Giovanni della Robbia (Italian, Florentine, 1469–1529/30). The Resurrection of Christ, circa 1520–25. Glazed terracotta, 683/4 x 1431/2 x 13 in. (174.6 x 364.5 x 33 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of A. Augustus Healy, 99.5
The Brooklyn Della Robbia
Long-Term Installation
Focus Gallery, 3rd Floor
Giovanni della Robbia’s Renaissance glazed terracotta masterpiece The Resurrection of Christ is a compositional and technical tour de force. The massive relief sculpture, comprised of forty-six pieces, portrays a vision of faith and salvation unfolding amid a vibrant cornucopia of naturalistic plants, flowers, and animals.
The Resurrection was commissioned around 1520 by the Antinori family, historical Tuscan vintners since 1385, to adorn a wall of their villa outside Florence, Italy. Almost four hundred years later, in 1899, it became the first Italian Renaissance work to enter our collection. Since the late 1990s the large, colorful relief sculpture has not been on public view.
The restoration in 2015 of della Robbia’s vibrant masterwork by our conservation team was generously funded by the same Antinori family whose ancestors originally commissioned it. The restoration is highlighted in a video accompanying this focused look at one of our most significant works of European art.
The Brooklyn Della Robbia is curated by Lisa Small, Senior Curator, European Art.