Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known as Donatello, (Florence, Italy, 1386-ibidem, December 13, 1466) was an Italian artist, painter and sculptor of the early Renaissance, one of the fathers of the period along with Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi and Masaccio. Donatello became an innovative force in the field of monumental sculpture and in the treatment of reliefs, where he managed to represent great depth within a minimal plane, calling himself stiacciato, that is, «flattened or crushed relief».
One of Donatello's earliest works was a sculpture of David, made of marble around 1409 and now in the Bargello Museum. In the following years he produced numerous works in marble, terracotta, bronze and wood for various patrons and cities. He returned to Florence in 1459 with the commission to model some bronze plaques for the Basilica of San Lorenzo and during the elaboration he died in December 1466.
Among his most important works are the bronze David in the Bargello museum, the Outer pulpit of Prato Cathedral, the equestrian statue of Gattamelata in Padua, the Penitent Mary Magdalene at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence and Judith and Holofernes at Palazzo Vecchio.
Biography
Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a wool carder, and was born in Florence, probably in 1386. His father was a tumultuous life who participated in the Ciompi revolt, a popular uprising that occurred in 1378, organized by the wool carders. Nicholas Machiavelli described this revolt years later (1520-1525), in his History of Florence. Later, his father, also participated in other actions against Florence, which led him to be sentenced to death and later pardoned, he was a very different character from his son, who was noble, elegant and delicate, because of his friends and others. artists was known under the name of Donatello.
According to reports by Vasari, the artist spent his last days abandoned by fortune. His last years, as a result of a crippling illness, he spent in bed and unable to work.
He died in Florence in 1466 and was buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in the crypt below the altar and next to the tomb of Cosmas the Elder. Among the men who carried the coffin was Andrea della Robbia. Donatello's cenotaph was made in 1896 by the sculptor Raffaello Romanelli.
At his death he was still in debt of 34 guilders to pay the rent for his house and this has given rise to debate about his real state of poverty, but the issue seems more related to his total indifference in matters financial, which the artist demonstrated throughout his life, due to economic issues. Many anecdotes testify to this attitude, such as when at the time of his heyday of work in his workshop, he used to hang a basket full of money, from which his assistants could freely take advantage, as necessary. The fees he received for his work had secured him large profits and also Cosimo de' Medici had granted him a weekly lifetime allowance until the end of his life.
Training
The artist, according to Giorgio Vasari, was educated in the Martelli family home; and that he received his first training from him in a goldsmith's workshop. Between 1402 and 1404 he traveled to Rome with Brunelleschi, to study the art of Antiquity. They saw a large number of ancient ruins that they were able to study and copy to later be inspired by them. Vasari states that they were digging for "pieces of capitals, columns, entablatures and remains of buildings". His stay in Rome was decisive for the full development of Italian art in the XV, it was during this period that Brunelleschi studied the measurements of the dome of the Pantheon and other Roman constructions. Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's monuments were the supreme expression of the spirit in the era when architecture and sculpture exerted a powerful influence on the painters of this age.
In 1404, Donatello returned to Florence, only to work in Lorenzo Ghiberti's workshop, where he helped make the wax for the casting of the models for the north door of the Baptistery of Saint John, until 1407. This activity It allowed him to acquire the fundamental knowledge of jewelry and goldsmithing. In fact, in 1412 there is a note in the registry of the corporation of painters that names him as a goldsmith.
First works
The Little Prophet made for the exterior of the Mandorla Gate in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, is considered one of the first works produced by Donatello. However, there is a controversy about its attribution, apart from the stylistic differences between the two figures of the little prophets, which may be due to inexperience due to the artist's youth, also due to the resemblance to works similar from Nanni di Banco. Today, the prophet on the left is mostly attributed to Donatello, based on comparisons with other works of the same period, such as the David in marble. The fact that the other statue is probably the work of Nanni di Banco is not incompatible with the documents of the cathedral, where it is recorded that Donatello received payments in 1406 and 1408, as a reward for his work on two statues of prophets (which are not described in detail); at that time the two sculptors were associated and participated in the decoration of the Puerta de la Mandorla of the cathedral.
In 1408 he was commissioned a marble David of natural size, and which shows a more elaborate sculpture, for the buttresses of the choir of the cathedral; For the same site, Nanni di Banco was commissioned another statue in which he should represent the prophet Isaiah. If the two sculptures are compared, a flexion of the body is observed in that of Isaías that continues to be Gothic and that seems to have no central axis, while that of David by Donatello presents a perfect contrapposto. Donatello made it in marble with a height of 190 cm, the great meticulousness of the finish reminds us of the influence that the author still had of the trade he acquired during his apprenticeship in Ghiberti's workshop.
This work is not to be confused with a later version on the same subject of David that he made in bronze. In this first David his face is not very expressive, with an amaranth crown, a profane symbol, and elongated limbs still reminiscent of the late Gothic style, he shows a contrasting placement, with the point of support in a leg, corresponding to an opposite torsion of the trunk, thus forming the classic contrapposto, the detail of the hands indicate a deep study of anatomy. In 1416 it was transferred to Palazzo Vecchio and it became the emblem of the city, adding a plate with the inscription:
PRO PATRIA FORTITER DIMICANTIBUS ETIAM ADVERSUS TERRIBILISSIMOS HOSTES DII PRAESTANT AUXILIUM«The gods give support in the homeland to audacity against the most fearsome enemy fighters»
in the Duomo, Florence.
