- are extremely similar to the female saint in the present work. For example, the facial physiognomy of our saint is nearly identical with that of the saints in the Ospedale reliefs, especially Saint Claire. Moreover, the treatment of the hands, in the emphatic modelling of the veins and tendons, is also highly alike. Additionally, the pose of the body and tilt of the head of our saint is entirely characteristic of Andrea della Robbia's sculpture: parallels are found in the roundels at the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti, the Prato Cathedral lunette (Marquand, op. cit., I, p. 122, fig. 84) and elsewhere. The soft, well-ordered folds of the drapery too are typical of the sculptor's work. The polychromy is another indication of Andrea's authorship: e.g. the yellow of the halo and the beige of the habit are the same as those of St. Elisabeth in the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti (Gentilini, op. cit., p. 238). It should also be noted that the shape of the present lunette is nearly identical to that of Andrea della Robbia's overdoor relief of San Zanobio in the Museo dell-Opera del Duomo, Florence (Marquand, op. cit., p. 148, fig. 226). The design, the polychromy and the details of the modelling and physiognomy of the present sculpture all support its attribution to Andrea della Robbia.
In an old, but undated certificate regarding the present sculpture, Prof. Giacomo de Nicola (formerly director of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence) also assigns the work to Andrea della Robbia. Furthermore, in that certificate, de Nicola identified the standing female saint in the relief as Saint Claire. That identification, however, is probably incorrect. The saint in the relief does not wear the knotted belt characteristic of the Franciscan order; and she also does not hold a lily, her most common attribute. (Indeed, for the standard iconography of Saint Claire, see the representation of her by Andrea della Robbia at the Ospedale di San Paolo dei Convalescenti.) It is more likely that the saint in the present relief is Saint Brigitte of Sweden (Saint Brigida). The strongest evidence for this hypothesis are the attributes. Santa Brigida is often depicted holding a book and a distinctively-shaped cross with flared ends and a white disk at its center; moreover, at least two altarpieces show her receiving these very objects from an angel. In addition, Santa Brigida is always shown wearing a white wimple and hood. While she is often depicted wearing a black or dark blue habit; the nuns in her order in fact wore light colored robes, and this may explain the color of the saint's habit in the present relief.
The men flanking the saint are, of course, confraternity brothers, and the openings in the backs of their robes show that they are disciplinati. (Corporal punishment was a standard penintential practice in confraternities in pre-Modern Italy). Borghini (Il Riposo, Florence, 1584, p. 634) mentions a Compagnia di Santa Brigida and there appear to have been several confraternities dedicated to the saint in Renaissance Florence. Pian di Ripoli, in the countryside to the southeast of the city, was the site of the oldest monastery of the Brigittine order in Italy. In addition, construction of a church dedicated to Santa Brigida in Florence in via del Ronco was begun in the early 1430s. According to Paatz (Die Kirchen von Florenz, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1940-, I, pp. 406-8), this church was used until the 1730s; but Giuseppina Bacarelli, citing documents unknown to Paatz, states that construction of this church was abandoned in 1515 and never completed ("Storia del monastero di Santa Maria e Brigida al Paradiso: 1392-1776," in M. Gregori, ed., Il 'Paradiso' in Pian di Ripoli, Florence, 1985, p. 23); this point will require further research. There was also a confraternity dedicated to Santa Brigida in the church of SS. Apostoli. It is not possible as yet to determine which of these sites might have housed the confraternity that commissioned the present sculpture.
We are grateful to Frank Dabell who first identified the saint in the relief as Santa Brigida and kindly shared with us research on her cult in Florence.