By Moira McCoy
Renaissance artwork has proved to be a vast collection of pieces that include multifaceted characteristics such as Classical Humanism, inclined connection to nature and new linear perspectives in many forms. The purpose of Renaissance art varies, serving ideas of government to the religious scenes. The understanding of movement of these artworks throughout past and present times allow researchers to broaden their minds on the function and purpose of objects in different regions of the world. With uncertainties of its movement in the past, Andrea della Robbia’s Annunciation is a prime example as to how far Renaissance art can move into the present day world. This terracotta relief sculpture from the late fifteenth century has very little known documentation prior to its donation to The Catholic University of America in 1960 by Mr. Arthur T. Roth. The styling techniques and materials provide highly meditative thoughts on the classical scene of Annunciation pieces. This piece was created to project these ideas onto the Florentine audience, but a question to ask is how the message of this art piece changed throughout time and location. Following the Renaissance traits of religious impact through art and how important the location is, viewers of Andrea della Robbia’s Annunciation can interpret this artwork as a religious piece through the Renaissance-Humanism period.
An important start to reviewing this Renaissance sculpture is the file, which acts as a foundation for researchers. Though the information on Andrea della Robbia’s Annunciation is not extremely well documented, readers do get a general idea of the artist, the donor and other parts. There is no signature of the artist that tells us for certain that this is an original Andrea della Robbia, though the metal plaque on the bottom of the sculpture is associated with the Florentine sculptor (Figure 1). Donated in 1960 by Arthur T. Roth of New York, this sculpture has little known transaction prior to this donation. The information of Arthur T. Roth’s contribution to The Catholic University of America is an unknown association. Strong-willed, Roth was a foundational member of the Franklin National Bank in New York and led the bank from a small branch into what was once the nation’s 20th largest bank. There appears to be no documentation of Roth visiting or purchasing the Robbia sculpture, indicating that Robbia’s artpiece may have been a form of gift to the banker. A detailed biography from The New York Times sets a well-paved timeline of Roth’s time in New York as a very insightful document that can tell us as to why he may have donated this piece. With New York allowing larger banks to move into Long Island, this pushed Roth and Franklin National to move into Manhattan which became a pricey expansion. The selling or donation of the Robbia piece to Catholic University may have been more or less to profit his company with the understanding of the religious significance of the Annunciation scene to biblical context. This is only an assumption that researchers can make, as it fits the timeline of his donation in 1960.
Along with the file is information about the artist, Andrea della Robbia. His role as a sculptor under the influence of his uncle, Luca, led readers to understand that the Florentine artist’s pieces were to attract the local audience. Personal research shows that there is very little evidence of della Robbia pieces in the western world today, indicating that they were primarily meant for the Italian viewers of the fifteenth century. There is no confirmed date of completion of Andrea's Annunciation, along with no information of this specific piece on public online sources. When viewing the object file, the date of execution is vaguely indicated as “fifteenth century (?).” Of the pieces in Florence today, there is a highly designated purpose that these pieces fulfill. Andrea della Robbia appears to be a sculptor of religious scenes primarily, as most pieces are in correlation with religious institutions. Also to note is that Andrea succeeded at monumentally allying with Franciscan ideals. The reason behind why these pieces are remaining in their original city of Florence is due to the sculpture type, as they are attached to their original space and excavation of these pieces appear to be improbable. The background of the artist in the file gives examiners a first impression of how this terracotta piece serves a different purpose today than it did in the past.
The visual of della Robbia’s Annunciation appears to the viewer in a semi circular arch with a peaked top, noticeable in Figure 2. At first glance, viewers may find this piece to have little details due to the dominating white-blue color tones of the sculpture. The deep, muted blue provides a background to the whitened figures of Mary and Gabriel, as well as other features such as the dove, flowers and vase. This blue background is also the deepest layer of the relief whereas the white objects and figures appear in the higher relief layer. But why use these two tones as the main colors of this piece? It is believed that the cerulean blue and ivory white color scheme is a trademark of the Robbia workshop founded by Luca della Robbia, Andrea’s uncle. The significance of these colors is perhaps for a few different reasons. Firstly is the simple fact that these colors are just functional and unique colors which mark all pieces from the Robbia workshop as an original della Robbia art piece. In other pieces, such as Luca della Robbia’s Resurrection (fig. 3), we are sampling the earlier model of this blue-white glazing technique that is constant in all Robbia works, even including a brighter green to the work for forestry and brightness. A secondary claim as to why these colors are utilized is in the remembrance of the Florentine aesthetic of the Renaissance time. The memory of Florentine Renaissance leaves us with the idea of Humanism and the imagery of the Florence artists’ personal touch. Nineteenth Century essayist Walter Pater wrote on Luca della Robbia’s use of blue and white terracottas, stating that “...nothing brings the real air of a Tuscan town so vividly to mind as those pieces of pale blue and white earthenware . . . like fragments of the milky sky itself, fallen into the cool streets, and breaking into the darkened churches..” (1) which reinforces the statement that the use of these duochromatic palettes in the Robbia art space are reminiscent of the Florentine art style and appeal to the fifteenth century audience. The last claim is the significance of the subjects, and the importance of these colors in a religious sense. Though there is a paragraph on the religiosity of the scene ahead, it is important for researchers to understand how the light blue is seen in many different versions of the Annunciation pieces, from Northern territory artists such as van Eyck to the Italian Fra Angelico. The blue is often associated with Virgin Mary whereas the white is to symbolize the purity of the Annunciation scene, with iconography of white lilies and a dove. Sticking to the traditional scheme of colors attaches to the immediate knowledge of religious context. Overall, it is important to note that something just as simple as the color palette connects to the location of Florence, the iconography of religious symbols and figures along with the individualism of the artist.
