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| Donatello Ascension with Christ giving Keys to St Peter ca. 1426-30 marble relief (rilievo schiacciato) Victoria & Albert Museum |
"This relief is one of the finest surviving examples of Donatello's work in rilievo schiacciato – literally 'squashed relief' – a technique which he developed. It is recorded in the Palazzo Medici in an inventory made after the death of Lorenzo de' Medici il Magnifico in 1492, and in the Palazzo Salviati in Florence in 1591."
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| Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Adoring Angel ca. 1430-38 marble relief fragment Victoria & Albert Museum |
"This figure relief formed part of the monument of Bartolommeo Aragazzi (d. 1429) – poet, humanist, and secretary to Pope Martin V – in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi himself from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly after 1427 and was completed in 1438."
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| Simone Ferrucci Virgin and Child ca. 1450-75 marble relief (rilievo schiacciato) Victoria & Albert Museum |
"The sculptor has used linear perspective to suggest the depth of of a room, but the figures are placed in front of the space rather than within it."
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| attributed to Simone Ferrucci Virgin adoring the Child ca. 1470-93 marble relief Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
"Wilhelm Bode in Italienische Bildhauer der Renaissance (Berlin, 1887) attests that he saw the relief in 1875 at a villa in the region of Pontedera. In a separate statement in the same book, Bode states that the relief appeared on the art market around 1875, selling for 8,000 francs, and that several decades earlier it had been found at a villa formerly belonging to the Medici (presumably that at Pontedera)."
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| Anonymous Italian sculptor Wall Tabernacle in form of the Sepulchre of Christ ca. 1450-1500 marble relief Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
"In Renaissance churches the tabernacle (a receptacle for consecrated wafers) was frequently positioned on the wall next to the altar. This marble tabernacle was designed to suggest the entrance to Christ's sepulcher, with adoring angels witnessing the miracle of the Resurrection. The door to the receptacle proper (probably brass) is now missing. The consecrated wafers within would have been transformed through faith into the flesh of the departed Christ. Linear perspective creates an impression of depth, even though the relief is shallow. Thistles and poppies are among the motifs decorating the pilasters. The thorns of the thistle and the blood-red blossoms of the poppy were associated with Christ's Passion and Resurrection."
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| Isaia da Pisa Nero and Poppaea on Horseback 1458-60 marble relief (rilievo schiacciato) Philadelphia Museum of Art |
"This relief arose out of a relationship between the sculptor Isaia da Pisa and the humanist poet Giovanni Antonio Pandone. Isaia presented it to Pandone as a gift, after which the latter wrote a poem honoring the artist and comparing him to the ancient Greek sculptors Phidias, Polykleitos, and Praxiteles. Derived from an image on an ancient coin, the relief depicts the Roman Emperor Nero with his second wife Poppaea Sabina. Although Nero and Poppaea were infamous for their tyrannical, murderous, and amoral behavior, they remained a subject of historical fascination."
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| Desiderio da Settignano Virgin and Child ca. 1455-60 marble relief (rilievo schiacciato) Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Desiderio da Settignano Virgin and Child ca. 1460 marble relief (rilievo schiacciato) Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Antonio Rizzo Virgin and Child ca. 1465-70 marble relief Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"Although the original setting of this tondo is unknown, it must have been situated fairly high up. This appears from the subtle, slanting plane behind Mary. Perhaps it functioned as the crowning element of a tomb or a church portal. This relief is one of the earliest known works by Antonio Rizzo, the first sculptor in Venice to work in the Renaissance style."
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| Giovanni Antonio Amadeo Virgin and Child ca. 1470 marble relief Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Mino da Fiesole Virgin and Child ca. 1471-74 marble relief Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Anonymous Italian sculptor Angel ca. 1475-1500 marble relief fragment Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
"This fragment of a larger sculptural ensemble shows an angel walking, as if about to enter a doorway. Pairs of such figures often flanked the central element of an altar or tabernacle, creating a sense of focus and symmetry and encouraging viewers to enter conceptually into the space or scene."
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| Master of the Marble Madonnas Virgin and Child ca. 1485 painted and gilded marble relief National Gallery of Canada |
"Master of the Marble Madonnas is the name given to a late 15th century sculptor active in Tuscany and later Urbino. His busy workshop produced many such images of the Virgin and Child, which are characterized by the sensitive carving of the heads, drapery and decorative detail, introducing a liveliness and depth to the shallow relief. Many were partly painted and gilded to clarify the composition and to attract the eye."
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| attributed to Andrea Bregno Pair of Angels (re-carved into an Annunciation) ca. 1490 marble relief Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
– quoted texts from curator's notes at the respective museums