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Donatello Biography
orig. Donato di Niccolò
(1386 - 1466)
(born 1386, Florence—died Dec. 13, 1466, Florence) Italian sculptor active in Florence. He learned stone carving
from the sculptors of the Florence Cathedral ( 1400), and in 1404 joined the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti. He drew
his inspiration from Classical and medieval sources. With his marble statues of St. Mark (1411–13) and St. George (
1415) for the church of Or San Michele in Florence, he revolutionized the concept of sculpture; not since antiquity had
the human body been rendered with such naturalism and emotional impact. He invented his own style of bas-relief
with his marble panel St. George Killing the Dragon ( 1417). His bronze sculpture David, conceived independently of
any architectural setting, was the first large-scale, freestanding nude statue of the Renaissance. In Florence he
worked for the Medici family (1433–43), producing sculptural decoration for the sacristy of San Lorenzo, the Medici
family church, and in Padua (1450s) for the church of Sant'Antonio. He was the greatest European sculptor of the
15th century, influencing painters as well as sculptors, and was a founder of the Renaissance style.
Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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1411–13 St Mark (Or San Michele)
c.1415–17 St George (Bargello, Florence)
1430 David (Bargello, Florence)