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The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ

Victoria & Albert Museum

 

The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ

 

About 1510 - 1515, Italy, Florence

Glazed and painted terracotta

Workshop of Andrea della Robbia (1435—1525)

 

Large-scale groups in various materials were used as focal points for devotion in chapels and churches throughout Europe. Terracotta was particularly popular in Tuscany and around Bologna.

Terracotta groups on this scale were difficult to make. The figures here were each constructed separately. Mary Magdalene, on the right, is now in several pieces and probably shattered during the first (or biscuit) firing. This prevented a second firing to secure the glazes, so instead the figure was painted.

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Uploaded on November 30, 2016
Taken on September 16, 2016