Della Robbia for Churches — Custom Glazed Terracotta Religious Art
Biordi Art Imports commissions custom Della Robbia reliefs for churches — hand-modelled, tin-glazed terracotta sacred art in the Florentine maiolica tradition, made for parishes, chapels, shrines, monasteries and cathedrals.
Each piece is a bas-relief in white glaze on della Robbia blue — roundels, tondi, lunettes, arched panels and altarpiece-scale reliefs — modelled, fired, glazed and garlanded entirely by hand in Tuscany. The technique is the one Luca della Robbia developed in Florence in the 1430s and his nephew Andrea carried into the churches of Tuscany, and it is still practised by the family workshops we buy from in Deruta and Florence.
Biordi Art Imports has imported Italian ceramics from 412 Columbus Avenue, in the North Beach district of San Francisco, since 1946. The firm is on the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry.
Open the Della Robbia for Churches portfolio (PDF) — completed pieces with dimensions and suggested placement, a scale drawing of every format, the subjects available for commission, and how a commission is made from first sketch to delivery.
What we make for churches
Glazed terracotta liturgical art in the formats a church building actually uses:
- Stations of the Cross — a matched set of fifteen reliefs, each roughly 20 by 15 inches, sized and shaped to the bay spacing of a nave or ambulatory.
- Sanctuary and altar reliefs — Nativity, Adoration, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and other narrative scenes in arched panels.
- Lunettes — the half-round format set above a doorway or an altar throughout Tuscany.
- Tondi and roundels — the circular format Luca della Robbia made famous, ringed with a garland of fruit and foliage.
- Devotional panels for a Lady chapel, narthex, side altar, cloister walk, oratory, sacristy or memorial niche.
- Heraldry and inscription — diocesan or parish coats of arms, dedication and memorial inscriptions, IHS and Chi-Rho monograms, consecration dates, worked into the relief and fired with it.
Can you make a relief of our parish's patron saint?
Yes. This is the most common commission. The saint is sculpted by hand in relief — habit, attributes and emblems as your parish depicts them — a mould is taken from that original, and the piece is fired and glazed in Tuscany. The workshop can work from photographs, a holy card, or a statue already in your church.
Subjects commissioned most often include Saint Joseph, Saint Anne, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint Katharine Drexel and Saint John Neumann; the Madonna and Child, the Annunciation, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Assumption; and the Nativity, the Sacred Heart, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
How large can a commissioned piece be?
Catalogue pieces run from about 15 inches to 29 inches. A commission is sized to the wall or niche it is made for, and can be considerably larger. Tell us the dimensions of the space and the piece is modelled to them.
How long does a commission take?
Nothing is held in stock as a finished piece. Existing designs take roughly 75 days to six months. A new commission — a saint modelled from scratch — takes about six months from approval to delivery. Parishes working toward a dedication, a patronal feast or the completion of a renovation should allow for that.
Will glazed terracotta last in a church?
Andrea della Robbia's roundels have been on the open loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence since the 1480s, outdoors, and the blue is still blue. The colour in tin-glazed terracotta is not paint on a surface — it is glass, fused into the clay at kiln temperature. It does not fade in sunlight, it does not yellow, and it cleans with a damp cloth. There is no repainting or re-gilding cycle to budget for. The material suits church interiors and sheltered exterior settings such as a cloister walk or a covered entrance.
How is a commission made?
- Conversation. The wall, the subject, the size, and the date it is needed.
- Modelled in clay. The figure is sculpted by hand in relief, garland and all, and a mould is taken from that original.
- Fired and glazed. Figures in pure white, the ground in della Robbia blue, the fruit and foliage painted piece by piece. The palette can be adjusted to the colours already in your church.
- Inspected, wrapped and crated in Tuscany for shipment to your parish.
Who is this for?
Rectors, pastors, parish business managers, art and environment committees, building and renovation committees, diocesan offices of worship, architects and liturgical design consultants working on a church renovation, restoration or new build.
Start a commission
Deborah Baldini, Owner
Biordi Art Imports
412 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
deborah@biordi.com · (415) 392-8096
Tell us the wall, the subject and the date it is needed, and we will take it from there.
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