Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is pointing readers to Andrea della Robbia’s ‘The Marquand Altarpiece’, a glazed terracotta work also known as ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’. In the museum’s latest email roundup, the object is presented as a masterpiece worth rediscovering, with the institution inviting audiences to learn more about its significance and to watch 3D color-rendered scans that reveal the sculpture’s hidden construction.
The Met’s newsletter places the work within a broader cluster of collection stories and special installations, but ‘The Marquand Altarpiece’ is singled out for its own spotlight. The museum describes the object as the first glazed terracotta sculpture to enter its collection, underlining both its material importance and its place in the history of the institution’s holdings. The image credit attached to the newsletter identifies the work as Andrea della Robbia’s ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’ (‘The Marquand Altarpiece’), ca. 1485, and notes that it entered the museum as a gift of Henry G. Marquand in 1882.
Andrea della Robbia belongs to the celebrated Della Robbia family, known for glazed terracotta sculpture, and the Met’s online presentation draws attention to the object’s technical structure as well as its devotional subject. The newsletter’s reference to 3D color-rendered scans suggests an emphasis on looking beneath the surface of the work, though the museum’s message does not elaborate further on the scan results in the text provided. What is clearly verified is that the museum is framing the piece through both art-historical importance and digital study.
The newsletter places ‘The Marquand Altarpiece’ alongside other Met content that ranges from Homer’s Odyssey to an installation on Jefferson, but the Della Robbia feature stands apart as an object-focused interpretation rather than an exhibition announcement. No exhibition date is attached to the altarpiece itself in the source material provided. Instead, the museum directs readers to “Rediscovering Della Robbia at The Met,” indicating an ongoing curatorial or interpretive resource connected to the artist and the collection.
The email also situates the piece within the Met’s broader summer programming. Among the other named projects in the same message are ‘Giacometti in the Temple of Dendur’, listed as recently opened through January 17, 2028 at The Met Fifth Avenue, and ‘Musical Bodies’, listed through September 27, 2026 at The Met Fifth Avenue. Those listings help establish the museum’s current programming context, but they are separate from the Della Robbia feature and should not be conflated with it.
For the museum, the value of ‘The Marquand Altarpiece’ lies in its combination of artistic refinement, material innovation, and institutional history. The verified source material identifies it as a glazed terracotta masterpiece and gives its ca. 1485 date, its alternate title, and its place in the collection history at The Met. The museum’s invitation is simply to learn about the work and explore its significance, with the altarpiece presented as a key object in the collection rather than as part of a timed exhibition.
