Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-223).

Thesis (doctoral)--Justus Liebig-Universität Giessen. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117).

Thesis--Halle-Wittenberg. / "Orts-Register" and "Namens-Register": p. [103]-115. Includes bibliographical references.

Univ., Habil.-Schr.--Frankfurt a.M., 2000.

This dissertation presents a new history of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian glazed terracotta sculpture. Invented by Luca della Robbia in 1430s Florence, the medium even today remains synonymous with the Della Robbia name. Luca founded a prolific family workshop that continued to produce sculpture following his distinctive methods, and in some cases re-using his molds and other visual models. While most scholarship to date has focused on questions of attribution, this project instead investigates the artists’ methods for the codification and transmission of their distinctive technology and style, as well as the attractions that glazed terracotta held for Renaissance viewers. The Della Robbia remained the dominant practitioners of the medium for over a century, but they did not hold a monopoly: the dissertation, therefore, also considers the contemporary Buglioni workshop and other artists who contributed to collaborative projects. Building upon recent work by conservators and materials scientists, the first chapter provides a comprehensive synthesis of the materials and techniques of glazed terracotta, in order to offer new insights into the development of the technology in the hands of Luca and his successors. Chapter 2 uses a variety of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century written sources to explore how early modern Florentines conceived of and responded to sculptures in this new medium and the processes by which they were created. Through a close reading of Luca’s will and related litigation, Chapter 3 demonstrates that the sculptor considered the art in which he instructed his nephew, Andrea, to be a form of intangible property with real financial value. The second half of the chapter examines series of closely related sculptures in order to shed light on the materials and mechanisms that facilitated transmission of knowledge and consistency in design across generations. Chapter 4 explores the appeal of this visual consistency for contemporary viewers by studying a variety of instances where glazed terracotta was used to shape devotional experience and characterize sacred environments and objects. The fifth chapter examines the structure of the Della Robbia shop as it evolved over the last decades of its existence, demonstrating that collaborations were crucial to all stages of artistic production. Instead of attempting to discern each sculptor’s individual contribution to joint projects, my study considers the nature of these partnerships, together with early modern conceptions of authorship. The conclusion draws attention to the longstanding legacy of glazed terracotta sculpture across Europe and outlines possibilities for future research. By locating the history of glazed terracotta within a broader narrative of Renaissance sculpture, one defined not by biographies but rather by technologies, this dissertation aims to highlight the coexistence and reciprocity of the exceptional and the everyday, of processes of invention and repetition, and of the individual artist and the workshop.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2010. / Vita. Illustrations not reproduced. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 393-425).

L’église Saint-Michel de Bordeaux est construite à la fin du Moyen Âge au centre d’une paroisse urbaine très dynamique. L’activité portuaire et commerciale fait vivre de nombreux artisans et enrichit les puissants marchands du quartier de la Rousselle. Ils sont investis dans le gouvernement de la commune et financent copieusement le chantier de leur église paroissiale. Leurs pratiques pieuses et leur activité à la tête de l’administration de la fabrique et des confréries sont représentatives de la religion civique à la fin du Moyen Âge. L’église accueille depuis la fin du XVe siècle un collège de prêtres-bénéficiers, au service des nombreuses fondations pieuses et des confréries installées dans les chapelles latérales. Elles sont construites durant le second chantier gothique, qui met en œuvre à partir du second quart du XVe siècle une vaste église flamboyante de plan basilical. Celle-ci succède à une première église gothique menée à son terme durant le XIVe siècle selon un parti-pris architectural de type « halle ». Le chantier de la cathédrale, qui introduit à Bordeaux les formes du gothique rayonnant du Nord de la France, est une source d’inspiration à Saint-Michel, dans le domaine de la modénature et de la sculpture monumentale. Le chantier flamboyant voit l’arrivée de maîtres-maçons dont l’œuvre a pu être identifiée. Elle se réfère aux chantiers normands, parisiens ou financés par le roi de France. Les Lebas de Saintes apportent leur culture artistique et leur technique à l’accomplissement du transept, à la conception de la nef et du clocher isolé. La faible influence de l’œuvre de Saint-Michel sur la création artistique locale est compensée par le rayonnement de son clocher-tour, un des plus hauts clochers du royaume. Son chantier exceptionnel est très bien renseigné par 11 années de comptes de la fabrique. Ils illustrent les conditions de travail et l’équipement nécessaire à la construction à grande hauteur. Un des autres chefs-d’œuvre de l’église, le portail nord, est probablement réalisé vers 1520 par Imbert Boachon, maître-maçon, imagier, menuisier, selon la nature des travaux et selon les villes ou il travaille. Aujourd’hui, la silhouette de l’église et du clocher, tous deux isolés au milieu de plusieurs places, ne reflète plus totalement la morphologie de l’œuvre médiévale. Des faiblesses structurelles obligent les hommes du XIXe siècle à reconstruire le chevet. Le clocher est rénové par Paul Abadie et l’église reçoit une esthétique gothique influencée par l’archéologie monumentale et les doctrines de la restauration patrimoniale de l’époque. / The church of St Michael of Bordeaux has been built in the late Middle Ages, in a very dynamic urban parish. The fluvial and commercial activities of the port generate work for craftsmen and enrich the powerful merchants from the borough of La Rousselle. These merchants are invested in the communal government and finance the building of their parish church. Their pious practices and their activity at the head of the parish fabric and friaries are good examples of the late medieval civic religion. From the end of the fifteenth century, the church receives a college of priest provided by religious benefits. They are in the service of many pious foundations and friaries which are established in the lateral chapels. These chapels are built during the second gothic construction, which makes a big Flamboyant style church with the plan of a basilica. This building follows a first gothic church, conducted at its term during the fourteenth century in accordance to a “halle” architectural volume. The construction of the cathedral of Bordeaux, which introduces the gothic style from the north of France, is an inspiration for St Michael, in the domain of modenature and monumental sculpture. The Flamboyant construction induces the arrival of some master mason, whose work can be identified. That work is influenced by Norman, Parisian and French king’s financed buildings. The Lebas from Saintes give their artistic culture and their technique to the accomplishment of the transept, to the conception of the nave and the isolated bell tower. The low influence of the work of St Michael of Bordeaux on the local artistic creation is balanced with the bell tower, one of the tallest in the French kingdom. Its constructions are well informed thanks to an eleven years’ register for the fabric accounting. It illustrates the work conditions and the necessary equipment for high tall building. One of the masterworks of the church, the north portal, is probably made around 1520 by Imbert Boachon, master mason, sculptor or joiner according to the kind of the work or the town where he works. Nowadays, the silhouette of the church and the bell tower are isolated in the middle of many places and are not totally representative of the medieval made morphology. Some structural frailties oblige the nineteenth century men to rebuild the chevet. The bell tower is renovated by Paul Abadie and the church receives a gothic aesthetic which is influenced by monumental archaeology and the patrimonial restorations doctrines of that period.