Terracotta is a medium that endures. Simple, unassuming, yet beautifully expressive, “baked earth” existed in ancient civilizations and is beloved by modern and contemporary artists, too. In this online viewing room, terracotta vessels dating back 5,000 years speak to sculptures and objects made by artists from the Renaissance to the present day. The humble ways in which clay is shaped, by hand or tool, has remained relatively unchanged. —E.C.