Luca della Robbia, Cantoria (singing gallery)

Author
Luca della Robbia
Date
1432-1438
Collocation
Sala delle cantorie
Original location
Cathedral, transept, north-east wall, above the Sacristy of the Mass
Material
Marble, plaster, pigments
Technique
Sculpture, moulding, cast, background
Dimensions
Height: 328 cm; Width: 560 cm;

Marble singers gallery sculpted for the Cathedral by Luca della Robbia between 1431 and 1438. Above the parapet one can admire the modern copies of two bronze angels attributed to Donatello, now in the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris. Luca della Robbia’s choir loft, like that of Donatello, on display nearby, was attached to the crossing piers of the Cathedral, above the high altar. The della Robbia loft was on the north-east wall and housed the organ, and during services, the choristers. The two bronze angels formerly on the parapet held candles for the singers to read their music by. The Latin verses inscribed all along the choir loft are the whole of Psalm 150, describing a joyful concert of praise to the Lord through various instruments, all faithfully portrayed by Luca in the bas reliefs: voice, trumpets, drums, flutes, cymbals, and so on. The boys and girls playing and singing, are both realistically, yet idealistically, portrayed. The little clouds beneath the feet of some of the singers conveying the idea that these were heavenly images, fostering the impression that the sacred music sung by the choir during Mass in the Cathedral was angelic. 

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Sala delle Cantorie