Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/615

Rh B B I A 591 bodies. Perhaps the finest collection of works of this class is at La Verna, not far from Arezzo (see Vasari, ed. Milanesi, ii. p. 179). The best of these, three large retables with representations of the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, and the Madonna giving her Girdle to St Thomas, are probably the work of Andrea himself, the others being by his sons. In 1489 Andrea made a beauti- ful relief of the Virgin and two Angels, now over the archive room door in the Florentine Opera del Duomo ; for this he was paid twenty gold florins (see Cavallucci, S. Maria del Fiore). In the same year he modelled the fine tympanum relief over a door of Prato cathedral, with a half-length figure of the Madonna between St Stephen and St Lawrence, surrounded by a frame of angels' heads. In 1491 Andrea was still working at Prato, where many of his best reliefs still exist. One of his finest works is a large retable at Volterra in the church of S. Girolamo, dated 1501 ; it represents the Last Judgment, and is re- markable for the fine modelling of the figures, especially that of the archangel Michael, and a nude kneeling figure of a youth who has just risen from his tomb. Other late works of known date are a Resurrection of Christ, made in 1501 for S. Frediano at Florence (the lower half of this only exists, in the court of the Casa Mozzi), and a medal- lion of the Virgin in Glory, surrounded by angels, made in 1505 for Pistoia cathedral. 1 Andrea's last known relief is a Nativity, made in 1515 for S. Maria in Pian di Mugnone at Florence. 2 III., IV. Five of Andrea's seven sons worked with their father, and after his death carried on the Robbia fabrique ; the dates of their birth are shown in the table on p. 588 above. Early in life two of them came under the influ- ence of Savonarola, and took monastic orders at his Domi- nican convent ; these were MARCO, who adopted the name of Fra Ltica, and PAOLO, called Fra Ambrogio. One relief by the latter, a Nativity with four life-sized figures of rather poor work, is in the Cappella degli Spagnuoli in the Sienese convent of S. Spirito ; a MS. in the convent archives records that it was made in 1504. V. The chief existing work known to be by the second son LUCA is the very rich and beautiful tile pavement in the uppermost story of Raphael's loggie at the Vatican, finely designed and painted in harmonious majolica colours. This was made by Luca at Raphael's request and under his supervision in 1518. 3 It is still in very fine preservation. VI. GIOVANNI BELLA ROBBIA (1469-1 529 1) during a great part of his life worked as assistant to his father, Andrea, and in many cases the enamelled sculpture of the two cannot be distinguished. Some of Giovanni's independ- ent works are of great merit, especially the earlier ones ; during the latter part of his life his reliefs deteriorated in style, owing mainly to the universal decadence of the time. A very large number of pieces of Robbia ware which are attributed to Andrea, and even to the elder Luca, were really by the hand of Giovanni. One of his finest works, quite equal in beauty to anything of his father's, from whom the design of the figures was probably taken, is the washing- fountain in the sacristy of S. Maria Novella at Florence, made in 1497. 4 It is a large arched recess with a view of the seashore, not very decorative in style, painted on majolica tiles at the back. There are also two very beauti- ful painted majolica panels of fruit-trees let into the lower part. In the tympanum of the arch is a very lovely white 1 See Gualandi, Memorie risgiiardanti le Belle Arti, Bologna, 1845, vi. pp. 33-35, where original documents are printed recording the dates and prices paid for these and other works of Andrea. 2 See a document printed by Milanesi in his Vasari, ii. p. ISO. 3 It is illustrated by Gruner, Fresco Decorations of Italy, London, 1854, pi. iv. ; see also Miintz, Raphael, sa Vie, &c., Paris, 1881, p. 452, note i., and Vasari, ed: Milanesi, ii. p. 182. 4 See a document printed by Milanesi in his Vasari, ii. p. 193. relief of the Madonna between two Adoring Angels (see fig. 3). Long coloured garlands of fruit and flowers are held FIG. 3. Relief of Madonna and Angels in the tympanum of the lavabo (S. Maria Novella, Florence), by Giovanni. by nude boys reclining on the top of the arch. All this part is of enamelled clay, but the basin of the fountain is of white marble. Neither Luca nor Andrea was in the habit of signing his work, but Giovanni often did so, usually adding the date, probably because other potters had begun to imitate the Robbia ware. 5 Giovanni lacked the original talent of Luca and Andrea, and so he not only copied their work but even reproduced in clay the marble sculpture of Pollaiuolo, Da Settignano, Verrocchio, and others. A relief by him, evidently taken from Mino da Fiesole, exists in the Palazzo Castracane Staccoli. Among the very numerous other works of Gio- vanni are the large retable in the Castellani chapel of S. Croce, a relief in the wall of a convent in the Via Nazionale at Florence, and two reliefs in the Bargello dated 1521 and 1522. The latter is a many- coloured relief of the Nativity, and was taken from the church of S. Girolamo in Florence ; it is a too pictorial work, marred by the use of many different planes. Its predella has a small relief of the Adoration of the Magi, and is inscribed " Hoc opus fecit Joanes Andree de Robia, ac posuit hoc in tempore die ultima lulii auo. Dili. MDXXII." At Pisa in the church of S. Silvestro is a relief in Giovanni's later and poorer manner dated 1520; it is a Madonna surrounded by angels, with saints below the whole overcrowded with figures and ornaments. Giovanni's largest and perhaps finest work is the polychromatic frieze on the outside of the Del Ceppo Hospital at Pistoia, for which he received various sums of money between 1525 and 1529, as is recorded in documents which still exist among the archives of the hospital. 6 The subjects of this frieze are the Seven Works of Mercy, forming' a continuous band of sculpture in high relief, well modelled and designed in a very broad sculpturesque way, but a little injured perhaps by the crudeness of some of its colouring. Six of these reliefs are by Giovanni, namely, Clothing the Naked, Washing the Feet of Pilgrims, Visiting the Sick, Visiting Prisoners, Burying the Dead, and Feeding the Hungry. The seventh, 8 Examples of these imitations are a retable in S. Luechese near Poggibonsi dated 1514, another of the Madonna and Saints at Monte San Savino of 1525, and a third in the Capuchin church of Arceria near Sinigaglia ; they are all inferior to the best works of the Robbia family. 6 The hospital itself was begun in 1514.