The Materiality of Terracotta Sculpture in Early Modern Europe

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. This 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. This book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance studies, and material culture.

Zuzanna Sarnecka is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Art History at the University of Warsaw. Agnieszka Dziki is a PhD candidate in Art History at the University of Warsaw, Poland and the University of Cologne, Germany.

Introduction: Materiality, Scale, and Status of Early Modern Terracotta Part I: Material Migrations 1. Materiality as Incentive to Stylistic Innovation in Earthenware from Bergen op Zoom (15th-16th century) 2. Making a Virtue out of a Necessity: Lorenzo Mercadante's Use of Terracotta in Seville Cathedral 3. Episodes of the Arts of Fire in Portugal during the Renaissance Part II: Terracotta and Design 4. Hans Reichle's Contribution to the Practice of Terracotta Sculpture in Tyrol 5. Luca della Robbia's Labors in Terracotta 6. Clay Models in Verrocchio's Workshop 7. The Primacy of Terracotta. Sculptures for Painting in Sixteenth-Century Renaissance Florence Part III: Mimetic Ventures 8. Glazed Ornament between Architecture and Altarpieces: Luca and Andrea della Robbia in Impruneta and Pescia 9. The Transformation of Della Robbia Garland Frames: From Luca through Giovanni's Antinori Resurrection 10. Face, Surface, Interface. Some Observations on Polychrome Florentine Terracotta Busts 11. Antonio Begarelli and Small-Scale Terracotta Sculpture Part IV: Contexts and Values 12. Della Robbia Sculptures for Florentine Renaissance Convents 13. "Ut firmetur quod formatum est" Augustinian Terracottas, and a Note on Two Sculptures from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts 14. The Papal Clay: Firing Terracotta Sculptures in Sixteenth-Century Rome 15. Exceeding Expectations: Antonio Begarelli, His Female Patrons, and the Misunderstood Materialities of White Terracotta 16. Conversation on the Terracotta Sculpture in the Renaissance: Recollections, Reflections and Proposals