Between 1409 and 1411 he made the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche in the old façade of the cathedral, next to the central portal, with three other evangelists by authors different: San Marcos by Niccolò di Piero Lamberti, San Lucas by Nanni di Banco, San Mateo by Bernardo Ciuffagni. in a chapel of the Duomo. In this work Donatello gave expression to his late Gothic mannerism and not only by cross-referencing with the noble posture of the ancient statues, but by seeking a true humanity in the expression of the saint's face with the frontal disposition, probably influenced by the head of the Capitoline Jupiter, shoulders and torso geometrically simplified in accordance with the semicircular conception, in the lower part of the figure the stylization favors a more accentuated naturalness, the hands are realistic and the clothing that wraps the legs increases the volumes of the limbs. The statue with its charge of restrained force represented an important model for Michelangelo's Moses.
Orsanmichele
The church of Orsanmichele, is a building that was originally built as a convent for a community of nuns, later it was used as a civil court and later as a grain market, until it was used for Marian worship. In 1366 the arcades of the square were closed by the architect Francesco Talenti and in 1404 it was ordered that each "Art of Florence" (the guilds) place the image of its patron saint in one of the fourteen niches of the exterior pilasters. Thus Orsanmichele became a public place of exterior exhibition at eye level. The statues, made by different artists and materials, have been moved to ensure their conservation. Most of them are located on the upper floor of the church, converted into a museum, inaugurated in 1996.
Donatello participated with the commissions for Saint Mark for the Guild of Spinners (1411-1413), Saint George for the Guild of Armor Makers (1415 -1417) and the San Luis de Tolosa for the Captains of the Welfs (1422-1425).
Saint Mark
Saint Mark is portrayed as an ancient philosopher with a bearded head and dressed in a tunic knotted at the waist. His face is sculpted with an expression of dignified seriousness and spiritual integrity, reminiscent of that of Saint John the Evangelist of a few years ago. The left leg of San Marcos, has a gentle inclination, in a weighted manner, but it does not mean that the attitude is straight and solemn. The small turn of the body makes the figure stand out slightly from the niche, avoiding the rigidity of a strictly frontal position. The saint's gaze seems to be lost on the horizon. With his left hand, he holds an open book, which is the classic attribute of evangelists. Michelangelo praised this sculpture saying, according to Vasari: "I had never seen a figure with the air of such a good man as this and that if Saint Mark had really had these characteristics, then I could blindly believe what he had written".
The statue was removed from its location in 1941, to protect it from World War II bombing, and again in 1977 to begin restoration. On this occasion, the darkened areas, which had been blackening the figure, were cleaned so that the bronze patina appeared and harmonized with the marble and bronze statues of Orsanmichele, the remains of the gilding on the model were rediscovered. hair, beard, the edges of the garment, the book and on the cushion where the statue rests its feet. The original is in the Orsanmichele museum and a copy has been placed outside.
Saint George
The Saint George of 1417, with the tabernacle also by Donatello, was commissioned by the Guild of Armor Makers; the result was conditioned because, evidently, the guild wanted a work where weapons and armor had a leading role. The figure, slightly rotating around the central axis, is based on the superposition of three oval lines: the face with the eyebrows, the chest and the shield. The stroke of the head, in the opposite direction to that of the torso, is a resource by the artist to energize the work.
The stone bas-relief on the base, probably added two years later, was carved using the stiacciato technique; It is one of the first examples of a central vanishing point perspective, with a horizontal character and that converges in the central group, with the representation of Saint George saves the princess, taken from The golden legend by Jacobus de Voragine. The lines of the cape, the armor of the saint and the open wings of the dragon, which capture the attention of the viewer's gaze, are in line with the late Gothic style. But the new conception of space, which seems to extend beyond the frame of the bas-relief, are also a point of reference, as is the innovative function of the light that protrudes from the focal point of the action.
Saint Louis of Tolosa
San Luis de Tolosa made it in 1423 in gilt bronze; this piece is in the Museo dell'Opera de la Santa Croce, but was originally in a tabernacle designed by Donatello. This tabernacle belonged to the Guelphs; when they lost power, they had to sell it, between 1459 and 1460, it was bought by the trade union corporation, who exchanged the work for the sculptural group of The incredulity of Saint Thomas by Andrea Verrocchio. As could be seen in a restoration of the sculpture of San Luis, the construction was made from cast pieces that were assembled together, the miter and the pastoral crozier can be removed as separate parts and the right hand of the saint in a position of bless, it's an empty glove.
Crucifix
There is another reference to a work from this early period, of a crucifix in polychrome wood, which is mentioned in a report by Vasari, on the occasion of a special competition between Brunelleschi and Donatello:
... made a wooden Crucifix, which, when it was finished, showed it to Brunelleschi, a very good friend of his, to know his opinion. This one, who by Donatello's words expected to see something much better, looking at it smiled. And Donato begged him, for the friendship that was among them, to tell him his mind. As for Filippo, who was very liberal, he said that it seemed to him that he had placed on the Cross a peasant and not a body similar to Jesus Christ, which was more delicate and everywhere the most perfect human form ever created.Vasari. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori- IV
In the face of this cruel criticism, Donatello invited Filippo Brunelleschi to produce a better work than his. Before the crucifix made by his friend, Donato was loyal and admitted that he had been defeated.
Its dating is placed between 1406 and 1408 and as in his work of the little prophets, in its attribution there are some doubts expressed believing that it may have been made by Nanni di Banco, although this theory does not have great followers. The body of Donato's crucifix is made according to the desire of the client, the Order of San Francisco, with a reality of human suffering and a pathos to reach the common people, it reflects the agony of Christ, with eyes partially open, mouth open and the body relaxed. It is located in the Basilica of Santa Croce (Florence).
Marzocco
Donatello was entrusted with the execution of the Marzocco in 1419, on the occasion of Pope Martin V's visit to Florence, for its placement on the steps leading to the papal rooms of Santa Maria Novella. A marzocco is a sculpture representing a lion, symbol of popular power in the Republic of Florence, and that Donatello knew how to bring out all the great majesty in the description of the heraldic animal. In 1810 it was erected in Piazza della Signoria and, later, replaced by a copy and the original transferred to the Bargello museum.
