In Santa Croce at Florence, there are a series of medallions of the four evangelists and the twelve apostles, and in the South Kensington museum there are twelve medallions representing the months. Many splendid examples of Luca della Robbia’s work are now treasured in the national museums.
Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) the nephew of Luca carried on the traditions with rare selective power and artistic skill; among his early works are the medallions for L’Hospital des Innocent, or the Children’s Hospital. The Adoration and the Annunciation were familiar subjects with Andrea, the illustrations given of the Annunciation in the Children’s Hospital, and the Virgin and child in the national museum at Florence being typical examples of his work. There is a splendid “Adoration” by Andrea in the South Kensington museum.
Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1527) son of Andrea continued this splendid tradition: his principal works being the Lavabo in S. Maria Novella, the tabernacle in S. Apostles, and the virgin and saints in Santa Croce, all in Florence. Many other beautiful works still remain which attest to the remarkable traditions of craftsmanship of the Della Robbia family.
Girolamo, brother of Giovanni, carried this tradition into France under Francis I.
ENAMELS.
Of the many decorative arts, enamelling is one of the most beautiful, having a singular charm of limpid or opalescent colour of great purity, richness and durability, and being capable of a most refined and varied treatment for the enrichment of metals.
Enamel is a vitreous or glass compound, translucent, semi-translucent or opaque, owing its colouring properties to mineral oxides, or sulphides, a fine opaque white being produced by oxide of tin. These enamels require different degrees of heat in order to fuse them and to cause their adhesion to the metal. Enamels are divided into three classes, Cloisonné, Champlevé and Painted Enamels.
Cloisonné enamel is that in which the cloisons or cells are formed by soldering thin, flat wire of metal upon a plate of copper, the cloisons, being filled with the various enamels, in powder or in paste, then, in order to vitrify the enamel, exposed to heat in a kiln, if upon a flat surface, or by the aid of a blow-pipe if upon a curved surface.
Cloisonné was in use from the early dynasties in Egypt, many fine large pectorals having been found in the tombs. These usually have the form of a hawk and are of gold or bronze with well-defined cloisons, which were filled with carefully fitted coloured paste or glass, and this undoubtedly was the origin of the true or vitreous cloisonné enamel. Byzantine enamel is invariably cloisonné and one of the most beautiful examples of this period is the Pala d’Oro of St. Mark’s at Venice, A.D. 976. Perhaps the Chinese and Japanese have carried this cloisonné to its greatest perfection in softness of colour and beauty of technic. The earliest Chinese cloisonné is of the Ming dynasty, 1368-1643; this has heavy cast metal grounds with low toned colours and deep reds and blues. Under the Thsing dynasty, which commenced in 1643, the colours became brighter and the designs more refined.