Bust of a Young Saint
In the Museum of Sacred Art of the Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo in Montevarchi there is a comparison between two members of the same family, which is also a comparison between a master and his young pupil. The bust of a young girl from the Bargello National Museum is a splendid example of glazed terracotta art. The work dates back to between 1465 and 1470 and critics have long discussed whether its paternity should be attributed to Luca della Robbia or the very young Andrea.
We are inclined to believe that Luca was the author of the bust that was originally placed in the pharmacy of the San Marco Convent in Florence. The inventories mention a “bust of a young woman”, but it is almost certainly a saint, this hypothesis being enforced by the hole on the top of the nape that was likely used to attach a halo. The bright yellow hair, unusual for the time, brings it near to other works by Luca della Robbia, such as, for example, the Coat-of-arms of the Physicians and pharmacists’ Guild in Orsanmichele in Florence or the Madonna Enthroned with Child in the San Marco Museum.
In the young saint we again find the refinement of
line and the essential delicacy of the shaping inspired
by classic models, which are well suited to represent a
subject whose spiritual potential, with the strength of
faith, appears through the direct gaze and the pure and
resolute line of the neck. Only the well-modeled mouth
endows this figure with a natural humanity, her purity
being highlighted and symbolized through the purity of
the enameled glazes (Caneva).
The comparison brought about by the Renaissance in
Valdarno Exhibition is particularly interesting. As the
curator Caterina Caneva suggests in the catalog “the
comparison between the different expressions of the
family’s founder, Luca, at the end of the sixth decade,
and those of his successor Andrea, about forty years
later” stands out. But two different typologies of
works are also compared, both successfully carried out
by the Della Robbias: the small-sized work,
concentrated in its simple grace, and the “monumental”
work that, at the same time, adorns and defines an
entire architectonic structure.
Luca della Robbia, Bust of a Young Saint; polychrome glazed terracotta; 40 x 40 cm. Florence, Bargello National Museum