Family of Italian artists active in Florence.
The first works of Luca (di Simone di Marco) Della Robbia (1399/14001482) were reliefs sculptured in marble, most notably those for the Cantoria (singing-gallery) of Florence Cathedral (143237). He is remembered mainly for his development of glazed terra-cotta as a medium for sculpture; his major terra-cotta works include roundels of the Apostles ( 0441; 1444) in Filippo Brunelleschi 's Pazzi Chapel in Santa Croce. In time the Della Robbia studio became a potters' workshop-industry, famous especially for its renderings of the Madonna and Child in white enamel on a blue ground. Andrea (di Marco) Della Robbia (14351525), Luca's nephew, assumed control of the workshop 0441; 1470. Trained as a marble sculptor, his best-known works are ten roundels of infants on the facade of Florence's Foundling Hospital ( 0441; 1487). Giovanni Della Robbia (14691529), the most distinguished of Andrea's sons, took control of the family workshop after his father's death. His early works, notably a lavabo in Santa Maria Novella (1497) and medallions in the Loggia of San Paolo (149395), were collaborations with his father.