Luca della Robbia

His large workshop produced both less expensive works cast from molds in multiple versions, and more expensive one-off individually modeled pieces. • Illustration — Madonna of the Rosebush, 1450–60, Bargello, Florence The vibrant, polychrome glazes made his creations both more expressive and more durable. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama of the work of some of his contemporaries. Two of his famous works are The Nativity (c. 1460) and Madonna and Child (c. In stone, his most famous work is also his first major commission, the choir gallery, Cantoria in the Florence Cathedral (1431–1438). Della Robbia was praised by his compatriot Leon Battista Alberti for genius comparable to that of the sculptors Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi, and the painter Masaccio.

Vasari, Gaurico, and several other early writers give contradictory accounts of Luca della Robbia's youth, training, and early works. He was born in Florence, the son of a member of the Arte della Lana (wool-workers guild). He may have trained as a goldsmith under Leonardo di Ser Giovanni according to art historian Vasari, before working with Ghiberti on his first set of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistry. He was heavily influenced by Donatello, and in the 1420s, was used by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi for the sculptural decoration of his buildings, although the rondels of swaddled babies on the façade of the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti were made by Andrea, ca. 1487, long after Brunelleschi's death in 1446). His important commission for a cantoria ("singing gallery"; 1431–1438) in Florence Cathedral came before he joined the sculptor's guild Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname (for workers in stone and wood) in 1432. According to Vasari, the Medici family were responsible for securing the commission for him.

• Illustration — Visitation, 1445, San Giovanni Fuoricivitas, Pistoia, detail Della Robbia's earliest surviving freestanding sculpture is the white tin-glazed terracotta Visitation in the church of San Giovanni Fuoricivitas of Pistoia, dating to 1445. Although the date of della Robbia's first work in colored glazed terra-cotta is not known, his demonstrated control of this medium secured him two major commissions for the duomo of Florence: the large reliefs of the Resurrection (also from 1445) and the Ascension of Christ(1446). The pliant medium of baked clay covered with a "slip" of vitrified lead and refined minerals permitted a lustrous, polished surface capable of reflecting light and color that was beautifully appropriate for architectural sculpture. Whether animating the vast, somber space of the Cathedral or in the series Twelve Apostles gracing the pristine surfaces of the small Pazzi Chapel (1443–1450) in Florence, della Robbia's reliefs in this medium achieved a high level of mastery. Working with assistants, including members of his own family, della Robbia produced a number of decorative reliefs and altarpieces until the end of his life. One of the arguably finest examples is the enameled terra-cotta ceiling (1466) of the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal in San Miniato, Florence. Another relief, acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1861, shows his free use of color: an enormous medallion containing the arms of René of Anjou, and other heraldic devices; it is surrounded by an intricately modeled wreath of brilliantly colored fruit and flowers, including apples, lemons, oranges, and fir cones. This medallion was set up on the facade of the Pazzi Palace to commemorate René's visit to Florence in 1442. His works were highly popular in his time and many were sent outside Florence; the larger ones could be disassembled to facilitate transport. In 1446, he bought a large house containing a workshop, which would remain the base of the family workshop until the 1520s. In 1471, Luca della Robbia was elected president of the Florentine Guild of Sculptors, but he refused on account of his age and infirmity. His election demonstrated, however, the very high esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries. He died in Florence during February 1482, taking most of his secrets of tin-based glaze with him.

• Illustration — All ten original marble reliefs of the Cantoria (1431–1438) in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence • Illustration — Mary and Child with Two Adoring Angels, ca. 1430–1440, polychromed, 109,5 × 130,5 cm, Bode Museum, Berlin • Illustration — Ciborium from the Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, ca. 1443 • Illustration — Madonna Enthroned, Medici chapel, Santa Croce, Florence • Illustration — Virgin and Child in a Niche, ca. 1460, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York • Illustration — Nativity, ca. 1460, National Gallery of Art, Washington • Illustration — Roundel by Luca and Andrea della Robbia, ca. 1460–1480, Philadelphia Museum of Art • Illustration — Bust of a Saint from the pharmacy of the convent of San Marco, Florence, 1465–1470, Bargello, Florence • Illustration — Madonna and Child with Angels, tondo from the Capucine convent in Florence, Bargello, Florence • Illustration — Madonna of the Apple, Bargello, Florence