Between 1415 and 1426, he carved five statues for the cathedral bell tower: Beardless Prophet, Pensive Prophet (both in 1415), Sacrifice of Isaac (1421), Prophet Habakkuk known as Il Zuccone (1423-1425) and Prophet Jeremiah . Donatello characterized the prophets of the tower according to the classical model of the orator. These larger-than-life statues are known to have been portraits of real citizens, not idealized ones; the greatness and dignity of the person is given by the gesture and by the chiaroscuro effect of the folds of their clothing. The sculptures were transferred to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence) in 1937, placing some copies in the bell tower.
Beardless Prophet
The Beardless Prophet, occupied one of the niches on the eastern face of the bell tower, made of white marble between 1416 and 1418, owes its name to the lack of iconographic attributes to identify the prophet that refers, is characterized with classical clothing and the posture of an orator, with an expression on his face of great realism. The folds of his dress are deep to achieve a strong chiaroscuro, as he shows strong and determined gestures with his left hand to point to the cartouche where he shows his prophecy.
The Thoughtful Prophet
The Pensive Prophet, installed in the third order of the bell tower of the cathedral, dates from 1418 and is made of marble. As with the Beardless Prophet, it has not been possible to identify the character he represents. His face bears a great resemblance to Saint Mark by Orsanmichele, made by Donatello a short time before. His execution was made with lines that show the greatness and dignity of the person represented, with the typical gesture of deep pensive attitude achieved by the artist, holding his right hand as if he were stroking his beard.
Sacrifice of Isaac
Among this series of sculptures about prophets, the one of the Sacrifice of Isaac stands out as an exception —because it forms a group of two characters—, representing Abraham in the act of sacrificing his son Isaac, while the other prophets are with meditative gestures and all are unidentified. In this group we can see the movement in Abraham's turned head, as if he were waiting for the angel's warning to stop his sacrifice. It is believed that his assistant Nanni de Bartolo participated in the execution of this work.
Prophet Habakkuk or Zuccone
The prophet Habacuc popularly known as il Zuccone (the zucchini), the sculpture was made to be placed on the north side of the bell tower, one of the worst faces for its visualization, but once the work was done, the patrons of the cathedral were so satisfied that they changed its location to the west side, part that is parallel to the facade of the cathedral. In this sculpture, Donatello made the portrait of a character from Florence called Barduccio and who the people called Zuccone, that is, zucchini, due to his long and bald skull and hence the popular name of the sculpture. Donatello represented the prophet with extreme thinness and with a long tunic through which his bare arms with excellent anatomy can be seen. The most impressive thing is the character that he knew how to give to the facial expression, with intense realism.
Prophet Jeremiah
This sculpture of the prophet Jeremiah, was the last made by Donatello for the bell tower of the cathedral of Florence, where it was placed on the same west face as the prophet Habakkuk. Vasari in his Le Vite recounts that Donatello used Francesco Soderini, a Florentine friend of the sculptor, as a model for this statue. The work has a great expressiveness in its face and shows a general effect of grandeur and seriousness.
Reliquary of San Rossore
For the church of Ognissanti (Florence), he was commissioned in 1424, the work of a bust reliquary of San Rossore, in gilt bronze, was made as a "Roman portrait" type bust. III century. It is preserved in the Museo nazionale di San Matteo in Pisa, where it was transferred in 1591.
Works in Siena
From 1423 and while he was working on the prophets for the bell tower of Santa Maria del Fiore, he was commissioned to decorate the baptistery of Siena, together with other artists such as Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia and Luca della Robbia.
He made one of the bronze reliefs that corresponds to the frieze of the baptismal font, with the theme of Herod's Feast. In a close-up, Donatello exposes the presentation of the decapitated head of Saint John the Baptist to Herod, appreciating the horror on his face that this produces in him. On the right, in the foreground is Salome. The architecture in perspective in the background, with the classic arcade, reveals great depth, achieved with minimal relief, using the stiacciato technique. This central perspective was used by Brunelleschi, although in this relief its application makes it one of the most important of the early Renaissance.
Given the great satisfaction of the principals, he was immediately commissioned to execute two free-standing sculptures, also in bronze and representing La Fe and La Esperanza to incorporate them into the great baptismal font.
The tombstone of Giovanni Pecci, bishop of Grosseto, who died in 1426, was commissioned from Donatello for the cathedral of Siena, where he was working on the baptistery of Saint John in this temple. The artist represented the image of the bishop in a silver relief, which was made in a very fine relief, adapting perfectly in its arrangement on the pavement of the cathedral.
Reliefs
A long series of reliefs treated with the stiacciato technique were made by Donatello throughout his artistic career, such as the relief of the Madonna Pazzi in marble, commissioned between 1425 and 1430 for the Florentine Palazzo Pazzi, in this the perspective comes from the lower part, the planes are in gradation and with a draping of great delicacy. This type of half-length Madonna and Child image would be increasingly represented during the Quattrocento, reserved mostly for private worship. Donatello is credited with the bas-relief of the Baptism of Christ on the baptismal font in the Cathedral from Arezzo in Tuscany, dated after 1425.
The Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter for the altar of the Brancacci Chapel (1425-1430), kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the relief of The Assumption of the Virgin for the tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci in Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples are executed with the same treatment. It is possible that it was an explicit request from the cardinal who was closely linked to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. In this church the festivity of the Assumption of the Virgin was lived intensely.
Madonna Pazzi.
The Assumption of the Virgin.
Herod's feast in marble.
The Herod's Feast in marble of 1437, had already dealt with this same subject, with bronze material previously. In the marble, the treatment reaches a high degree of subtlety and blurring, which shows how far the author had reached, with mastery in relief, with resolution in the difficulty of representing the architectural part, as well as in the figures that are admiring the dance of Salome, full of sensuality.
