Nativity with Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Luca della Robbia
(Italian, Florence, 1399 or 1400–1482)
about 1470
Object PlaceFlorence, Italy
Medium/TechniqueGlazed terracotta
DimensionsOverall: 88.9 × 73.7 × 20 cm (35 × 29 × 7 7/8 in.)
Framed (Rectangular steel pan shaped frame/ two wall cleats): 89.5 × 74.3 × 5.7 cm (35 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.)
Mounted: 83.46 kg (184 lb.)
Framed (Rectangular steel pan shaped frame/ two wall cleats): 89.5 × 74.3 × 5.7 cm (35 1/4 × 29 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.)
Mounted: 83.46 kg (184 lb.)
Credit LineGift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession number17.1463
On View
On viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
The large size of this relief suggests it was made as an altarpiece for a chapel. Because of its size, the piece was made in several, easily discernible pieces that would have been easier to fit into a kiln. The sections were then assembled, to be held together by the frame. The scroll bears singable music and text for the liturgical prayer that begins Gloria in excelsis deo, or ‘Glory to God in the highest,” evoking the sound of music for the viewer.
