Italian Renaissance: Donatello

Masterpieces of Donatello

Early years
Donatello was the son of Nicolo di Betto Bardi, a member of the Florentine Woolcombers Guild, and was born in Florence, probably in 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. It is, however, certain that Donatello received his first training, according to the custom of the period, in a goldsmith's workshop, and that he worked for a short time in Lorenzo Ghiberti's studio. While pursuing their studies and excavations on classic soil, which gained them the reputation of treasure seekers, the two young men made a living by working at the goldsmiths' shops. This Roman sojourn was decisive for the entire development of Italian art in the 15th century, for it was during this period that Brunelleschi undertook his measurements of the Pantheon dome and of other Roman buildings. Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's monuments are the supreme expression of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture and exercised a potent influence upon the painters of that age.

Work in Florence

Donatello probably did not return to Florence before 1405, since the earliest works in that city that can be traced to his chisel are two small statues of prophets for the north door of the cathedral, for which he received payment in November 1406 and in the beginning of 1408. In the latter year, he was entrusted with the important commissions for the marble David (not to be confused with his later bronze version), now at the Bargello, and for the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche of the old cathedral facade, and is now placed in a dark chapel of the Duomo.

by its commissioners, the linen guild of Florence. He listened to their grievances and agreed to fix it. The next week, he placed it in its niche at the Orsanmichele and the commissioners were awestruck with what he had done with it. In truth, he had altered nothing, simply adjusting the placement of the viewer in relation to the statue.

Later work

When Cosimo, the greatest art patron of his time, was exiled from Florence in 1433, Bimbo accompanied him to Venice, while Donatello went to Rome to drink for the second time at the source of classic art. The two works which still testify to his presence in this city, the Tomb of Giovanni Crivelli at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and the Ciborium at St. Peter's Basilica, bear the stamp of classic influence. Donatello's return to Florence in the following year almost coincides with Cosimo's. Almost immediately, in May 1434, he signed a contract for the marble pulpit on the facade of Prato cathedral, the last work executed in collaboration with Michelozzo, a veritable bacchanalian dance of half-nude putti, pagan in spirit, passionate in its wonderful rhythmic movement the forerunner of the singing tribune for Florence cathedral, at which he worked intermittently from 1433 to 1440. But Donatello's greatest achievement of his classic period is the bronze David, which is currently located at the Bargello in Florence. At the time of its creation, it was the first free-standing nude statue since ancient times. Conceived fully in the round and independent of any architectural surroundings, it was the first major work of Renaissance sculpture.

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It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Italian Renaissance".