Christ Comforting a Poor Man
Luca della Robbia the Younger (1475-c. 1548) · 1485-1515
Within a round frame a metre across, Christ bends towards a ragged man and lays a hand on him in a gesture of consolation. The figures stand out in white glaze against a blue ground, the two colours that the Della Robbia workshop turned into a trademark, and the glossy surface still shines as brightly as when it left the kiln. Notice the contrast between the poor man's bent, dependent posture and Christ's upright calm, and the simple, legible outlines designed to be read from a distance.
The tondo repeats a composition from the loggia of the hospital of San Paolo in Florence, where the Della Robbia workshop filled the spandrels between the arches with roundels showing works of mercy. Such images spoke directly to the purpose of a charitable institution, and a copy like this one may have been made for another hospital or confraternity. The Louvre bought it in Paris in 1851 from the antiques dealer Delange, at a time when the museum was just beginning to collect Italian Renaissance sculpture in earnest.
Did You Know? The same scene decorates the arcade of a Florentine hospital, where it reminded passers-by of the duty to care for the poor.
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