About This Image

With title, plate number (Pl.2) and photographer and publisher (Blanquart-Evrard) information printed on the recto of the mount, which is 17-5/8 x 24-1/2 inches. from "Variétés photographiques", edited by Blanquart-Evrard about 1853-1854. See: Jammes, Blanquart-Evrard Catalogue Raisonne, 1851-1855, no.551.Luca della Robbia (1399/1400 – 1482) was an Italian sculptor from Florence, noted for his terra-cotta roundels. He developed a pottery glaze that made his creations more durable in the outdoors and thus suitable for use on the exterior of buildings. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama of the work of some of his contemporaries, although 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.The work in this photograph depicts Luca della Robbia's first documented commission, the Cantoria ("Singing Gallery"; 1431-1438) for the Cathedral of Florence. It proves that he must have been an accomplished artist long before joining the Sculptors' Guild in 1432. The Singing Gallery shows children singing, dancing and making music to "praise the Lord" in the words of Psalm 150. Their figures are at once lively, finely observed and gracefully combined in groups designed to fit the ten panels of the gallery.

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