- Francesco Robba
Francesco Robba (
May 1 1698 –January 24 1757 ) was an Italian sculptor of theBaroque period. He was born inVenice and died inZagreb ,Croatia , although he lived most of his life inLjubljana (now inSlovenia ). Even while he is regarded as the leadingBaroque sculptor of marble statues in south-eastCentral Europe , he has remained practically unknown to the international scholarly public.He received his training in the workshop of the Venetian sculptor
Pietro Baratta from 1711 to 1716. In the same year, he moved to Ljubljana (then part of theHabsburg Monarchy ) to work with the Slovenian masterMislej and married his daughter Theresa.In this early period, his first marble statues and reliefs still reflect the influence of Pietro Baratta. When Mislej died in 1727, Robba took over his workshop and his clientele. Soon Robba started to earn his own reputation and was awarded prestigious commissions by ecclesiastical, aristocratic and bourgeois patrons. Already in 1729 his work was praised in a letter to Prince
Emmerich Esterházy , Archbishop ofEsztergom by the rector of theJesuit College inZagreb .From 1730 on his works attest of a growing self-confidence. His technical virtuosity manifests itself in the emotional expressions and the refined forms of his statues.
He was recognized by the people of
Ljubljana as a "honorary citizen ofLjubljana ". In 1743 he was elected to the External Council of the city. In 1745 he was appointed "state engineer" ofCarniola . During all this time, he didn't loose contancts withVenice , since he paid several visits to his native city. This allowed him to remain familiar with theBaroque sculpture of centralItaly andRome .In 1755 he left Ljubljana for Zagreb, where he died on
January 24 1757 .His most famous work is
Robba's fountain (1751), representing the three rivers ofCarniola (Ljubljanica ,Sava and Krka); in Ljubljana. He had been inspired byBernini 's Fountain of the Four Rivers onPiazza Navona during a visit to Rome.Other works include the Narcissus fountain (Ljubljana), the altar and the statues (1736) in St. James's church (Ljubljana), an altar in the cathedral of Saint Nicholas (Ljubljana), an altar in the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation (Ljubljana)
The work of Francesco Robba was highlighted in an international scientific symposium, held in Ljubljana in November 1998.
References
* [http://www2.arnes.si/finearts/robba/robba.html Biography]
* [http://www.culturalprofiles.org.uk/slovenia/Directories/Slovenia_Cultural_Profile/-7002.html Slovenia, Renaissance and Baroque]
* Francesco Robba and the Venetian Baroque Sculpture of the Eighteenth Century; Rokus Publishing House Ltd., Ljubljana, Slovenia; ISBN 961-209-160-9
*cite journal | author=Monica De Vincenti| title=Francesco Robba e la scultura barocca veneziana a Lubiana| journal=Venezia Arti| year=1999| volume=13| pages=103
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