DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57409#0352
336 lives or the artists.
self up entirely to sculpture,* insomuch that he did nothing
but work with his chisel all day, and by night he practised
himself in drawing ; and this he did with so much zeal, that
when his feet were often frozen with cold in the night-time,
he kept them in a basket of shavings to warm them, that he
might not be compelled to discontinue his drawings. Nor am
I in the least astonished at this, since no man ever becomes
distinguished in any art whatsoever who does not early begin
to acquire the power of supporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst,
and other discomforts ; wherefore those persons deceive them-
selves altogether who suppose that while taking their ease
and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world, they may
still attain to honourable distinction—for it is not by sleeping,
but by waking, watching and labouring continually, that pro-
ficiency is attained and reputation acquired.
Luca had scarcely completed his fifteenth year, when he
was taken with other young sculptors to Rimini, for the pur-
pose of preparing certain marble ornaments and figures for
Sigismondo di Pandolfo Malatesti, lord of that city, who was
then building a chapel in the church of San Francesco, and
erecting a sepulchre for his wife, who had recently died. In
this work Luca della Robbia gave a creditable specimen of
his abilities, in some bassi-rilievi, which are still to be seen
there, but he was soon recalled to Florence by the wardens of
Santa Maria del Fiore, and there executed five small historical
representations for the campanile of that cathedral. These are
placed on that side of the tower which is turned towards the
church, and where, according to the design of Giotto, they
were required to fill the space beside those delineating the
arts and sciences previously executed, as we have said, by
Andrea Pisano. In the first relief, Luca pourtrayed San
Donato teaching grammar; in the second are Plato and Aris-
totle, who represent philosophy ; in the third is a figure
playing the lute, for music; in the fourth, a statue of Ptolemy,
to signify astronomy; and in the fifth, Euclid, for geometry.
These rilievi, whether for correctness of design, grace of
composition, or beauty of execution, greatly surpass the two
completed, as we have before said, by Giotto, and of which
one represents painting, by a figure of Apelles, occupied in
* Baldinucci declares Luca della Bobbia to have acquired his art from
Lorenzo Ghiberti.
self up entirely to sculpture,* insomuch that he did nothing
but work with his chisel all day, and by night he practised
himself in drawing ; and this he did with so much zeal, that
when his feet were often frozen with cold in the night-time,
he kept them in a basket of shavings to warm them, that he
might not be compelled to discontinue his drawings. Nor am
I in the least astonished at this, since no man ever becomes
distinguished in any art whatsoever who does not early begin
to acquire the power of supporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst,
and other discomforts ; wherefore those persons deceive them-
selves altogether who suppose that while taking their ease
and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world, they may
still attain to honourable distinction—for it is not by sleeping,
but by waking, watching and labouring continually, that pro-
ficiency is attained and reputation acquired.
Luca had scarcely completed his fifteenth year, when he
was taken with other young sculptors to Rimini, for the pur-
pose of preparing certain marble ornaments and figures for
Sigismondo di Pandolfo Malatesti, lord of that city, who was
then building a chapel in the church of San Francesco, and
erecting a sepulchre for his wife, who had recently died. In
this work Luca della Robbia gave a creditable specimen of
his abilities, in some bassi-rilievi, which are still to be seen
there, but he was soon recalled to Florence by the wardens of
Santa Maria del Fiore, and there executed five small historical
representations for the campanile of that cathedral. These are
placed on that side of the tower which is turned towards the
church, and where, according to the design of Giotto, they
were required to fill the space beside those delineating the
arts and sciences previously executed, as we have said, by
Andrea Pisano. In the first relief, Luca pourtrayed San
Donato teaching grammar; in the second are Plato and Aris-
totle, who represent philosophy ; in the third is a figure
playing the lute, for music; in the fourth, a statue of Ptolemy,
to signify astronomy; and in the fifth, Euclid, for geometry.
These rilievi, whether for correctness of design, grace of
composition, or beauty of execution, greatly surpass the two
completed, as we have before said, by Giotto, and of which
one represents painting, by a figure of Apelles, occupied in
* Baldinucci declares Luca della Bobbia to have acquired his art from
Lorenzo Ghiberti.