A Large North Italian Painted Terracotta Relief of The Nativity of Christ and the Annunciation of the Shepherds Second half of the 15th century and later

Instituto dei Buoni Fanciulli, Verona
Heim Gallery, London

C. Avery, Fingerprints of the artist: European terracotta sculpture from the Arthur M. Sackler collections, Washington, D.C., 1981, no. 2, ill.

G. Fiocco, "Michele da Firenze", Dedalo, XII, 1932, pp. 542-562

Consists of multiple pieces, as seen in the catalogue. The lot is sold with a box of smaller pieces and chips. Losses, chips, restorations, and overpainting throughout. The reverse of each piece is filled with plaster and many have pins embedded for attachment.
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RELATED LITERATURE

A. Darr et. al. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. I, London/Turnhout, 2002

The present large relief was previously ascribed to Michele da Firenze, one of Ghiberti's early assistants, by Fiocco who published the work in 1932. Connections to the work of Bartolomeo Bellano and Riccio have also been suggested in the past. There are obvious stylistic debts here to Ghiberti's narrative compositions, such as those on the Baptistry doors in Florence, in the modeling of the rock formations, the somewhat loose and curvilinear treatment of the drapery, and the separate placement of multiple narrative scenes in one panel. Similar to The Ford Nativity in the Detroit Institute of Arts which also recalls the work of Ghiberti and his circle, the present relief is, however, less developed than Ghiberti's work.

A thermoluminescence report from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford University, dated January 29, 1981 indicates that samples 281x35.2, .3, and .4 were last fired 500 years ago (+/- 100 years), and sample 281x35.1 was last fired less than 100 years ago.