Make a Joyful Noise: Renaissance Art and Music at Florence Cathedral, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Feb. 6–May 17, 2015, offers a rare opportunity to see three exquisite marble carvings and other Italian Renaissance masterpieces by sculptor Luca della Robbia. The reliefs are from the Cantoria (singing gallery) of Florence Cathedral and will be shown with objects that originally were in use with them, including lavishly illuminated choir books and a specially designed lectern. None of the artworks has ever left Florence before. The exhibition is free with museum admission.
Make a Joyful Noise: Renaissance Art and Music at Florence Cathedral, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Feb. 6–May 17, 2015, offers a rare opportunity to see three exquisite marble carvings and other Italian Renaissance masterpieces by sculptor Luca della Robbia. The reliefs are from the Cantoria (singing gallery) of Florence Cathedral and will be shown with objects that originally were in use with them, including lavishly illuminated choir books and a specially designed lectern. None of the artworks has ever left Florence before. The exhibition is free with museum admission.
During the Renaissance religious art was a multisensory experience, combining architecture, sculpture, painting, and music in a sacred place. Della Robbia began his Cantoria—a balcony for the organ—in Florence Cathedral in 1431 and completed it seven years later, eventually producing 10 exquisitely carved marbles that illustrate the text of Psalm 150, which encourages worshippers to praise God through vocal and instrumental music.
The three reliefs in the exhibition contain all of the major features of the entire set. Young people sing, dance and play instruments with joyous and highly naturalistic abandon, providing a window into how music was performed and enjoyed at the time. The images are highly idealized and symbolic, representative of heavenly musical choirs and orchestras that appear in paintings celebrating the Virgin Mary to whom Florence Cathedral is dedicated.
“This exhibition will bring to life the importance of music to religious practice during the Renaissance and the reverence artists such as Luca della Robbia gave the subject,” said Alan P. Darr, DIA senior curator of the European art department and Walter B. Ford II Family Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. “Visitors will not have the chance to see these artworks together again without travelling to Italy. We’re fortunate to have these rare masterpieces in Detroit.”
Selected sculptures, manuscripts and paintings made in Florence and elsewhere in central Italy from the DIA’s collection of early Renaissance art will further illustrate how music was interwoven into religious practice during this innovative time period.
“The DIA has the finest collection of Italian sculptures in the Americas,” said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director. “Very few U.S. museums have work by della Robbia and we are delighted to include our Madonna and Child in the exhibition, one of his most important works.”
A 96-page catalog accompanies the exhibition.
