Luca della Robbia was an Italian sculptor from Florence, famous for his colorful, tin glazed terracotta statue, a technique he invented and passed on to his grandson Andrea della Robbia.
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Although he was a prominent stone sculptor, in the early 1440s he mainly worked in terracotta after developing his technique. His workshop produced both cheaper works cast from molds in multiple versions, and more expensive one-off individually modeled.
Origins
Regarding Luca della Robbia, Vasari, Gaurico, and many other early writers give contradictory accounts. He was born inFlorence, the son of a member of theArte della Lana(guild of wool makers). According to Vasari, before working with Ghiberti at the famous doors of the Florence Baptistry, he may have trained as a goldsmith underLeonardo di Ser Giovanni. He was influenced byDonatello, and in the 1420s he worked with the architectFilippo Brunelleschifor sculpture on his buildings. Before he joined the guild of sculptor Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname in 1432, his important commission for theCantoria(“Singing Gallery”; 1431–1438) of the Florence Cathedral arrived. TheMedici family, according to Vasari, was responsible for securing him the commission.
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Early works
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Luca della Robbia carried out important commissions inmarbleandbronzeincluding a series of marble reliefs (1437) for the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral; a tabernacle in marble and glazed terracotta (1443), now in S. Maria in Peretola; bronze angels to enrich the Singing Gallery; and also, the project of the bronze doors for the Sacristy of the Cathedral which was completed in 1469, in collaboration withMichelozzo; their dependence on a few figures placed in simple and orderly compositions on a flat background contrasts with the elaborate pictorial effects of the more famous doors of Ghiberti’s Baptistery.
The masterpiece
可能最重要的一个现有的大理石works by Luca (executed in 1454–1456) is thetomb of Benozzo Federighi, bishop of Fiesole, originally located in the church of San Pancrazio, in Florence, but transferred to San Francesco di Paola via Bellosguardo in 1783, only to be transferred again in 1898 to the church of Santa Trinità in Florence. An effigy of the bishop resting is placed on a carved sarcophagus with graceful reliefs of angels holding a crown that contains the inscription. Above are the three-quarter figures of Christ between St John and the Virgin, of conventional type. A rectangular frame made of painted tiles surrounds the whole. On each tile is painted, with glazepigments, a bouquet, and fruit in brightrealistic colors. Although the bouquet on each is painted on a plate, the bottom of each tile is made up of separate pieces, possibly because the soil pigment required a different degree of heat that is needed for center enamel painting.
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Terra-cotta works
Della Robbia’s first surviving independent sculpture is theVisitationin whitetin-glazed terracotta in the church of San Giovanni Fuoricivitas of Pistoia, dating to 1445. His control of the terracotta secured him two important commissions for the Duomo of Florence: the large reliefs of theResurrection(also from 1445) and theAscension of Christ(1446). The flexible medium of bakedclaycovered with a “slide” of vitrified lead and refined minerals allowed for ashiny surfacecapable of reflecting light and color appropriate for architectural sculpture.
Working with assistants, including members of his own family, della Robbia produced aseries of decorativereliefsand altarpiecesto the end of his life.
Info source:
https://www.artinvest2000.com/dellarobbia_english.htmhttps://biography.yourdictionary.com/luca-della-robbiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_della_Robbia
