GIOVANNI DI TURINO

MADONNA AND CHILD

ca. 1430

 Polychrome terracotta

85 cm x 131 cm

Washington, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Madonna and Child, a devotional work of art made of polychrome terracotta that is conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Washington, D.C., is another example of Giovanni di Turino’s versatility.

During the early years of the 15^th century, Giovanni frequented Lorenzo Ghiberti’s  workshop on several occasions.

This was a real and proper laboratory, for both marble and terracotta, and he accumulated considerable experience there.

The working of clay was fundamental to the process of executing and producing the statues and bronze reliefs of the doors of the Florentine baptistery.

The sculptors used clay as the first translation for the idea, and then developed always larger versions that were ready to be cast in marble or bronze.