Glazed polychrome terracotta lunette portraying God the Father in the act of blessing and attendant angels in a wreath of fruit and leaves, by  Andrea della Robbia, 1488. A decoration for one of the doors of the Opera del Duomo building. Unlike the more famous works of the della Robbia family, this lunette is a flat surface rather than a relief, painted and glazed to give it a mosaic-like look, a style that enjoyed renewed interest in those years in Florence. The representation of God the Father as a white-haired, bearded old man in the act of blessing is inspired by the Bible. He is holding a book on which the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, “Alpha” and “Omega” are visible. It’s a reminder, taken from the Book of Revelation, of the concept of beginning and end; in the beginning God made the world and will be there at the end of time to judge it.