Terracotta Skull - Vanitas Or Memento Mori From The 16th Century.

Fine and rare example of a last quarter XVIth c. Vanitas or Momento Mori made and modelled in terracotta, probably from an important florentine workshop and creeted for theprivate use or executed for a more rich complex like a crucifixion with the golgota.

In fact, it is possible that this life-size Vanitas could have come out of the prestigious sixteenth-century workshop of the della Robbias, as it shows stylistic similarities with those produced by Luca della Robbia the younger (1475-1548?) during the first quarter of the sixteenth century. who was a first-rate artist and promoter of the "naturalia" genre: Productions intended for domestic furnishings or elite studios which are characterized by the search for a marked realism and a strong illusionistic impact.

The work is a classic "memento mori", an allegorical representation of the transience of human life.
The majolica represents the philological reconstruction of a skull, both for the dimensions and for the features of an absolute realism.

The measurements of the object are 14.5 high x 18 total length. The measurements including its wooden base are 25.5cm.

We enclose a certificate of authenticity with the sale.