The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Della Robbia

a family of Italian Renaissance sculptors who lived and worked in Florence. They were the first to apply glazes to relief sculpture and sculpture in the round.

Luca della Robbia. Born 1399 or 1400; died Feb. 23, 1482.

Luca, the head of the della Robbia family, received his artistic training in a goldsmith’s workshop and was influenced by Ghiberti. His early works were in bronze and marble—for example, the marble reliefs for the singing gallery of the Florence Cathedral (1431–38). In the 1440’s, Luca produced glazed relief sculptures, distinguished by their clear colors, for the decoration of buildings and altars. Examples of such works are the 13 medallions embellishing the Pazzi Chapel of the church of Santa Croce. Luca’s sculptures are noted for a vital, earthly quality. Most numerous are compositions depicting the Madonna, which are marked by lyricism and spirituality (for example, the lunette of the Palazzo di Parte Guelfa).

Andrea della Robbia. Born 1435; died 1525. Nephew, adopted son, and pupil of Luca della Robbia.

Andrea, who worked exclusively in majolica, expanded the range of the medium, applying it to sculpture in the round and employing more colors. Among his works were medallions representing swaddled infants on the facade of Ospedale degli Innocenti (1463–66) and the group of the Visitation for the church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas (1491, Pistoia).

Giovanni della Robbia. Born 1469; died after 1529. Son of Andrea della Robbia.

Giovanni, the most gifted of Andrea’s sons, continued the traditions of his father. His works resemble altar paintings owing to their extraordinarily sumptuous polychromy. They are also marked by elements of naturalism.

REFERENCES

Marquand, A. Andrea della Robbia and His Atelier, vols. 1–2. Princeton-London, 1922.
Planiscig, L. Luca della Robbia. Florence [1948].
Bravo, C. del. “L’umanésimo di Luca della Robbia.” Paragone, 1973, vol. 285, pages 3–34.

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References in periodicals archive

'I suppose nothing brings the real air of a Tuscan town so vividly to mind as those pieces of blue and white earthenware,' Walter Pater observed in 1888 when writing about the work of the Della Robbia family.

Earth, glass, and fire: Luca della Robbia's technical innovations created a new Tuscan art form

The Della Robbia Pottery, Birkenhead, 1894-1906, published by the Antique Collectors' Club, is a scholarly work charting what must be one of the shortest-lived ceramics enterprises ever.

Fired up over Della Robbia; ANTIQUES With Christopher Proudlove Girl power and a definitive guide to the work of one pottery could be the key to new interest among collectors

I libri della famiglia examines the classical connection between otium and femininity, passivity, and lasciviousness, yet, like the Della Robbia depiction of grammar, it also represents certain forms of leisure as virile because they support the status of the family and the homeland.

Otium and Negotium in Alberti's I libri della famiglia

Even the exotic rifle conjures up Blanche DuBois' giddy description of her gown's color: "It's Della Robbia blue!" In the end, as Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) babbles away on her park bench, she does evoke our pity if not our terror.

Relying, again, on the kindness of strangers

It emphasises the creative initiative of four artists in particular who 'founded' the Florentine artistic project of the first half of the 15th Century: Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Luca della Robbia. All of them flourished within the exhibition's chronological boundaries, between the competition for the design of the Florentine Baptistery north doors in 1401 (in which Ghiberti triumphed over Brunelleschi)--each of the competitor's 'Sacrifice of Isaac' for the doors is on display--and the deaths of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and Donatello in the 1460s.

The Springtime of the Renaissance: Sculpture and the Arts in Florence 1400-1460

The same virtuosity and maturity of expression in ceramic work was rediscovered and reinvented in the Renaissance by the Della Robbia, who raised it to new levels of greatness with the addition of coloured glazes.

C.R.E.T.A Rome: Lori-Ann Touchette and Paolo Porelli unveil a new international centre for ceramics in Rome

Altre porte bronzee fiorentine vanno ricordate: quelle della Sagrestia delle Messe in Duomo, opera della meta del Quattrocento, di Luca della Robbia, e le due porte della brunelleschiana Sagrestia Nuova a San Lorenzo, su disegno di Donatello.

La porta della fede

Additionally, a frieze surrounding the painting was a reproduction of Luca della Robbia's "Cantoria," and appears to be the only known full reproduction of his 15th century masterpiece.

Art for business' sake: Bedford firm walks the walk when it comes to art in the workplace

However, his greatest commission was to create a Christ Child and crib to accompany the kneeling Madonna by the Renaissance sculptor Giovanni Della Robbia in Liverpool Cathedral after the original was destroyed.

Hidden gems

Tra gli altri documenti presentati, la preziosa testimonianza di Luca della Robbia sull'esecuzione di due patrizi fiorentini, Pietro Paolo Boscoli e Agostino Capponi, e, di non minore interesse, un testo in versi del famoso Giulio Cesare Croce, il quale descrive, a modo suo, l'esecuzione a Bologna di vari personaggi tra cui anche un ebreo, Manas.

Nicholas Terpstra, ed. The Art of Executing Well. Rituals of Execution in Renaissance Italy