DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61670#0044
18 LUCA DELLA ROBBIA
concentrated upon the superb mass of temples above which
the slender Campanile shoots its delicate stem. Never was
Florence so rich in genius from which to pick and choose her
artists, and it was no small honour to Luca della Robbia, the
junior by many years of Donatello and Ghiberti, to be selected
for the most important work in the interior of the Duomo.
How the choice was justified the noble Cantoria itself most
eloquently tells. From henceforth Luca was employed almost
exclusively in the service of the Duomo, and for the next ten
years at least can have done little besides. The commissions he
received were both numerous and important, and he shared with
Donatello the post of chief sculptor of the Cathedral works.
In 1434, while the Cantoria was still unfinished, he and
Donatello were desired to model, each of them, a colossal head,
to be placed high up in the opening of the Cupola (Doc. iii.).
This was probably one of the many experiments in decoration
abandoned after trial, for we hear nothing further of the
work. In that golden age of Energy no cost or trouble was
spared to secure the splendid effect required. For example,
Donatello’s statue of David, called the Zuccone, was set, with
infinite pains, high up on a buttress of the Tribuna, and taken
down shortly after because it failed to give the wished-for
effect.1
1 This statue was commissioned in 1408 to be placed, one of twelve other
prophets, on the exterior buttresses of the Cathedral, where their plinths may
still be seen. The David was placed in position, disapproved of—why, it is
difficult to understand—and removed after a short time. The finish to the
architecture of such a series of statues standing out against the sky would
have added much to its dignity. But the Florentines of the Renaissance were
hard to please ; witness their disapproval of the decoration of the Cupola, called
so contemptuously by Michelangelo “ Una gabbia da grilli,” yet which to us
appears so beautiful. In reference to the above statue of Donatello we have the
following notices :—
“ 1407. Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi faccia una delle 12 figure dei Profeti,
cioe quella di David con i medesimi patti che n ha pigliato a fare una Giovanni di
Antonio di Banco, Maestro, le quali devono porre sopra li sproni della Tribuna che
adesso si fabbricaB
“ 1408. 3. Luglio. La figura del Prof eta posta alia Cupola levisi e si pongo
in terra.” (Cavallucci, S. Maria del Fiore.)
concentrated upon the superb mass of temples above which
the slender Campanile shoots its delicate stem. Never was
Florence so rich in genius from which to pick and choose her
artists, and it was no small honour to Luca della Robbia, the
junior by many years of Donatello and Ghiberti, to be selected
for the most important work in the interior of the Duomo.
How the choice was justified the noble Cantoria itself most
eloquently tells. From henceforth Luca was employed almost
exclusively in the service of the Duomo, and for the next ten
years at least can have done little besides. The commissions he
received were both numerous and important, and he shared with
Donatello the post of chief sculptor of the Cathedral works.
In 1434, while the Cantoria was still unfinished, he and
Donatello were desired to model, each of them, a colossal head,
to be placed high up in the opening of the Cupola (Doc. iii.).
This was probably one of the many experiments in decoration
abandoned after trial, for we hear nothing further of the
work. In that golden age of Energy no cost or trouble was
spared to secure the splendid effect required. For example,
Donatello’s statue of David, called the Zuccone, was set, with
infinite pains, high up on a buttress of the Tribuna, and taken
down shortly after because it failed to give the wished-for
effect.1
1 This statue was commissioned in 1408 to be placed, one of twelve other
prophets, on the exterior buttresses of the Cathedral, where their plinths may
still be seen. The David was placed in position, disapproved of—why, it is
difficult to understand—and removed after a short time. The finish to the
architecture of such a series of statues standing out against the sky would
have added much to its dignity. But the Florentines of the Renaissance were
hard to please ; witness their disapproval of the decoration of the Cupola, called
so contemptuously by Michelangelo “ Una gabbia da grilli,” yet which to us
appears so beautiful. In reference to the above statue of Donatello we have the
following notices :—
“ 1407. Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi faccia una delle 12 figure dei Profeti,
cioe quella di David con i medesimi patti che n ha pigliato a fare una Giovanni di
Antonio di Banco, Maestro, le quali devono porre sopra li sproni della Tribuna che
adesso si fabbricaB
“ 1408. 3. Luglio. La figura del Prof eta posta alia Cupola levisi e si pongo
in terra.” (Cavallucci, S. Maria del Fiore.)