VERROCCHIO. -(1435-1488.)

Andrea di Michell di Francesco Cione, born at Florence in 1435, has rendered famous the hitherto obscure name of Messer Giuliano Verrocchio, the goldsmith to whom as a boy he was apprenticed. It frequently happened that artists of the fifteenth century took the names of their masters, or rather were given them by the apprentices of other masters, so that when they attained celebrity they still continued to be known by the borrowed name.

Verrocchio was a very talented sculptor, and as, unlike most of the pupils of Donatello, he retained a personality or style of his own, it was for a long time doubted whether he had studied under that master at all. As a goldsmith, he displayed great refinement and imaginative power, but though he executed a great many works for Sixtus IV., most of them, including twelve statuettes of the apostles, chasuble clasps, incense-burners, vases, etc., have been destroyed or stolen, and the only one which can give any idea of his talent is the fragment of the silver altar already described as part of the Duomo treasure. Baron Adolphe de Rothschild has in his possession part of the clay maquette for the bas-relief to the extreme right of this altar.

Verrocchio was a painter as well, and several galleries contain religious pictures by him, though the only one in Florence is the "Baptism of Christ," in the Academy. This is not a work of any great merit, but Vasari states that Leonardo da Vinci, then only a lad, and a pupil of Verrocchio, painted it "an angel with golden hair," which was so much better than the rest of the composition that Verrocchio resolved forth-with to give up painting.

He also made the group known as "The Incredulity of St. Thomas " for the principal facade of Or San Michele, and the tomb referred to in the biography of Piero de' Medici was also executed by him in 1472. Another work. attributed to him is the equestrian statue of Colleoni at Venice, which is even superior to that of Gattamelata at Siena for force of expression and fire. Bartolommeo Colleoni, Captain-General of the armies of the Venetian Republic, died at Bergamo, bequeathing to the State his arms, horses, furniture, silver plate, and a sum of 16,000 florins, upon the condition that a statue should be raised to his memory. Verrocchio, being the most celebrated sculptor in Italy, was applied to, and he had already completed the model of the horse when he was told that the rider was to be done by one Bellano of Padua. He was so indignant that he broke the legs and head of his cast, and returned to Florence. The Senate of Venice sentenced him to death should he ever again set foot on Venetian territory, but Verrocchio, from the security of his native town, laughed at the decree, observing that if he was put to death Venice, would be the loser, because, while the Senate could not bring him to life again, he could put another head and new legs to the statue. The Senate in the end annulled the sentence, and gave Verrocchio a higher salary ; but he had hardly recommenced the work when he died after a brief illness. Upon opening his will it was found to contain a clause in which he asked that Lorenzo di Credi might be allowed to finish the horse. But the Senate intrusted the work to Alessandro Leopardi, whose name will be found inscribed across the lower girth : "A. Leopardi, F."

It is an open question whether Leopardi merely carried out the designs left behind by Verrocchio, or whether he executed the whole work upon a plan of his own. The letter "F" after his signature may signify "Fudet " (he cast it), as well as "Fecit " (he made it), and though the work is spoken of as the "Colleoni by Verrocchio," there are some strong presumptions in Leopardi's favor. Verrocchio, who was goldsmith, professor of perspective, engraver, sculptor, and musician, left behind him other works instinct with vigor and grace, chief among which may be mentioned the boy playing with a dolphin, originally ordered for the Careggi Gardens by Lorenzo de' Medici.

The Bargello now contains his statue of " David," which, meagre as it is in outline, is very correct in regard to anatomy. There is much originality about this work, down even to the belt which the vanquisher of Goliath has round the waist. It may be said of Verrocchio, in short, that he was a great and original artist, endowed with a very supple talent, and with high qualities in every branch of his profession.

LUCA DELLA ROBBIA. -(1400-1482.)

Luca della Robbia was the founder of a school and member of a family devoted to art. Engaged as they were in sculpture and majolica-work, there always has been and always will be a great deal of uncertainty as to the particular achievements of himself, his nephew Andrea, and his four sons, Giovanni, Girolamo, Luca, and Ambrogio.

Although Luca proved himself to be a sculptor of great ability, he is principally known to posterity as the inventor of enamelled pottery; and as he was the first to discover, or rather to apply, this beautiful process of decoration, all the works of this kind dating from the fifteenth century are attributed to him. The process, however, was known long before his day, as it was in use among the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Arabs, the Persians, the Moors, and the Greeks, and it cannot have been unknown to the Italians of the thirteenth century, for there is in existence a treatise entitled "Maravita Preciosa," dating from 1330, which is full of details on this subject, and of various specimens of early works, which M. Eugene Piot has published, with plates and illustrations in his "Cabinet de I'Amateur."

It was towards the close of his life that Luca, after a long course of experiments, made a practical application of his process upon the splendid tomb of Benozzo Federighi Bishop of Fiesole, in the church of St. Francesco di Paolo, at the foot of the Bello Sguardo, employing painted potteries, previously baked in the oven and covered with enamel. At first he used a pure white enamel, which covered the surface with a transparent coat of protecting varnish. Afterwards he had recourse to a blue shade for the backgrounds, and a light green shade for the soil, the plants, and the accessories. His nephew Andrea assisted him in his decorative work, and they continued their experiments, adopting one shade after another, and gradually arriving at those general combinations which may be seen upon the friezes, altars, spandrels, arches, and walls of convents and churches.

Much as has been written about the Robbia family, it is impossible to define precisely what share of the work was done by its head, but as he lived to the age of eighty-two, and was a man of extraordinary activity, it must have been large. At the same time, when it is remembered that six of the Robbias were actively employed for over a century, and that two of them were named Luca, it is impossible to speak with any confidence on the subject. Still there are many pieces of enamel at Florence known to be by him, notably the exquisite lavatory in the sacristy of Santa Maria Novella, all the medallions in the Foundling Hospital on the square of the Annunziata, the arms and insignia let into the facade of Or San Michele, some of the medallions in the Loggia di San Paolo in the Piazza of S. Maria Novella, and a number of works collected in the Bargello.

As high a testimonial as any to his skill as a sculptor may be found in the splendid series of alti-relievi ordered for the balustrade of one of the organ-lofts of the Duomo, as a pendant to those by Donatello. This was deservedly the most popular of his works, for though it has not the fire and bold character of Donatello's composition, it is of matchless elegance, and well balanced in design. There are a great number of Madonnas by Luca in private museums all over Europe, but the finest are in the South Kensington Museum, the Louvre, and Berlin. Luca died in 1482, leaving the secret of his method to his nephew and his nephew's four sons. The most striking specimen of Robbia-ware is in the Ceppo Hospital at Pistoia, in the frieze representing the Seven Acts of Mercy, which cost Andrea and his son Luca II. eleven years of labor. Girolamo introduced this mode of decoration into France, and there was a fine specimen of it in the Chateau de Madrid, just outside Paris, but it has been entirely destroyed. Some of the fragments are now in the Cluny Museum.