self up entirely to sculpture,[1] insomuch that he did nothing but work with his chisel all day, and by night he practised himself in drawing; and this he did with so much zeal, that when his feet were often frozen with cold in the night-time, he kept them in a basket of shavings to warm them, that he might not be compelled to discontinue his drawings. Nor am I in the least astonished at this, since no man ever becomes distinguished in any art whatsoever who does not early begin to acquire the power of supporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and other discomforts; wherefore those persons deceive themselves altogether who suppose that while taking their ease and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world, they may still attain to honourable distinction—for it is not by sleeping, but by waking, watching and labouring continually, that proficiency is attained and reputation acquired.
Luca had scarcely completed his fifteenth year, when he was taken with other young sculptors to Rimini, for the purpose of preparing certain marble ornaments and figures for Sigismondo di Pandolfo Malatesti, lord of that city, who was then building a chapel in the church of San Francesco, and erecting a sepulchre for his wife, who had recently died. In this work Luca della Robbia gave a creditable specimen of his abilities, in some bassi-rilievi, which are still to be seen there, but he was soon recalled to Florence by the wardens of Santa Maria del Fiore, and there executed five small historical representations for the campanile of that cathedral. These are placed on that side of the tower which is turned towards the church, and where, according to the design of Giotto, they were required to fill the space beside those delineating the arts and sciences previously executed, as we have said, by Andrea Pisano. In the first relief, Luca pourtrayed San Donato teaching grammar; in the second are Plato and Aristotle, who represent philosophy; in the third is a figure playing the lute, for music; in the fourth, a statue of Ptolemy, to signify astronomy; and in the fifth, Euclid, for geometry. These rilievi, whether for correctness of design, grace of composition, or beauty of execution, greatly surpass the two completed, as we have before said, by Giotto, and of which one represents painting, by a figure of Apelles, occupied in
- ↑ Baldinucci declares Luca della Robbia to have acquired his art from Lorenzo Ghiberti.