The partnership with Michelozzo
In 1425 the association between Donatello's workshop and Michelozzo began, which lasted until the late 1430s, with a number of important works in cooperation. Michelozzo was a good sculptor and architect and was ten years younger than Donatello, while Donatello was an indisputable master of sculpture. Michelozzo, a former disciple of Brunelleschi, usually dealt with issues related to everyday social life and architecture.
Funeral monuments
From 1425 to 1427, Donatello worked with Michelozzo at the Tomb of Antipope John XXIII, born Baldassare Cossa, in the Baptistery of Saint John (Florence), where he had requested his burial to be placed after having made various donations. It is built to great theatrical effect, between two columns near the main altar. Donatello, doubtless executed, the gilt bronze figure of the deceased recumbent on his tomb, dressed in pontifical robes, above him is a large semi-circle scallop shell containing a Madonna and Child, the upper part is framed by an open canopy. Under the urn there is a tombstone with reliefs of two putti that support a cartouche with the name and the number of positions of the deceased, below there are three reliefs with the representation of Virtues, Faith, Charity and Hope. This monument served as a model for others in the Florentine setting, in the Basilica of Santa Croce (Florence).
In this period they carried out the tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci who was sent to the church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples. The funeral monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi, which is located in the Duomo di Montepulciano and of which only a few fragments are preserved in the cathedral. Two small angels belonging to this tomb are in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Brancacci's large tomb features a baldachin and composition inspired by the Neapolitan Trecento tradition. Work began in Rainaldo Brancacci's lifetime, and the artists had already completed about a quarter of the monument when he died on June 5, 1427. The work is not innovative compared to the funerary monument of Antipope John XXIII in Florence Baptistery. It is likely that Michelozzo was primarily responsible for design and construction. The relief of The Assumption of the Virgin and the caryatids supporting the sarcophagus are attributed to Donatello.
Exterior pulpit of Prato Cathedral
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In July 1428, Donatello and Michelozzo obtained another commission of great importance, the creation of the exterior pulpit of the cathedral of Prato, with the intention of using it for the exhibition of the relic of the Sacred Girdle of the Virgin. In the contract, signed by Michelozzo on behalf of both, they are given an execution period within the following fifteen months, a clause that was widely exceeded, since it lasted, despite the repeated protests of the principals, until the end of the years 1430. The architecture is given unanimously to Michelozzo and all the reliefs with putti to Donatello, at least in the design, since the sculpture has been found to be not always by the hand of the master, surely some were made by the numerous helpers they had. The original sculptures are kept in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Prato) and some copies have been placed outside.
In this long period, the two artists produced other works in addition to making a trip of at least two years to Rome. In the fall of 1432, a letter was sent to Donatello, to convince them to return to Prato. It is known that during their stay in Rome, they worked on at least two works: the tombstone by Giovanni Crivelli in the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (1432) and the tabernacle of the Holy Sacrament i> (c.1432) which was commissioned by Pope Eugene IV for his private chapel. Now in the Treasury Museum of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
In 2005, the attribution of another work from this Roman period was accepted, the Virgin with two crowns and cherubs, which would be the fragment of a lunette from the tomb of Saint Catherine of Siena, in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where more artists worked.
Threatened with a fine, Donatello returned to Florence in May 1433, working on numerous works he had left unfinished, including the prophets in the cathedral's bell tower.
The reliefs on the pulpit also date from after the voyage to Rome (a new contract was signed in 1434), with a semicircular structure, it is fragmented by pairs of pilasters that separate the frantic scenes of the putti, probably inspired by ancient sarcophagi, but they also show psalms 148-150 of the Bible, where there are calls to praise God through songs and dances through children. It was assembled in the summer of 1438 and Donatello received payment in September of that same year.
After completing the pulpit, clues to the collaboration between the two artists are lost. Michelozzo began to dedicate himself more and more to architecture, becoming the architect of Cosimo the Elder, and Donatello continued without interruption with the creation of sculptural works.
The portrait of Niccolò da Uzzano is a polychrome terracotta bust, dating from around 1432, upon his return from a trip to Rome. The bust-shaped portraits continued to be used in the Quattrocento with the new humanistic conception that imposed the representation with great physical resemblance, but also with the affirmation of the personality of the sitter. According to Leon Battista Alberti, the artist had to “characterize but also establish harmonious relationships.” It is possible that the request came from Uzzano himself, since he was one of those in charge of proposing the creation of the tomb of Antipope John XXIII. However, it seems that due to the marked lines of the face, it was made from a death mask. The quality of the modeling is compared to some sculptures executed by Donatello, such as those of the prophets Habakkuk and Jeremiah.
Florence of the Medici
Donatello was a contemporary of Cosimo de' Medici, who died in 1465, just two years before the great sculptor. He was the founder of the Medici patronage. A lover of art and science, he put his fortune at their service with the liberality of a great lord, all of Florence followed his example. A great collector, he was advised by Donatello with whom he became friends and encouraged him in his artistic acquisitions. Vasari is testimony to the friendship between the two, which they had for more than half a century and which evolved over time in mutual esteem. As a young man he was in the house of Ruberto Martelli, relative of the Medici, with his kind and submissive treatment, he won his favor as well as all of his relatives. The social prestige acquired by Donatello, the son of a carder, demonstrates what an artist could achieve in 15th century Florence, until he had that great relationship with the rich and powerful Cosimo de' Medici.
Curiously, however, the documents of the direct commissions of the Medici family to Donatello have not been preserved, but there are several sculptures made under his patronage, among them, the decoration of the Old Sacristy, the David , Judith and Holofernes and his last work the pulpits of San Lorenzo.
