Donatello
Italian sculptor Donatello was the greatest Florentine sculptor before Michelangelo (1475–1564) and was the
most influential individual artist of the 15th century in Italy.
Synopsis
Born in Florence, Italy, around 1386, sculptor Donatello apprenticed early with well-known sculptors and quickly
learned the Gothic style. Before he was 20, he was receiving commissions for his work. Over his career he developed a
style of lifelike, highly emotional sculptures and a reputation second only to Michelangelo's.
Early Life
Donatello, the early Italian Renaissance sculptor, was born Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi in Florence, Italy,
sometime in 1386. His friends and family gave him the nickname “Donatello.” He was the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a
member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild. This gave young Donatello status as the son of a craftsman and placed
him on a path of working in the trades. Donatello was educated at the home of the Martellis, a wealthy and influential
Florentine family of bankers and art patrons closely tied to the Medici family. It was here that Donatello probably first
received artistic training from a local goldsmith. He learned metallurgy and the fabrication of metals and other
substances. In 1403, he apprenticed with Florence metalsmith and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. A few years later, Ghiberti
was commissioned to create the bronze doors for the Baptistery of the Florence Cathedral, beating out rival artist Filippo
Brunelleschi. Donatello assisted Ghiberti in creating the cathedral doors.
There are accounts by some historians that Donatello and
Brunelleschi struck up a friendship around 1407 and traveled to Rome to
study classical art. Details of the trip are not well known, but it is believed
that the two artists gained valuable knowledge excavating the ruins of
classical Rome. The experience gave Donatello a deep understanding of
ornamentation and classic forms, important knowledge that would eventually
change the face of 15th-century Italian art. His association with Brunelleschi
likely influenced him in the Gothic style that can be seen in much of
Donatello’s early work.
Early Work
By 1408, Donatello was back in Florence at the workshops of the
cathedral. That year, he completed the life-sized marble sculpture David. The
figure follows a Gothic style, popular at the time, with long graceful lines and
an expressionless face. The work reflects the influences of sculptors of the
time. Technically, it's very well executed, but it lacks the emotional style and
innovative technique that would mark Donatello’s later work. Originally, the
sculpture was intended for placement in the cathedral. Instead, however, it
was set up in the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) as an inspiring symbol of
defiance of authority to Florentines, who were engaged in a struggle with the king of Naples at the time.
Rapidly maturing in his art, Donatello soon began to develop a style all his own, with figures much more
dramatic and emotional. Between 1411 and 1413, he sculpted the marble figure St. Mark, placed in an exterior niche of
the Orsanmichele Church, which also served as the chapel of Florence’s powerful craft and trade guilds. In 1415,
Donatello completed the marble statue of a seated St. John the Evangelist for the cathedral in Florence. Both works
show a decisive move away from the Gothic style and toward a more classical technique.
Unique Style
By this time, Donatello was gaining a reputation for creating imposing, larger-than-life figures using innovative
techniques and extraordinary skills. His style incorporated the new science of perspective, which allowed the sculptor to
create figures that occupied measurable space. Before this time, European sculptors used a flat background upon which
figures were placed. Donatello also drew heavily from reality for inspiration in his sculptures, accurately showing
suffering, joy and sorrow in his figures’ faces and body positions.
Around 1425, Donatello entered into a partnership with Italian sculptor and architect Michelozzo, who also
studied with Lorenzo Ghiberti. Donatello and Michelozzo traveled to Rome, where they produced several architecturalsculptural tombs, including the tomb of Antipope John XXIII and the tomb of Cardinal Brancacci. These innovations in
burial chambers would influence many later Florentine tombs.
Greatest Work
Donatello had nurtured a close and lucrative relationship with
Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence. In 1430, the eminent art patron
commissioned Donatello to do another statue of David, this time in bronze.
This is probably Donatello’s most famous work. The sculpture is fully
independent from any architectural surroundings that might support it.
Standing a little over five feet tall, David represents an allegory of civic virtue
triumphing over brutality and irrationality.
In 1443, Donatello was called to the city of Padua by the family of
the famous mercenary Erasmo da Narni, who had died earlier that year. In
1450, Donatello completed a bronze statue called Gattamelata, showing
Erasmo riding a horse in full battle dress, minus a helmet. This was the first
equestrian statue cast in bronze since the Romans. The sculpture created
some controversy, as most equestrian statues were reserved for rulers or
kings, not mere warriors. This work became the prototype for other
equestrian monuments created in Italy and Europe in the following
centuries.
Final Years
By 1455, Donatello had returned to Florence and completed
Magdalene Penitent, a statue of a gaunt-looking Mary Magdalene.
Commissioned by the convent at Santa Maria di Cestello, the work was
probably intended to provide comfort and inspiration to the repentant
prostitutes at the convent. Donatello continued his work taking on
commissions from wealthy patrons of the arts. His lifelong friendship with
the Medici family earned him a retirement allowance to live on the rest of
his life. He died of unknown causes on December 13, 1466, in Florence and
was buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, next to Cosimo de' Medici. An
unfinished work was faithfully completed by his student Bertoldo di
Giovanni.