It belongs primarily to that most mystic of all schools of
art, the Umbrian, centering in the town of Perugia. Nowhere else was
painting so distinctly an adjunct of religious services, chiefly
designed to aid the worshipper in prayer and contemplation.

As an exponent of the typical qualities of the Perugian school stands
the artist who is known by its name, Perugino. His favorite subject is
the Madre Pia, and his best picture of the kind is the Madonna of the
National Gallery. Having once seen her here, the traveller recognizes
her again and again in other galleries, in the many replicas of this
charming composition. The Madonna kneels in the foreground, adoring
with folded hands the child, who is supported in a sitting posture on
the ground, by a guardian angel. The Virgin's face is full of fervent
and exalted emotion.

Perugino had no direct imitator of his Madre Pia, but his Bolognese
admirer Francia treated the subject in a way that readily suggests the
source of his inspiration. His Madonna of the Rose Garden in Munich
instantly recalls Perugino. The artist has, however, chosen a novel
_motif_ in representing the moment when the Virgin is just sinking on
her knees, as if overcome by emotion.

Between the Umbrian school and the Florentine, a reciprocal influence
was exerted. If the latter taught the former many secrets of
composition and technical execution, the Umbrians in turn imparted
something of their mysticism to their more matter-of-fact neighbors.
While the Umbrian school of the fifteenth century was occupied with
the Madre Pia, Florence also was devoted to the same subject.
Sculpture led the race, and in the front ranks was Luca della Robbia,
founder of the school which bears his family name.

Beginning as a worker in marble, his inventive genius presently
wrought out a style of sculpture peculiarly his own. This was the
enamelled terra-cotta bas-relief showing pure white figures against a
background of pale blue. They were made chiefly in circular
medallions, lunettes, and tabernacles, and were scattered throughout
the churches and homes of Tuscany.

Associated with Luca in his work was his nephew Andrea, who, in turn,
had three sculptor sons, Giovanni, Girolamo, and Luca II. So great was
the demand for their ware that the Della Robbia studios became a
veritable manufactory from which hundreds of pieces went forth. Of
these, a goodly number represent the Madonna in Adoration. While it is
difficult t