On his deathbed Cosimo asked his son Pedro de Cosimo de' Medici for the care of Donatello, offering him rent from a farm in Cafaggiolo. But Donatello did not like life in the country, much less the care he had to take of the farm, so he gave up everything. Pedro, then, assigned him a life annuity in cash. On Donatello's death, he was buried as arranged by Cosimo de' Medici, near his own grave in the church of San Lorenzo.
Song of Santa Maria del Fiore
Returning from his second trip to Rome, Donatello signed a contract with the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence on July 10, 1433 to carry out one of the two cantorías or tribunes that he wanted to have in the church. The first, for the installation of the organ, was commissioned in 1431 to Luca della Robbia, to be placed above the door of the sacristy of Masses in the southeast of the transept. Donatello's had to be arranged symmetrically, on the opposite side over the other sacristy of the Canons and was intended for the singing children of the cathedral choir, it was completed in 1439. Both tribunes are preserved, the originals, in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
The gallery shows the combination of architecture, relief and polychrome mosaic, mixed with classic motifs of dentures and garlands. It rests on five strong corbels. In the putti copied from ancient Roman sarcophagi, he achieves maximum movement and expressiveness thanks to the composition by means of diagonal lines of the small bodies of the angels, as opposed to the verticality of the separating columns. of the scenes.
The little angels dance happily, with different positions, in the frieze between the little columns, in general, they represent the songs in praise of God:
Praise him with a horny cry, praise him with harp and citara, praise him with drum and dance, praise him with lute and flute, praise him with rumbling cymbals, praise him with cymbal cymbals (...).Psalm 150 Laudate Dominum.
In addition, the brilliant golden flashes of the mosaics, accentuate the sensation of movement and imaginative variety of the decorative elements, of the parapet. Nothing could be more different from the calm and serene composure of Luca della Robbia's classic Opposite Stand.
The choir was probably crowned by two bronze putti holder candlesticks, which are in the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris.
Donatello designed the stained glass window The Coronation of the Virgin, about four meters in diameter and still visible from the nave of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in the oculus on the east side, of the drum of the dome. In the outer circle you can see cherubs and seraphim and the central scene is the Virgin receiving the Crown from Christ, both seated on thrones. This theme was very widespread at that time and also closely related to the Virgin Mary, to whom it was related. dedicated the cathedral.
Cavalcanti Annunciation
Around 1435 he made the tabernacle of the Annunciation for the Cavalcanti altar in the Basilica of Santa Croce (Florence). The work shows a departure from the usual dynamic style of Donatello, who here created a scene of great sweetness and beauty.
The Annunciation is inserted inside a Renaissance tabernacle, made up of a plinth, supported by two corbels that show the coats of arms of the Cavalcanti, a family related to Cosme de' Medici and who was the who commissioned the work to Donatello. The rich ornamentation with golden touches accentuates the lines, but does not influence in any way the calm and concentration of the sacred encounter.
The two protagonists, the Virgin and the Angel, are made in high relief and represented at the moment of the angelic apparition. The Virgin listens with moderate surprise and a controlled reaction. Her figure is modeled after the anatomical ideal of the ancients, but she surpasses ancient art in the expression of deeper emotion. Her angel, kneeling before her, looks at her shyly and sweetly, establishing a close visual dialogue that makes the scene extremely light and alive.
There is no allusion to the enclosed garden (hortus conclusus), symbol of Mary's virginity, and the angel does not carry the traditional lily (symbol of purity) and the arrangement is not appreciated of a bed, quite frequent things in representations of the Annunciation during the Trecento and Quattrocento. The iconographic symbol of the dove belonging to the Holy Spirit is not present either.
Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo
The Old Sacristy was a mortuary chapel of the Medici family in the 15th century, built by Filippo Brunelleschi between 1421 and 1428 and decorated by Donatello from 1428-29. Donatello began with the story of Saint John the Evangelist. Work was suspended for a while, until his return from Rome in 1434 and Cosimo de' Medici from his exile in Padua, the sculptor resumed the commission for his patron and friend, which was completed in 1443, the year Donatello left for Padua.. Donatello's works in the sacristy consisted of eight monumental tondoes of polychrome stucco (diameter 215 cm), with the Stories of Saint John the Evangelist, patron of the chapel, where the point is taken into account. of optical flight with the spectators who contemplate them from below. The tondo with the stories of Saint John the Evangelist (1428-1432) on the pendentives of the dome, were painted in white, brick red and blue stucco.
San Juan Evangelista in Patmos
Resurrection of Drusiana
Martirio de San Juan Evangelista
Ascension of Saint John Evangelist
San Juan Evangelista
San Lucas
San Marcos
San Mateo
The tondos of the Evangelists, are located in the center of the arches of each of the sacristy walls, they are made of polychrome stucco, but with a more traditional painting, with a greater bichromatic emphasis in blue and white. The characters are represented with their symbols, the placement of these on the desk of the evangelists is striking.
Two niches above the doors, also in polychrome stucco, on the right over the door of the Apostles, Saints Cosmas and Damien and on the left, over the door of the Martyrs , San Esteban and San Lorenzo. They are made with the similar colors of the medallions of the Evangelists, but in this case the halos of the saints are added in gold and some details are highlighted in black. The cornice that surrounds the niches is painted with a red-brown background, highlighting the decoration of two ancient amphoras from which flower clusters emerge, in the upper center there is a golden scallop shell.
Two bronze doors, the Door of the Martyrs and the Door of the Apostles, where the representation of the characters in pairs, within ten squares per door, is They are characterized by their drama, since each couple by their gestures, looks and attitudes sometimes seems that they are discussing in a calmer way and other times more lively. The general theme seems to be the "multiplicity of forms of human interaction, in the controversy of intellectual and religious polemics."
