Wishing a happy 500th birthday to this #madonnaandchild statue from our Italian Renaissance collection. 🧁 🎉 🎈 Created in 1525, this monumental sculpture was likely produced in a well-organized terracotta studio. Terracotta was a favorite material of both artists and patrons in Renaissance Italy because it was inexpensive, lightweight compared to bronze or marble and durable compared to other reproducible media like wood, plaster or papier-mâché.