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Donatello
Cinque maestri del rinascimento fiorentino, XVI sec, donatello.JPG
Donatello, in a 15th-century portrait by an unknown artist
Born
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi

c. 1386
Republic of Florence
Died 13 December 1466(1466-12-13) (aged 79–80)
Republic of Florence
Nationality Florentine
Education Lorenzo Ghiberti
Known for Sculpture
Notable work
Saint George, David, Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata
Movement Early Renaissance

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (c. 1386 – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period.

He studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance style in sculpture. He spent time in in Rome, Padua, Siena, and other Italian cities, and while there he worked on commissions and taught others.

Life and death

Donatello was born in Florence, probably in the year 1386. He was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Arte della Lana. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked briefly in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti.

In Pistoia in 1401, Donatello met the older Filippo Brunelleschi. They likely went to Rome together around 1403, staying until the next year, to study the architectural ruins. Brunelleschi informally tutored Donatello in goldsmithing and sculpture. Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's sculptures are both considered supreme expressions of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture.

He worked in Florence from about 1406 through 1430. After that, he spent some time in Rome and returned to Florence around 1433-1434. Until 1443 he worked in Prato and Venice.

In 1443, he was invited to work in Padua. He remained there until 1453, when he returned to Florence.

The cause of Donatello's death is not known, but it is known that he died on December 13, 1466 in Florence.

Artistic style

Donatello's work was inspired by ancient sculpture. He was the first sculptor of his time to celebrate the human body, an idea that had died out after Greek and Roman times.

His life-size statue of David is his best-known work. The David is the first known free-standing nude statue made since antiquity. Much of his work was done for display in grand churches. Between 1415 and 1426, he made five statues for the Florence Cathedral, also known as the Duomo.

Donatello was a realist: an artist whose sculpture showed the subjects as real people. Naturalism and the showing of human feelings are his influences.

Interesting facts about Donatello

  • He worked with stone, bronze, wood, clay, stucco, and wax.
  • Donatello had several assistants, with four perhaps being a typical number.
  • His best-known works mostly were statues, but he also created small and large bas-reliefs.
  • He sculptured statues for churches, covents and private houses, for Cosimo de' Medici, and for various city authorities.
  • Donatello has been featured in popular culture in various forms such as movies, TV shows, and video games.
  • A character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is named after him.

Gallery

Works

Title Form Material Year Original location Current location
Crucifix Statue Wood, polychromed 1407–1408 Florence, Santa Croce Florence, Santa Croce, Cappella Bardi di Vernio
Prophet Statue Marble 1410, before Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, Porta della Mandorla Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
David (with the head of Goliath) Statue (originally with sling) Marble 1408–1409 Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, planned for butress, Palazzo Vecchio (1416) Florence, Museo nazionale del Bargello
John Evangelist Statue in niche, sitting Marble 1408–1415 Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, façade Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
Joshua Statue (5.5 mts high) Terracotta, whitened 1410, before Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, north tribune disintegrated
Saint Mark Statue in niche Marble 1411–1413 Florence, Orsanmichele Florenz, Orsanmichele museum
St. Louis of Toulouse Statue in niche Bronze, gilded (ormolu) 1411–1415 Florence, Orsanmichele Florence, Santa Croce (since the 1450s)
Prophets Statues in niche (two of four) Marble 1415 and 1418–1420 Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, Campanile Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
St. George (with Saint George Freeing the Princess) Statue and niche with predella in relief Marble 1416, circa Florence, Orsanmichele Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello (with niche)
Marzocco Statue Sandstone 1418–1420 Florence, Santa Maria Novella, papal apartment Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Pazzi Madonna Relief, low Marble 1420, circa uncertain Berlin, Bode Museum, Skulpturensammlung
San Rossore Reliquary Bust Bronze, gilded 1422–1427 Florence, Ognissanti Pisa, Museo nazionale di San Matteo
Jeremiah Statue in niche (third of four) Marble 1423, circa Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, Campanile Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
Zuccone (Prophet Habakkuk) Statue in niche (last of four) Marble 1423–1425 Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, Campanile Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
The Feast of Herod Relief Bronze 1423–1427 Siena, Baptistry of San Giovanni, Baptismal font Siena, Baptistry
Madonna of the Clouds Relief Bronze 1425-1435 Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci Tomb monument with Statues, reliefs, partly gilded and polychrome Marble 1426–1428 Naples, Sant'Angelo a Nilo Neapel, Sant'Angelo a Nilo
Dovizia (on the Colonna dell'Abbondanza) Statue on column Marble (with a working bell) 1431 Florence, Piazza della Repubblica deteriorated and destroyed in a fall in 1721 (replaced with a version by Giovanni Battista Foggini that was replaced by a copy)
David (with head of Goliath) Statue Bronze, partly gilded 1430s–1450s (?) Florence, Casa Vecchia de' Medici Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Pulpit, Cantoria Pulpit with high reliefs Marble, mosaic, bronze 1433–1438 Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
Pulpit, external Reliefs Marble 1434–1438 Prato, cathedral Prato, Cathedral Museum
Old Sacristy (doors, lunettes, tondi and frieze) Reliefs, low Bronze (doors), polychromed stucco 1434–1443 Florence, San Lorenzo Florence, San Lorenzo
Cavalcanti Annunciation Relief, high, in an aedicula Pietra serena (Macigno) and terracotta, whitened and gilded 1435, circa Florence, Santa Croce Florence, Santa Croce
John the Baptist Statue Wood, painted partially gilded 1438 Venice, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Venice, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Amor-Attys (Notname) Statue Bronze 1440, circa Florence Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Penitent Magdalene Statue Wood and stucco pigmented and gilded 1440–1442 (?) Florence Florence, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
Madonna and Child Relief, low Terracotta, pigmented 1445 (1455) unknown Paris, Louvre
Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata Statue, equestrian monument Bronze 1445–1450 Padua, Piazza Sant'Antonio Padua, Piazza Sant'Antonio
High altar with Madonna with Child, six statues of Saints and four episodes of the life of St. Anthony Statues (seven) and 21 reliefs Bronze (and one stone relief) 1446, after Padua, Basilica di Sant'Antonio Padua, Basilica di Sant'Antonio (reconstruction)
Judith and Holofernes Statue group Bronze 1453–1457 Florence, Palazzo Medici, garden Florence, Palazzo Vecchio
John the Baptist Statue Bronze 1455, circa Siena, Cathedral Siena, Cathedral
Virgin and Child with Four Angels or Chellini Madonna Relief, low, tondo Bronze, gilded 1456, before Florence London, Victoria and Albert Museum
Pulpits, one with scenes of the Passion, one with post-Passion scenes Reliefs Bronze 1460, after Florence, San Lorenzo Florence, San Lorenzo

2020 discovery

In 2020 art historian Gianluca Amato, as part of his research on wooden crucifixes crafted between the late thirteenth and the first half of the sixteenth century for his doctoral thesis at the University of Naples Federico II, discovered that the crucifix of the church of Sant'Angelo a Legnaia was sculpted by Donatello.

This discovery has been evaluated historically. Silvia Bensì performed restoration work on the crucifix.

Related pages

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Donatello para niños

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