Cantorie: the luminous colors and lucid, Renaissance
compositions of Luca’s terracottas enhance their readabil-
ity in the dark interior. Enameled terracotta proved an
ideal and relatively economical medium for both interior
and exterior architectural decoration, and Luca con-
tributed to a number of important Florentine monuments,
including MICHELOZZO’s tabernacle at San Miniato (1448),
Brunelleschi’s Capella dei Pazzi (c. 1442–52; Twelve Apos-
tles, St. Andrew, cupola), the Medici palace (c. 1460;
Labors of the Months, for the studietto of Piero de’ Medici,
now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and a
ceiling with Virtues for the chapel of the cardinal prince of
Portugal at San Miniato (1461–66). Luca also combined
marble reliefs with enameled terracotta, as in the taberna-
cle (1441–42) now at Peretola and the monument of
Bishop Benozzo Federighi (1454–57; now Sta. Trinita).
Luca’s blue and white Madonna and Child compositions
are among the sweetest and most serene of Quattrocento
relief Madonnas; they offer a convincing sense of physical
presence in concert with a gentle humanity. He also used
enameled terracotta for such free-standing sculptures as
Two Kneeling Angels Carrying Candlesticks (1448–51;
cathedral, Florence) and a Visitation (before 1445; San
Giovanni Fuorcivitas, Pistoia).
Between 1464 and 1469 Luca collaborated with Mich-
elozzo and Maso di Bartolommeo in the design and exe-
cution of a set of bronze doors with saints for the
cathedral sacristy. The Florentine biographer Antonio
Manetti (1423–97) included Luca in his Uomini singolari
in Firenze (Illustrious men of Florence), crediting him
with the innovation of enameled terracotta and praising
him for his moral and intellectual qualities.
Further reading: Maud Crutwell, Luca and Andrea
della Robbia (New York: AMS Press, repr. 2002); John
Pope-Hennessy, Luca della Robbia (Oxford, U.K.: Phaidon,
1980).
della Rovere family A Ligurian family of obscure origins
which acquired wealth, power, and status during the pa-
pacy of Francesco della Rovere (Pope SIXTUS IV; 1471–84).
An enthusiastic nepotist, Sixtus generously bestowed car-
dinal’s hats and lordships on his nephews. Giovanni della
Rovere (1457–1501), whom Sixtus made lord of Senigal-
lia, married the daughter of the last Montefeltro duke of
Urbino; their son succeeded to the duchy in 1508 and the
della Rovere family ruled Urbino until the extinction of
the line in 1631. Sixtus made his nephew Giuliano a car-
dinal (1471); as JULIUS II(pope 1503–13), Giuliano proved
to be one of the ablest and most efficient Renaissance
popes and further enhanced his family’s prestige. He was
known for his opposition to simony and nepotism.
della Scala family The rulers of Verona from 1259 to
- Mastino I (died 1277) was the first to control
Verona. Della Scala power in northeast Italy reached its
highest point under Cangrande I (1311–29), who con-
quered Vicenza (1312–14), Padua (1317–18), Bellino, and
Feltre and was imperial vicar of Mantua (1327). The fam-
ily’s fortunes declined when Mastino II (died 1351) pro-
voked a hostile Florentine-Venetian coalition and lost all
his territories except Verona and Vicenza. The VISCONTI
FAMILYdefeated the della Scala and annexed their territo-
ries in 1387. The della Scala were admired for their public
works and patronage of scholarship and letters; DANTE
was sheltered by them in Verona in the early 14th century.della Valle, Pietro (1586–1652) Italian traveler
Delle Valle was born in Rome to aristocratic parents. From
1606 to 1614 he lived at Naples, before starting his travels
in Istanbul (1614–15). From there he went to Egypt and
Jerusalem, then Damascus and Baghdad (1616). In Bagh-
dad he married a Syrian Christian girl. They traveled on to
Isfahan, where he spent five years (1617–21) near the
court of Shah Abbas, of whom he would write favorably in
his Delle conditioni di Abbàs rè di Persia (1628). Leaving
Persia, he headed for India; when his wife died en route he
added her embalmed body to his luggage. From Goa he
traveled around southern India before heading home
(1624) via the Middle East and Sicily. Wherever he went
delle Valle studied and became proficient in the local lan-
guages, copied inscriptions, collected manuscripts, re-
searched the indigenous culture, and sent back meticulous
reports to his Neapolitan friend Mario Schipano. However,
only the first part of his Viaggi was published during his
lifetime (1650) and then only partially.Delorme, Philibert (Philibert de l’Orme) (c. 1510–
1570) French architect
The son of a master stonemason in Lyons, Delorme be-
came acquainted with contemporary Italian works, as well
as with the antiquities, while living in Rome (c. 1533–36),
where he executed work for Pope Paul III. Delorme re-
turned to Lyons in 1536 and the same year designed the
Hôtel Bullioud there for the finance minister of Brittany. In
1540 he was appointed controller of fortifications at Lyons
and subsequently embarked (1541–47) upon his first
major building, the château of St-Maur-des-Fosses near
Paris for Cardinal Jean Du Bellay, whom Delorme had met
in Rome. Appointed superintendent of buildings under
Henry II in 1548, Delorme built for him the Château-Neuf
at St. Germain-en-Laye (1557), and for Henry’s mistress
DIANE DE POITIERS, the Château d’Anet (1547–52) and the
bridge at CHENONCEAUX(1556–59). Although Delorme
fell from favor after Henry’s death in 1559, he was later
commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici to build the palace
of the TUILERIESin Paris (1564), his last major work.
Noted for his success in combining Italian humanist
ideas with traditional French achitecture, Delorme also
wrote two books on architectural theory, Nouvelles Inven-
tions pour bien bastir (1561) and L’Architecture (1567); of113388 ddeellllaa RRoovveerree ffaammiillyy