Andrea della Robbia 1435-1525

Andrea della Robbia (Italian, 1435–1525), Virgin and Child, ca. 1470–75, Glazed terracotta, 37 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. (94.9 x 54.9 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andrea della Robbia (20 October 1435 – 4 August 1525) was a member of the famed della Robbia family in Florence. His sculpture sustained and built upon the style that would become synonymous with the della Robbia studio; Andrea’s narrative work emulated that of his uncle, Luca’s - both of them having an affinity for ceramic glazed reliefs. Upon assuming control of the studio 1482, Andrea significantly upscaled production, winning commissions for various public buildings and garnering more interest for the rich pictorial impact of glazed terra cotta amongst the Florentine artistic community.

Andrea della Robbia, like his uncle, was initially trained as a marble sculptor; however, his career in marble sculpting wasn’t particularly extensive, we only have one extant marble work know to have been completed at the hand of Andrea, namely an altar in S. Maria delle Grazie near Arezzo. It is difficult to discern Andrea’s early work as it was largely produced under the name of the wider atelier, exhibiting the styles codified by Luca. His individual style became apparent in the series of medallions with reliefs of Infants in white on a blue ground set on the front of the foundling hospital at Florence designed by Brunelleschi in 1419.

Much of Robbia’s work was commissioned and installed outside of Florence, he lived and worked in Prato sometime between 1489-1500. His enamel sculpture from this period embodies his more mature style in Andrea developed a strong naturalism, increasing the use of bright glassy coating in an attempt to find a formula that would synthesise sculptural and pictorial values. One such example is his four glazed terracotta roundels of the Evangelists, created for Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato. His depiction of St Luke, in particular, with its sharp folds of drapery and wiry curls of hair, mimics the work of Filippino Lippi and other contemporary Florentine artists.

Andrea became father to seven sons during his life, five of which trained as sculptors and worked with their father, and after his death carried on the Robbia fabrique. Andrea’s workshop is remembered for a wealth of reliefs marked for their complex compositions and polychrome glazing; however, it important to note the efficient industrialisation that he brought to the studio. It is Andrea’s entrepreneurship that would eventually discredit the della Robbia name within the fine art of the period. After his death in 1525, the demand for the terra cotta reliefs continued to increase; however, Andrea’s sons and their employees could not sustain the quality that was enshrined by Luca and his nephew. Nevertheless, Andrea is remembered for his contribution to glazed relief sculpture, he refined the technique and was instrumental in the creation an incredibly successful artistic workshop in renaissance Florence.

Bibliography:

Manzetti, Tiziana, ‘Andrea Della Robbia and his successors’, (17/03/2009), https://thatsarte.com/blog/highlights/andrea-della-robbia-and-his-successors/ 

Middleton, John Henry, Burton William, ‘Della Robbia’, Encyclopædia Britannica. (Vol 7, 1911) 

Thorndike, Lynn, ‘The History of Medieval Europe’, (Michigan: University of Michigan, 1956)