Lavabo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Luca della Robbia (rōb'-bē-ä), 1400-1482

ROM the workshop of a goldsmith, where so many eminent artists of the Italian Renaissance began their careers, Luca, taught to draw and model in wax, turned to sculpture. With such tireless assiduity did the young man pursue his studies, that Vasari uses him as a text and exemplar for a discourse on the zealous industry requisite for supreme excellence in the arts, and he early became second only to his contemporary, Donatello. For the churches of the city he wrought works in marble and doors of bronze, still extant and famous.

Luca della Robbia is best known for his work in a sort of terra cotta, designated as Della Robbia ware. He was long generally credited with the discovery of the process of applying to modeled figures in baked clay, metallic glazes, but while it is certain that this had been long done by others before his time, yet he greatly improved and perfected the processes, and applied them to plastic works of such grace and beauty, that he practically invented a new art.

This beautiful lavatory, in the sacristy of the church of Santa Maria Novella, illustrates fully the scope and style of his work. The well-balanced architectural form, the elaborate ornament of arabesques and wreathed fruits and flowers, the playful cherubs, and above all, his favorite theme, the Madonna and Child with adoring angels, are characteristic elements of the sculpture known by his name. Other members of his family continued his

Washington Crossing the Delaware
Emanuel Leutze (loit'-ze), 1816-1868

JEUTZE was born in Würtemberg, but the family soon emi-
grated to Philadelphia. The lad had some lessons in drawing
from John R. Smith, an excellent master of the time, and in
1840 he was able to go to Düsseldorf in Germany, directly
under Lessing, the historical painter.

He also soon devoted himself to that field, and with great industry and much success he painted scenes from the life of Columbus, from the history of England, and especially from that of America. He remained chiefly in Europe until 1859.

Leutze's hasty production caused him to fall short in the care in detail and finish which Lessing shows, but he knew well how to compose in a large spirit, and he sought to illustrate lofty sentiments from important episodes of the nation's history. Our age seems less interested in historical themes, and makes greater demands on the technical skill of the painter, so that, as Leutze's color appears cold and his style dry and formal, he has fallen into a neglect, perhaps in part undeserved.

The Washington was painted in 1850 in Düsseldorf, where the original picture was destroyed by fire, but a second version was at once carried out. It was sold to Goupil in Paris for $7,500, a large sum then, brought to America in 1851, and exhibited with much éclat, was then returned to Europe, engraved by P. Girardet, and finally added to the Gallery of Bremen.

Leutze made a replica, which was long in the collection of M. O. Roberts, and in 1897 was given to the Metropolitan Museum. As a worthy presentation of a noble subject it has a lasting value.

D

Sheep, Autumn

JUTCH painters of the nineteenth century, considering the absolute quality of their art as compared with that of other nationalities, have been most fortunate in returns of fame and money. While their merit is considerable, they have been lucky enough to hit the taste of foreign buyers, especially of Americans, and their pictures now command prices which it is hard to think the future will understand.

Mauve was born at Zaandam, and studied at Haarlem under Van Os, a painter of animals, and with W. Verschur. He lived long at Laren, a little village near the Zuyder Zee, not far south of Amsterdam. Mauve painted in water colors and oil, flat Dutch landscapes, with the sense of the near sea over them, in which he placed cattle or more frequently sheep with their shepherd. His color is subdued, often silvery, and he has faithfully given the spirit of the quiet fields, the air laden with moisture on which white clouds are resting, and the calm life of man and beast which he saw there.

The name of Millet is often cited in connection with Mauve, but Millet had a vastly greater plastic power, a richer sense of color and deeper feeling; they have little in common. Neither as a painter of the human figure nor of animals was Mauve of more than ordinary skill, but in a few of his best pictures the general effect of atmosphere and sky, the rendering of the spirit of the place and of the flocks with their keeper, give great pleasure, and move us with their poetical truth.