This work by Donatello was criticized for "excessive expressiveness" by Filarete, who in a passage from his Treatise on Architecture (1461-1464), advises his readers not to make the figures of the apostles, like Donatello at the door of the sacristy of San Lorenzo, "since they look like fencers."
Bronze David
One of Cosimo de' Medici's main commissions was the work of David made around 1440, to be placed in the gardens of his palace in Florence, where it remained until 1495, when Piero de' Medici was expelled from the city and the statue was moved to the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio. It is currently in the Bargello Museum.
It is a representative work of the Italian Quattrocento, with the exaltation of the human body, which for the first time was represented nude in bronze, life-size, since Classical Antiquity. Donatello represented a great knowledge of the classics together with the humanist concept of the renaissance, seeking the perfection of beauty in the body of the young David. The body is modeled by large and simple masses, with diagonal compositions, which demonstrate the clear contour of its lines.
The sculpture is firmly supported on its right leg, and its left foot on the head of defeated Goliath, with a markedly careless pose, where a clear influence of Praxiteles' style is shown, which is also known as contrapposto.
Vasari in his description, describes it to us as if it were cast from nature:«... that body is so natural, vivid and delicate that it seems to the artists that it must have been molded on the body of a person live".
Other works
Donatello is considered a great expert on children's issues, especially in the expression of children's joy as he had already done in the galleries of the cathedrals of Florence and the Outer pulpit of the cathedral of Florence. Prato. In the figure of the Dancing Putti kept in the Bargello museum, it is treated as a classical theme and with an interpretation of great vivacity and magnificent realism.
Another bronze figure, very similar, was presumably commissioned by the Doni, the so-called Atis-Amor, which for a long time was considered an Etruscan work. The work is dated around 1440-1443 and is kept in the Bargello museum. Here Donatello demonstrated his great knowledge of iconography and mythology, the poppies on the belt of the little Phrygian god Attis of vegetation, are the symbol of his lover Cybele the Great Mother, the snake that twists at his feet is a chthonic symbol of the life that is buried and is reborn again, the hairstyle and the pants held up in the Phrygian manner, recall the Anatolian origin of the cult of Cibeles and Attis. The exposure of the genitals is surely a symbol of the ritual avoidance to which the priests of the goddess Cibeles were subjected.
A bronze bust of Young man with cameo hanging around his neck, in the Bargello museum. It is believed to have been made at the time of the bronzes of David and Atis-Amor , which is why it is dated before he left for Padua. Later historians have dated it to Donatello's last working years.
One of the last sculptures made before his trip to Padua was the polychrome wooden Saint John the Baptist, for the church of Santa Maria dei Frari in Venice. In a 1973 restoration, an inscription was found on the work with the date of 1438, which helped to date it exactly, since due to the style of the sculpture with its strong expression, it had been dated to a later time related to the Penitent Magdalene and not precisely with the works of the David in bronze and the Amor-Atis made around the date of 1438 revealed. A very similar work with the same theme was executed by Donatello, much later around 1455, in bronze and for the cathedral of Siena.
The bas-relief crucifixion in bronze with a golden patina, is known as the Medici crucifixion, as it was described by Raffaello Borghini, among the belongings of Grand Duke Francis I de' Medici, in 1584. Relief is composed almost in a pictorial way, the gold in some of its parts causes a light effect. Next to Christ are the two thieves' crosses, the one on the right is being nailed to it and is writhing in pain. The lower part of the relief is occupied by a large number of characters, such as soldiers, and women torn by pain, people isolated in themselves or crying in silence. It is dated around 1453-1456.
A splendid bronze bearded head in the Bargello, attributed to Donatello, is placed on a baroque plinth and due to its style it is considered a work of the artist's maturity.
Decade in Padua
In 1443, he received several orders from Padua, for which he moved his residence, leaving Florence for a period of ten years. In this new city, Donatello found an environment for his art much freer than the humanist classicism of Florence.
Bronze crucifix
His first work in Padua is the Bronze Crucifix for the Basilica of Saint Anthony. He made it life-size and it was surely conceived to be placed independently on the choir, although it was included in the altar of the Saint, which Donatello executed later. Her head is tilted to the right, with an expression of suffering on her face and her mouth half-open in her last breath, before dying. The forms of her body are harmoniously modeled and with detail of its proportions, Donatello imprinted all his knowledge of human anatomy. The Christ was made completely nude, but in the Baroque era a purity cloth was also added to it, also made of bronze.
High altar of Saint Anthony of Padua
Given the excellent result of this sculpture, it was decided to entrust him with the important commission for the main altar. Thanks to a generous donation from Francesco del Tegola, dated April 13, 1446, a large sculptural group could be projected in bronze that was made with the technique of lost wax. Here he was able to experience Donatello with more intense freedom and that he masterfully applied in the elaboration of all the altar sculptures. This altar was devised by the sculptor:
... as a gigantic plastic niche, where the statues of the Virgin and of the Saints rose in a high basement ornate with reliefs, to enclose within a crowned building of a baldaquin with vault. It was almost a hyperbolic relief whose gradations went, from the abbreviation of the flat to the fullness of the estuary and whose plasticity was solved, not already in the dynamic synthesis of the luminous tone, but in an unreal light, exalted by the same matter, the radiance of bronze and gold, the polychrome of the stones, to reach the iconic splendor of the medieval front.L. Becherucci, Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte:DonatelloV, Rome, 1960.
Numerous documents testify to everything related to the work on these works, it is known that he surrounded himself with numerous assistants including Urbano da Cortona, Giovanni da Pisa, Antonio Chellini, Francesco del Valente and the painter Niccolò da Pizzolo. On San Antonio's day, June 13, 1448, the finished sculptures and reliefs are exhibited within an architectural model made of wood, the final part of which was completed in 1450. In 1579 the altar was completely dismantled to take its place one of Baroque style and the sculptures were distributed in various parts of the basilica. Three hundred years later in 1895, the architect Camillo Boito organized his incomplete and mistaken reconstruction of the original structure devised by Donatello.