A major feature of Andrea della Robbia’s artwork and style is his material use and glazing techniques. Terracotta is a form of clay-based material that is fired under extreme heat to solidify into a ceramic texture. The accessibility of this clay is found in many parts of the world, such as Asia, the Mediterranean & Africa, and is used in pieces from sculptures to brick making. The historical background of terracotta being applied in Renaissance art is found to be popularized early on by Ghiberti and Donatello during the early fifteenth century (2). Terracotta appears to be used for two main reasons. Firstly, the accessibility for the Florence area to gather the natural resources. As mentioned, the Mediterranean region was abundant with the natural material and therefore would be easy to collect for Italian artists, especially for the Tuscany region. Secondly, the clay material was easily manipulatable for artists of the era. The soft shape that this resource holds allows for artists to decorate and create free flowing shapes which are very different from metals, marble and other resources. Florentine artist Andrea della Robbia was introduced to the making of terracotta sculpture early on, as he was apprenticed under his uncle, Luca. Luca’s innovation of developing glazed and colored terracotta that, when fired with these glazes, would fuse with the clay underneath and result in a brightness and shine. Furthermore, Andrea’s improvement in the creation of these enameled figures was to leave the face, hands and other parts bare. The emphasis of polychrome, or multiple colors, on Andrea’s pieces gives the Florentine artist a sense of individuality within the della Robbia workshop.
As mentioned briefly in the previous paragraphs, Andrea della Robbia’s Annunciation sculpture at The Catholic University of America was made as a religious motif that includes all of the classical iconography of the biblical scene of the Annunciation of Mary with Gabriel. The event takes place when Gabriel the Angel descends to the Virgin Mary and announces that she will bear the child of the Holy Spirit, reiterated in the Book of Luke. The Holy Spirit is symbolized by a dove or rays of light in these scenes whereas the inclusion of white lilies is the symbol of the Virgin Mary, indicating her purity. Specifically in Andrea’s Annunciation, we see all four of these characters. Gabriel and Mary oppose each other with a vase of lilies filling the space between them. Above head, a swooping dove to represent the Holy Spirit. The true importance of these iconographic features is that even if the viewer does not know the name, these subjects tell the story of the Annunciation. In the Renaissance eye, the Annunciation scene was popularized to portray the old to new transition through the world, just as the change from the Old to New Testament. More importantly, the Annunciation connects with the Renaissance ideology of a new age of religion and mankind. Appealing to the Franscian ideals of contemplation upon art, Andrea conceived many of his pieces to the influence of Franciscans in Florence during the Early Renaissance period. Contemplation of art allows the viewer to meditate on the Annunciation scene, which can evoke the reliving of the biblical event to the viewer and give a sensational understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role during the Renaissance era. Furthermore, the role of Gabriel could be the concept of Renaissance, or rebirth, who is appointing new changes upon the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the European society of the times.
The functionality of this art piece by Andrea della Robbia is overall to appeal to the religious perspective of its audience. Though we do not know the original location of this piece, many parts of this terracotta sculpture tell us that this was made for a religious institute and serve the purpose as a religious piece. Other than the obvious iconographic traits of this piece, the shape also indicates an interesting take on this piece. The arching shape with the semi-pointed top, addressed as a tympanum, is noticeably similar to the shape of Luca della Robbia’s piece Resurrection, a terracotta piece that is found above the left sacristy in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Fig. 3). The shape of tympanums have changed drastically through time and with the ideas of reconnecting with the classical Roman features, the shape of Andrea and Luca della Robbia act not only as a symbol of Renaissance art, but also gives researchers some insight that Andrea’s Annunciation may have been originally placed or created as a tympana for a religious site or church. What appears as a little detail actually gives lots of context to the religious function, emphasis in reconnecting with Roman art & where this object may have been before the twentieth century.
Andrea della Robbia’s Annunciation allows viewers to gather insight as to how important documented travel for pieces of historical artwork. With the thin filework and little to no information on the actual piece itself, the interpretation of the piece relies on the audience members to recognize the iconography and biblical importance of this scene. Being able to comprehend the symbolic message of this terracotta sculpture was a task for viewers, as it was a noticeably religious scene and would have been reinforced by the original location. The world of Florentine Renaissance highlights the importance of rebirth and return to the humanistic view of antique Greek and Roman society. The Renaissance was a new turning point for Europeans in means of politics, society, literature and philosophies and though that time has passed, the significance of Andrea della Robbia's Annunciation has not lost its importance, but merely been lost to time and underappreciation for the original Florentine piece.
FIG 1 -- Metal Plaque shown on the wooden shelf of Andrea della Robbia's Annunciation, added date unknown.
FIG 2 -- Front view of Andrea della Robbia's Annunciation, terracotta relief, late fifteenth century, Nugent Hall, Catholic University of America
FIG 3 -- Luca della Robbia, Ressurection, polychromed and glazed terracotta,1442-1445, Duomo di Firenze.
Sources:
(1) Pater, Walter The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Literature, February 1873. Page 63-72
(2) Victoria and Albert Museum, “Italian Terracotta Sculpture,” Italian Terracotta Sculpture (London September 4, 2013)