By Anne Leader
Sculptor Francesco Robba died on 24 January 1757 in Zagreb. Born in Venice around 1698, Robba moved to Ljublijana in the early 1720s where he spent the majority of his career, carving fountains, altars, portraits, and other monuments.
As a teenager, he trained in Venice with Pietro Baratta, who familiarized him with Tuscan neoclassicism and Roman Baroque trends. He became a Slovenian citizen in 1730 and married the daughter of local sculptor and business partner Luka Misled (d. 1722), whose studio he had taken over. He became Ljubljana’s leading sculptor. Robba moved to Zagreb in 1752 to create several altars for the cathedral, dying there at age 59 or so.
Reference:
Ksenija Rozman. “Robba, Francesco.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Fountain of the Three Rivers of Carniola, 1751 Town Square, Ljubljana
High Altar, 1744, Church of the Holy Trinity, Ljubljana
Martyrdom of St. John of Nepomuk, Church of St. Florian, Ljubljana