Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/205

* BOBBIA. 183 ROBBIA. productions bearing his name. He was born in i' Uiruni't'. the son of t!>imone lii Jlarco delhi Kob- bia, a slioemaker, and was early apprenticed to a goldsmith. This craft he soon relimiuished to work in bronze and marble, and attained great eminence as a sculptor, producing in both ma- terials a series of superior works, by which his artistic standard must primarily be estimated, although he owes his universal popularity chielly to his process of enameling terra-cotta figures. Of his life we know very little, lie may, as Baldinucci states, have received his training in scul))turc from Ghiberti, but while his plastic work bears witness to a diligent study of that master's creations, it also shows an open eye and e(iually receptive feeling for the railically different art of Donatello. His individuality lies in the admirable equipoise between the idealism of the one and the realism of the other, having in common with Ghiberti the exalted feeling of beauty, the tasteful arrangement and easy flow of drapery, and with Donatello the serious ob- servation of nature and vivid characterization. This is manifest in the master's earliest work known to us. the world-famed ""Singing Galler- ies" (1431-40). ten panels in high relief, with groups of children singing, dancing, and playing upon musical instruments, equally remarkable for their truth and naturalness and for their grace of movement and form — easily Luea's master creation — executed for one of the organ galleries in the Duorao and now in the Cathedral Museum. His other works in marble comprise two unfinished reliefs of the "Deliverance and Crucifixion of Saint Peter" (1438), in the Bar- gello; the eight allegorical reliefs of "The Liberal Arts and their Representatives" (1437-40), on the north side of the Campanile; the ""Taber- nacle" (1442), in Santa JIaria, at Peretola; and the "Tomb of Benozzo Federighi." Bishop of Fiesole (1457-58), in San Francesco di Paola, on the Via Bellosguardo, outside Florence. The most laborious task, however, on which Luca was engaged in the cathedral was the execution of the bronze door of the north sacristy ( 1440-7 ), with reliefs of the "Evangelists," the ""Fathers of the Church," etc., each subject with attendant angels, the whole modeled with exquisite gi-ace and unassuming dignity, one of the most perfect productions in bronze of the Quattrocento. Jleanwhile Luca had already entered upon the second phase of his activity and given to the world another new and beautiful art. Discour- aged at his slender profits in the fashioning of such works, he endeavored to discover some new material, more plastic and capable of being made as durable as stone. After many experi- ments he succeeded, by coating his figures of clay with a stanniferous enamel, in producing works almost indestructible and very attractive in color. He was not the inventor of imi)ervious glaze, which had been known and used in Italy for two centuries or more ; but its application to sculpture in terracotta and that of the latter to architectural decoration was original with Luca, and sufficiently justifies his claim to the title of inventor and the immense vogue of the almost countless productions in enameled terra-cotta, at- tributed to him. in and out of Italy. Among his numerous representations of the Virgin and Child, of infinite variety, one of the finest is the "JIadonna Between Lily-Bearing Angels," over a shop in the Via dell' Agnolo (see illustration), and of four preserved in the Bar- gello, the "'Madonna Adored by . gfls" (from San Pierino on the Mercato N'ecchio) and the '".Madonna del Fiore" are of superinr charm. Very ornamental are the "Five (ircal Medallions"' in pale blue on a richly patterned ground in the vaulting of the mortuary eliajiel of the Cardi- nal of Portugal, in San Miniate, completed in 140G and the last of his works on record. Out of Florence there is especially noteworthy the tympanum of the "Madonna and Four Saints" (1449-5"2), over the portal of San Domenico, at Urbino, and in non-Italian nuiseums are to be noticed three large circular reliefs, two with allegorical figures of "Temperance" and "Faith," and one with the "Virgin and Child," in the Musee de Cluny, Paris; a huge polychrome medal- lion with the "Arms of King liene of Anjou" (1442), and a '"Monk Writing," in the South Kensington Museum, London; while the twelve majolica plaques, emblematic of the months, at- tributed to Luca, in the same collection, show little affinity with his work. In the Berlin Museum, a thorough study of the master's taste and skill in arrangement, his truth and variety of characterization, is afi'orded by several original reliefs of the Virgin and Child and a numlier of east reproductions of truly human aspect. It should be mentioned that Luca never repeated his subjects, producing in every instance an en- tirely new creation. In what liigli esteem Luca was held by his contemporaries is attested by his election, in 1471, to the presidency of the Artists' Guild, which honor, however, he declined on the score of his great age and increasing infirmities. From 1446 to his death on February 20, 1482. he letl a peaceful existence with his two orphaned nephews whom he had adopted a.s his sons. He left a worthy successor to continue his work in his nephew and pui)il Andrea della RoBBiA (1437-1528). Although inferior to Luca in power and grandeur of conception. Andrea was an artist of exquisite taste and feeling, the celestial charm of his youthful Madonnas reminding one of Mino da Fiesole. Unlike his uncle, he con- fined himself to works in terra-cotta. with a single exception, existing in the ricli marble altar- piece in Santa Maria delle Grazie. outside Arezzo. Besides his many and varied figures of the jMadonna, of which three may be seen in the Bargello. he has left us hardly anrthing more pleasing than those famous medallions with the '"Bambini." on the facade of the Spedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) in Florence, each of the fourteen babes in swaddling clolhe.s a life-like image of infant loveliness, with an individuality of its own. (See illustration to Bambixo. ) ' Here also, within the court, over the door to the chapel, is a graceful lunette with the '"Annunciation." Among five excellent reliefs in the Cathedral of Arezzo. the most remarkable is a rctable of the "Trinity." The fine altar- piece with the "Coronation of the Virgin." in the Monastery of L'Osservanza, near Siena, deserves especial notice. At Prato. where many of his best works may still be seen, there is particularly noteworthv the tympanum with a half-length "Jladonna Between Saints Stephen and Law- rence" (14S9), over the principal entrance to the cathedral. One of his finest works is the large retable of the "Last .Judgment" (L'iOl). in San Girolamo, at Volterra. The Berlin Museum con- tains a "Madonna and Saints," a masterpiece in