Robbia

American  

[roh-bee-uh, rawb-byah] / ˈroʊ bi ə, ˈrɔb byɑ /

noun

1. Andrea della 1435–1525, and his uncle, Luca della c1400–82, Italian sculptors.

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Robbia British  

/ ˈrobbja, ˈrəʊbɪə /

noun

1. Andrea della (anˈdrɛːa ˈdɛlla). 1435–1525, Florentine sculptor, best known for his polychrome reliefs and his statues of infants in swaddling clothes

2. his uncle, Luca della (ˈluːka ˈdɛlla). ?1400–82, Florentine sculptor, who perfected a technique of enamelling terra cotta for reliefs

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Example Sentences

Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect, designed the Innocenti building, while Andrea della Robbia, the sculptor, was responsible for depicting idealized versions of the swaddled infants the institution took in.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

FLORENCE, Italy — When Botticelli and Luca della Robbia created masterpieces about motherhood, they honored Renaissance idealism with reverential depictions of a serene Madonna and child.

From New York Times • Oct. 8, 2021

The artist who created this painted terra cotta likeness — full of demonic energy and stone-cold competence — used similar materials but a very different technique than the Della Robbia artists.

From Washington Post • Feb. 2, 2017

These sculptures have been enormously influential, explains my friend Rachel Boyd, who is writing her PhD dissertation on the della Robbia workshop.

From Washington Post • Sep. 29, 2016

For the Carrara mountains rose against the sky, white and peaked and holy, with soft, curded wings like Delia Robbia angels against a blue font.

From The Man with the Double Heart by Hine, Muriel