Various hypotheses have been made for its new reconstruction, but without reaching an agreement, among more than fifteen different solutions, one of the most credible is that of White Janson, where the altar is shown in the shape of a parallelepiped crowned by an arch like an open canopy and columns dividing the space into three parts where the images would be placed on checkered planes, the central plane would be presided over by the sculpture of the Virgin and Child, in which Donatello follows the type of image of the Byzantine Nikopoia, with slight changes such as the sphinxes flanking the throne. On both sides, there would be three images each, Saint Francis, Saint Anthony, Saint Justina, Saint Daniel, Saint Ludovico and Saint Prosdocimo. The group of the Burial of Christ is the only one made in stone for the rear center of the altar. The relief that occupies the central part under the statue of the Virgin is that of the Dead Christ, it shows a figure with a more restrained expression than that of the Bronze Crucifix above the altar.
The four symbols of the evangelists, made in bronze reliefs, are found on the lateral sides of the altar. Another twelve reliefs, with a 58 x 21 cm format, representing putti musicians are distributed throughout the altar to the sides of the main reliefs of greater size.
 Miracle of the mule |  Miracle of the lost child |
 Miracle of the heart of the avaro |  Miracle of the speaking baby |
The reliefs with the scenes of the miracles of San Antonio are found around the entire base. The Miracle of the Mule is divided between three architectural arches. The Miracle of the Lost Son is found in a kind of circus, with the oblique lines of the stairs drawing the viewer's gaze towards the center. The Miracle of the miser's heart, has a tight narrative that shows the main events of the story, with a circular composition movement, made with a fine relief in stiacciato. In the Miracle of the Talking Baby, the main characters are located in the center, while the people attending the miracle surround them in a semicircle. The scene is set in perspective architecture that represents the walls of a Tuscan church.
Equestrian monument to condottiero Gattamelata
The main reason for his stay in Padua was to erect the equestrian statue of condottiero Erasmus of Narni, Gattamelata.
Considered more of a funerary monument than to glorify the hero, Donatello created a cenotaph, he represented it, according to the Trecento tradition, as it had been done in painting by Simone Martini (1328) in some frescoes of the Communal Palace of Siena and Paolo Uccello in 1436 in the John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) painting of the Florence Cathedral. However, sculpture with an equestrian theme had not been carried out in a monumental sense since Classical Antiquity, and it is believed that the sculptor took that of Marcus Aurelius of Rome as a model. Ancient art is appreciated for its classical treatment, being one of its most influential sculptures in later ones made by various artists. According to Vasari:
In this work, Donatello demonstrated so much art, and the foundry was so remarkable, in proportions and in his goodness, that in truth it can be compared with the best statues of Antiquity, by its movement, drawing, proportions and execution. That is why he not only filled the men of that time with amazement, but it is still not possible for us, to contemplate it without admiration.Vasari
The sculpture presents the moment in which Gattamelata rides slowly, on his horse (clearly evoking those of Saint Mark in Venice). The character looks defiant and energetic, his face is treated as a Roman portrait. The rider and horse are placed on a large two-story pedestal with reliefs of mourning angels and on two sides marble doors, that imitate the classic sarcophagi: the doors of Hades.
Last years
At the age of sixty-five, Donatello returned to Florence, where great works were still waiting for him to carry out. In them, the sculptor demonstrates his doubts about humanism, which believed in the total beauty of the human figure and created in recent years a type of images much more expressive and with more psychological value than I had ever done before.
Penitent Mary Magdalene
It was in 1453 that Donatello returned to his hometown of Florence and when he received the commission, believed to be for the Baptistery of Saint John of Santa Maria del Fiore, of an image of Penitent Mary Magdalene, which has been in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo since 1972.
Donatello was inspired by The Golden Legend of Jacobo de Vorágine, where he narrates the retirement of Mary Magdalene, to obtain the redemption of her sins, she made a pilgrimage and lived the life of a hermit, it is believed in the southern part of France. This is how Donatello represented her, made of polychrome wood, at a mature age emaciated by suffering, dressed in a faded leather garment and with long hair covering her body, she stands with her bony hands joined in an attitude of prayer, the expression on his face reveals the fatigue and pain he has gone through, with sunken eyes and jagged teeth that can be seen through his half-open mouth, he has very pronounced cheekbones due to the extreme thinness that can also be seen in the arms and legs, where the perfect anatomical muscles are marked.
Previously, Donatello had shown great expressionism with the Wooden Saint John the Baptist, made for Venice, although it is in this Florentine phase of his last years where he shows it best and with more intensity in the Bronze Saint John the Baptist made for Siena and especially in this sculpture of Penitent Mary Magdalene, whose expressionism can be compared to the Baroque versions of this same theme.
Judith and Holofernes
The statue was commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici or his son Piero de' Medici, as decoration for the fountain in the garden of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, between 1455 and 1460. It was in this palace, together with David de Donatello, in the courtyard. These two statues are among the first Italian Renaissance statues to be completely independent outside of any architecture.
Depicts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by Judith. Judith is considered as the symbol of freedom, virtue and the victory of the weak over the strong, in a just cause. She holds in one hand a great sword, and in the other the head of Holofernes by her hair. The two figures are treated by the sculptor as completely opposite, Holofernes is naked and modeled according to the rules of anatomy, while Judith is completely covered by clothing, which shows her fragile physique. Not a single hair protrudes from Judith's veiled head, whereas Holofernes's hair is long and wild. Her identification with "vice" is confirmed by a series of attributes, among which stands out the medallion that slides on her back, where an irritated horse is portrayed.
