Lot 63. Luca della Robbia 'il Giovane' (circa 1475-1548), Italian, Florence, circa 1510-1520, Tondo with the coat of arms of the Visdomini Family. Estimate 60,000 — 35,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's

inscribed: DEBIS / D[OMI]NIS, polychromed glazed terracotta, within a painted metal mount, 62cm., 24 3/8 in. diameter.

Provenance: Carlo De Carlo, Florence;
sold Eredi Carlo De Carlo, Semenzato Florence, 19 April 2001, lot 110

Exhibition: Fiesole, Basilica di Sant'Alessandro, I della Robbia e l’arte nuova della scultura invetriata, 1998, no. IV.19

Bibliography: G. Gentilini, I Della Robbia: La scultura invetriata nel Rinascimento, Florence, 1992, pp. 334, 356;
F. Quinterio in G. Gentilini, I della Robbia e l’arte nuova della scultura invetriata, exh. cat., Florence 1998, no. IV.19, p. 314;
M. Scalini and A. Tartuferi, Un Tesoro Rivelato: Capolavori dalla collezione Carlo De Carlo, Florence, 2001, p 59, no. 20, pl. XVII;
R. Dionigi (ed.), Stemmi Robbiani in Italia e nel Mondo: per un catalogo araldico, storico e artistico, Florence, 2014, no. 129

Notes: The vibrantly coloured and decorated roundels with coats of arms produced by the Della Robbia family created an insatiable demand among the Florentine elite of the 15th and 16th centuries. According to Gentilini (1998, op. cit., p. 64), the earliest use of such a heraldic tondo in glazed terracotta is the Stemma della Mercanzia on the Orsanmichele, Florence, from circa 1440-1445, by the founding father of the workshops, Luca della Robbia. His successors Andrea, and later Giovanni, continued to model such works for Tuscany’s foremost noble families. 

The present tondo shows the coat of arms of the Visdomini, whose name is inscribed in Latin across the background. The Visdomini were a privileged family group that held the right to administer the diocese of Florence during those times when the Bishop’s seat was vacant. The term was used as a surname by families that had held this office.  

The tondo has been attributed to Luca della Robbia the Younger, a great-nephew of his famous namesake, because of the precise and refined modelling, as well as the delicate tonal varieties of the glazing, for which he was known. Luca chose to dispense with the architectural framing that had often been used in similar tondi by his predecessors, thereby enhancing the rich luminosity of the garland.