Benedetto Buglioni and workshop.

BENEDETTO BUGLIONI ( Florence, 1459/1460-1521) and workshop.
Enameled terracotta.
Presents restorations.
It has a frame following Renaissance models.
Measurements: 62 x 46 x 4 cm; 107 x 78 x 12 cm (frame).
Relief of terracotta in which the Virgin is represented suckling the Child, accompanied by two angels in the upper zone. Following the words of the study by Francesco Caglioti, historian and professor at the University of Naples: "I believe that this work can be serenely attributed to the last decades of the Florentine 15th century, and in particular to the activity of the workshop of Benedetto Buglioni (1461-1521), who represented in his time the main alternative to the glorious tradition of glazed terracottas by Luca della Robbia and his grandchildren and descendants. According to Vasari, moreover, Benedetto received the secret of the glazed works from a female member of the Della Robbia household. Studies in recent decades have already attributed to Buglioni other versions of the same invention: in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and in the church of San Giacomo (Sint-Jakobskerk) in Bruges (Brugge) there are two examples in round format; in the Certosa del Galluzzo near Florence there is instead an arched example like the one in Madrid, but simply in painted and unglazed terracotta".

The technique, known as "terracotta invetriata", became popular in Tuscany during the 15th century. In fact, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Argentina states that "The enamel coating on the terracotta made it resistant to weathering which, added to the use of bright colors -yellows, light blue, white, green- highlighted by the brightness of the enamel, achieved a very attractive ornamental effect. The Della Robbia family managed to perfect this technique in their workshop and became its maximum representative, giving rise to a great number of followers and imitators. Due to the fame achieved by these artists, who used to surround the central theme of their works with colorful garlands of fruits and vegetables, almost all works with these characteristics have been attributed to the Della Robbia family or their workshop. We know that Benedetto Buglioni, who worked with Andrea della Robbia, by 1480 had set up his own workshop and produced important works for the cathedral of Perugia and for the church of Santa Cristina in Bolsena. His works present less movement and fluidity in the drapery, aspects appreciated in the works of Della Robbia; the production of this workshop is characterized by a certain schematization in the composition of the scenes and in the treatment of the characters. These formal aspects are present in the MNBA tondo, so it is likely that its authorship is related to Buglioni's workshop".