The materiality of terracotta sculpture in early modern Europe

Abstract

"Through meticulously researched case studies, this book explores the materiality of terracotta sculpture in early modern Europe. Chapters present a broad geographical perspective showcasing examples of modelling, firing, painting, and gilding of clay in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The volume considers known artworks by celebrated artists, such as Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Verrocchio, Filipe Hodart, or Hans Reichle, in parallel with several lesser-studied terracotta sculptures and tin-glazed earthenware made by anonymous artisans. The book challenges arbitrary distinctions into the fine art and the applied arts, that obscured the image of artistic production in the early modern world. The centrality of clay in the creative processes of artists working with two- and three-dimensional artefacts comes to the fore. The role of terracotta figures in religious practices, as well as processes of material substitutions or mimesis, confirm the medium's significance for European visual and material culture in general. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance studies, and material culture."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction. Materiality, scale, and status of early modern terracotta / Zuzanna Sarnecka and Agnieszka Dziki -- Part I. Material migrations. 1. Materiality as an incentive to stylistic innovation in earthenware from Bergen op Zoom (15th-16th centuries) / Bart van Eekelen ; 2. Making a virtue out of a necessity : Lorenzo Mercadante's use of terracotta in Seville cathedral / Nicola Jennings ; 3. Episodes of the arts of fire in Portugal during the Renaissance / Pedro Flor -- Part II. Terracotta and design. 4. Hans Reichle's contribution to the practice of terracotta sculpture in Tyrol / Francesca Padovani ; 5. Luca della Robbia's labours in terracotta / Catherine Kupiec ; 6. Clay models in Verrocchio's workshop / Dylan Smith ; 7. The primacy of terracotta : sculptures for painting in sixteenth-century Renaissance Florence / David Lucidi -- Part III. Mimetic ventures. 8. Glazed ornament between architecture and altarpieces : Luca and Andrea della Robbia in Impruneta and Pescia / Federica Carta ; 9. The transformation of Della Robbia garland frames : from Luca through Giovanni's Antinori Resurrection / Roberta J. M. Olson ; 10. Face, surface, interface : some observations on polychrome Florentine terracotta busts / Andreas Huth ; 11. Antonio Begarelli and small-scale terracotta sculpture / Virna Ravaglia -- Part IV. Contexts and values. 12. Della Robbia sculptures for Florentine Renaissance convents / Marietta Cambareri ; 13. "Ut firmetur quod formatum est" : Augustinian terracottas, and a note on two sculptures from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts / Marco Scansani ; 14. The papal clay : firing terracotta sculptures in sixteenth-century Rome / Zuzanna Sarnecka ; 15. Exceeding expectations : Antonio Begarelli, his female patrons, and the misunderstood materialities of white terracotta / Erin Giffin ; 16. Conversation on the terracotta sculpture in the Renaissance : recollections, reflections and proposals / Giancarlo Gentilini. Material migrations -- Terracotta and design -- Mimetic ventures -- Contexts and values.