Hi, everybody! Here is your Friday Afternoon Challenge: “Group Shots”!

[horseshoecrab]

74. Here ya go ...

The style told me that this was one of the Della Robbia, so being pretty sure of that was a big help, eventually.

Did a lot of searches for "della robbia, outdoor art, florence." Still not finding it. Figured out that it was a tabernacle by its shape. I just stared at the thing waiting for something - anything - to jump out and me. Worked on the inscription where I found something that really helped:

The inscription on the tabernacle states that it was posted on the Via Chaterina in 1522 (MDXXII). Couldn't be Luca - he died in 1482. So, this would have to have been either Andrea or Giovanni Della Robbia.

So, this narrowed it down. A search on "Della Robbia, Florence, tabernacle 1522" and variations of that led quickly to the big hits.

The hits that I would call scholarly are:
http://www.academia.edu/425678/_Every_Sort_of_Manual_Type_and_Mostly_Foreigners_Migrants_Brothers_and_Festive_Kings_in_Early_Modern_Florence

This deals with the wool workers, in this case German and Flemish immigrants, and how much they added to the Florence art scene in their commissioning of these works.

and also this, in which author, Allan Marquand, mentions Giovanni's homage to Ghiberti's bronze gate, and plenty more!

http://books.google.com/books?id=VMQVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=inscription+on+Tabernacolo+delle+Fonticine&source=bl&ots=007C8_dpBt&sig=wL1xz1zI2CsD-gzlCb3Mp05PJ7c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JQkEUajRI-my0QGB3YHQAw&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=inscription%20on%20Tabernacolo%20delle%20Fonticine&f=false


Love those popping heads on the baptistery gate and on the tabernacle! Fascinating challenge this week.

Hope this helps CTYankee.