ity and nobility," the
words of Cavalucci and Molinier, is perhaps the best phrase in which
to sum up the art of Luca della Robbia.

In his nephew, Andrea della Robbia, the founder of the school had a
successor whose best work is worthy of the master's teaching. If he
lacked the simplicity and severity of the older man, he surpassed him
in depth of Christian sentiment. Sometimes, it is true, his tenderness
verges on weakness, his devoutness on pietism. If we are tempted to
charge him with monotony we must remember what pressure was brought
upon a man whose works attained such immense popularity. The bambini
of the Foundling Hospital and the Meeting of St. Francis and St.
Dominick show the high level to which his art could rise.

Antonio Rossellino and Mino da Fiesole may be classed together as
sculptors to whom decorative effect was of first importance; they
loved line and form for their intrinsic beauty. They delighted in
elaborate and well ordered compositions. Elegance of design, delicacy
and refinement in handling, are invariable qualities of their work.
Such qualities were especially to be desired in the making of those
sepulchral monuments which were so numerous in their period. Of the
many fine works of this class in Tuscany each of these two sculptors
contributed at least one of the best examples.

It is superfluous to point out that the sweetness of these sculptors
is perilously near the insipid, their grace too often formal. We are
brought to realize the true greatness of the men when we behold the
grave and tranquil beauty of the effigy of the Cardinal of Portugal,
or the vigorous characterization of the bust of Bishop Salutati.

It is John Addington Symonds who says the final word when he declares
that the charm of the works of such men as Mino and Rossellino "can
scarcely be defined except by similes." And these are the images which
this master of similes calls up to our mind as we contemplate their
works: "The innocence of childhood, the melody of a lute or a song
bird as distinguished from the music of an orchestra, the rathe tints
of early dawn, cheerful light on shallow streams, the serenity of a
simple and untainted nature that has never known the world."

[Footnote 1: Sidney Colvin.]

[Footnote 2: Notes on _Vasari's Lives_, edited by E. H.
and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins.]

II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE.

There are but few works devoted exclusively to the subject of Italian
Re