Donatello

Statue of Donatello outside the Uffizi, Florence

Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) (1386 – December 13, 1466) was a famous Florentine artist and sculptor of the early Renaissance.
 

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. However, he received his first training (according to the custom of the period) in a goldsmith's workshop, and then he worked for a short time in Lorenzo Ghiberti's studio. While pursuing studies and excavations with Filippo Brunelleschi in Rome, which gained them the reputation of treasure seekers, the two 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 expressions of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture, and exercised a potent influence upon the painters of the age.

Work in Florence

Donatello probably did not return to Florence before 1405, since the earliest works in the 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 early 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.

Later work

Donatello's equestrian statue Gattamelata at Padua

When Cosimo de' Medici, the greatest art patron of his time, was exiled from Florence in 1433, Michelozzo accompanied him to Venice, while Donatello went to Rome to drink for the second time at the source of classical 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. 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.

Donatello became well recognized for his creation of the shallow relief style of sculpting, which made the sculpture seem much deeper than it actually was.

Notable sculptures

St. Mark, 1411–1413. Or San Michele, Florence
St. George Tabernacle, c. 1415–1417. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Prophet (Zuccone), 1423–1425. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
The Feast of Herod, c. 1425. Baptismal font, Siena Cathedral
David, c. 1425–1430. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata, 1445–1450. Piazza del Santo, Padua
Mary Magdalen, c. 1455. Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
Judith and Holofernes, 1455-1460. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Wikipedia is the source for this article.