# Emperor Henry IV at Canossa

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gandolfi-ubaldo-r676b2238aab35c/emperor-henry-iv-at-canossa-rd0308dd0ab0179>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [GANDOLFI, Ubaldo](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gandolfi-ubaldo-r676b2238aab35c>)
- Date: 1751-1800
- Technique: Terracotta, height 61 cm

## Commentary

Lacking marble quarries, Bologna developed sculptural traditions that related on readily available materials such as clay and stucco. Even the city&#39;s painters tried their hand at clay statuettes. One such artist who occasionally practiced three-dimensional modeling was Ubaldo Gandolfi. The figure of this statuette is theatrically presented. The pictorial setting is highly unusual for sculpture: the bearded man reading a book is sheltering within a blasted tree. Different types of clay give the statuette colour: red for the tree, pure white for the clothes, and white mixed with red for the face.

## Related artworks

- [A Bearded Man](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gandolfi-ubaldo-r676b2238aab35c/a-bearded-man-r77ac898320df71>)
- [Portrait of a Young Boy](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gandolfi-ubaldo-r676b2238aab35c/portrait-of-a-young-boy-rdace7109393bb7>)
- [The Visitation](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gandolfi-ubaldo-r676b2238aab35c/the-visitation-rf632a7c72c3d50>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)