Holofernes's body falls limp and is supported only by Judith's hand. The heroine's right foot is placed eloquently on the genitals, while the other foot is on the wrist and the knee covers half of the allegorical medallion. Even the scenes of bacchanalia on the triangular prism-shaped base recall the drunkenness and debauchery of the tyrant, as described in the Bible. The statue was originally gilded, remains can still be seen in some parts such as the sword. To facilitate the gilding of bronze it was cast in eleven parts. The base of the sculpture resembles a cushion, a naturalistic element first used by Donatello in his sculpture of Saint Mark at Orsanmichele. Inscribed on the cushion are the words OPVS. Donatelli. FLOWER.
In 1495, the sculpture was placed in Piazza della Signoria, on the main gate side of Palazzo Vecchio, in memory of the expulsion of Piero de' Medici from Florence and the introduction of the republic by the Florentine Girolamo Savonarola. This time, the statue symbolizes the expulsion of the tyrannical Medici. The statue was later moved to the inner courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was replaced by a bronze copy in 1988 and the original, after its restoration, was placed in the Sala dei Gigli inside the Palazzo Vecchio.
The pulpits of San Lorenzo
The last Florentine works were the two bronze pulpits for the Basilica of San Lorenzo, probably commissioned by his friend Cosimo de' Medici, they were the works that concluded Donatello's artistic activity. The work was carried out with the help of Bartolomeo Bellano and Bertoldo di Giovanni, but they were entirely designed by Donatello. This can be seen in the religious figures that leads to extreme fiction, produced by the "non-finite" technique, that is to say, that in some parts of the figures the forms are shown to be nothing more than approximate.
The two pulpits are related to numerous problems for critical study. In addition to the difficult evaluation of the authorship of Donatello or his assistants, the client (Cosimo de Médici?) is ignored. The present presentation, of its placement on four marble columns each, is believed to date from after Donatello's death. Some historians have suggested that the different panels that make up the pulpits were originally intended for sarcophagi, for Cosimo de' Medici himself and his wife Contessina de Bardi or for his son Juan de Cosimo de' Medici, while the use as a choir, seems unlikely, due to the small size of the pulpits.
The date is after the return of Donatello from Siena (1459-1460), and in the relief of the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, belonging to the Pulpit of the Resurrection, an inscription with the date June 15, 1465 was discovered, but with the foundry, the finishing of the work and the death of Donatello (1466), it is not possible to determine the date with certainty. In the old biographies of him, starting with Vasari's, they talk about the teacher who spent most of his last days, for health reasons, in bed. Despite all these issues, the two pulpits are considered Donatello's last works, the last masterpiece that closes his activity, taking his evolution to the extreme, the study of the human soul, spatial composition and the freedom that has characterized his entire career. career.
Pultimate of the Resurrection:
- Christ descends to the Limbo
- Resurrection
- Ascension of Christ
- Women in the tomb of Christ
- Pentecost
- Martirio de San Lorenzo
Pulpit of the Passion:
- Garden prayer
- Christ before Pilate and Caiaphas
- Crucifixion
- Descent of Christ
- Holy burial
Analysis
Donatello was known from the earliest theorists as one of the fathers of the «Renaissance» of the arts of the 15th century, the first who was able to match the great sculptors of antiquity, in the city of Florence. Already in 1481 Cristoforo Landino in the Apologia places Donatello on a par with the ancients and Giorgio Vasari, in the two editions of Le Vite (1550 and 1568), insisted that his work was more similar to Roman artists than any other immediately preceding master.
Donatello developed innovations that revolutionized the technique of relief. It is about relief in stiacciato, which is based on flattening and thickness in an infinitesimal variation, reminiscent of graphic work. Through subtle plays of light and shadow the figures could be organized into an illusion of depth, where groups of figures, landscape, and architectural elements overlap one after the other in innumerable overlaps, impossible with traditional techniques. Vasari, therefore, he does not hesitate to say that Donatello raised the art of relief to a new level and this opinion among modern art historians is still valid.
St. George saves the princess, first example of relive stiacciato and central perspective by Donatello.
In his artistic life the continuous deepening and development of the repertoire is evident, with an important preliminary study of each of the new types of work and the evaluation of the specific needs and desired effects.
But there have been voices critical of his work, such as his friend Filippo Brunelleschi. The works of the late period, with a crude and expressive style, were criticized in the XVI century, only gradually gaining value in the 20th century.
Baccio Bandinelli in the XVI century, considered the «errors» of old age and the increasing blindness of the master, considering the two pulpits of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, like the worst of all Donatello's works. Only in the last few centuries, starting with mannerism, has the critical opinion on these two works gradually been valued. Today, the evaluation is clearly benevolent, especially in the expressive intensity of Donatello's language, with an iconography of free and original reinvention of biblical themes.
But Vasari wrote in Donatello's biography and his catalog of included works, with a number of errors. To the inaccurate judgment, he contributed to the dismantling or decontextualization of the original places of the works. This caused the increase of difficulty in obtaining an overview of his work. In 1886, for example, during the celebrations in Florence for the fiftieth anniversary since his birth, the works and documents were confused with those of other authors.
Since then, artistic historiography has begun to work on the selection and review of the catalog of attributed works to clear up old errors. Even today, the studies can be said to be far from being concluded, especially during long periods, where the known documentation is scarce.
Donatello's fame was very great during the High Renaissance, he influenced great authors such as Andrea del Verrocchio, Raphael Sanzio, Michelangelo and Benvenuto Cellini among others. Famous is the praise that Vasari wrote in honor of Donatello and Michelangelo:
Or the spirit of Donatello moves Buonarroti,
Or Buonarroti moved Donatello first.