Met drops a della Robbia

A glazed terra cotta relief by the Renaissance sculptor Andrea della Robbia came loose overnight from its perch above a doorway at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and crashed to the stone floor below, seriously damaging it, museum officials said Tuesday.

The shattered 15th-century sculpture, a 62-by-32-inch blue-and-white lunette depicting St. Michael the Archangel in a traditional pose, holding a sword and the scales of justice, was found early Tuesday morning by a guard on regular rounds.

Luckily it landed on its back, but this is still a real black eye for the Met -- especially after the Tullio Lombardo fiasco. From the NY Times.

Posted by David on July 1, 2008 10:51 PM