Donatello
by A J Tudury

Drawing based on the photo of the sculpture of Donatello in the Uffizi courtyard

Donato di Niccolò Bardi (1386 Florence-1466 Florence) Biography Thematic Essay Two interesting links are that Donatello worked with Ghiberti and in 1403 he traveled to Rome where he and Brunelleschi studied the designs of classical antiquity first hand.





Some of his works, concentrating on his bas reliefs:

Madonna 1417, 1427, 1425-1435
St John the Baptist 1438 and 1457
Old Sacristy doors, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence 1440-1443
The miracles of St Anthony 1446-1450
The dead Christ with two angels 1446-1450
The Lamentation 1458-1459
The twin pulpits in St Lorenzo 1460-1470
(Completed by his pupil Bertoldo di Giovanni)

I went off on a tangent in one of my comments and included the reliefs around the Arc de Triomphe by a cadre of sculptors in the 19th century.

Donatello's sculpture includes:

Equestrian statue of Gattamelata

David (1440s)
by Donatello
bronze

St John the Baptist


St. John the Baptist (1438)
wood, polychrome
141 cm (55.5 in)
by Donatello
Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
(This is one of three works that Donatello did in wood. The other two are the Crucifix in Santa Croce and Mary Magdalene in Florence.)

The second was completed in 1456 or 1457 and is in the Duoma, Siena:


St. John the Baptist (1456-1457)
bronze
185 cm (72.875 in)
by Donatello
(The work was delivered in three pieces and the right arm was not included. The arm was delievered in 1474 and was the work of another artist.)

Joachim Poeschke in Donatello and His World describes the carved St John as being more communicative, enhanced by the soft uniformly flowing lines used to render the hide and the saint's hair. With the bronze St John he finds "the costume and pose suggest nothing of the Baptist's forceful eloquence and commanding manner, only stubborn perserverence." Donatello was 52 when he carved the St John and 70 when he sculpted the wax for the bronze St John. What Joachim saw in the two works is a reflection of the artist at two points in his life. Although Donatello was not known for his verbal communication skills, his work spoke volumes (the sculpture pun is intentional). In order to accomplish his work, perseverence was essential. Perseverence becomes more cherished, honed into glorious stubborness, the longer we live.

Donatello created a very three dimensional bas relief in 1425 associated with the end of St John's life, The Feast of Herod.


The Feast of Herod (1425)
60 X 60 cm
Baptistery, Siena
by Donatello


...  
Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (1428-43) by Donatello
Polychrome stucco, diameter: 215 cm

Old Sacristy doors, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence


Ascension of St John (1428-43)
by Donatello
Polychrome stucco, diameter: 215 cm
Old Sacristy, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence


Door of the Apostles (1440-1443)
by Donatello
bronze bas relief
Old Sacristy, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence


Door of the Martyrs (1440-1443)
by Donatello bronze bas relief

Old Sacristy, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence


The miracles of St Anthony:

High Altar, St Anthony, Padua
Four miracles of St Anthony
57 X 123 cm
1446-1450


The Ass of Rimini (1446-1450)
57 X 123 cm
by Donatello


The Speaking Babe (1446-1450)
57 X 123 cm
by Donatello


The Irascible Son (1446-1450)
57 X 123 cm
by Donatello
(Museo Global has a closer detail of the center portion)


The Heart of the Miser (1446-1450)
57 X 123 cm
by Donatello


The dead Christ with two angels


The dead Christ with two angels (1446-1450)
by Donatello
58 X 56 cm
High Altar, St Anthony, Padua

The Lamentation


The Lamentation (1458-1459)
bronze relief
33.5 X 41.5 cm
by Donatello
Victoria and Albert Museum

This is a good place to introduce Niccolò dell'Arca, a sculptor whose masterpiece was The Lamentation


Compianto sul Cristo morto (Mourning on the dead Christ) (1462-1463)
by Niccolò dell'Arca (1435-1494)
polychrome colored life-size terra-cotta figures

(One researcher, Gnudi, thinks that the work was done in 1480s. Poeschke agrees with Gnudi for the 2 figures on the right, with windblown drapery being a different style from the other figures.)

The Twin Pulpits of San Lorenzo

Between 1457 and 1459, Donatello was designing bronze doors for the cathedral in Siena. Something went wrong with this project and by 1460 he was employed by Medici to design the pulpits for San Lorenzo. Jules Lubbock provides a good synopsis of Donatello's Pulpits of San Lorenzno and a 'tour' around them in his book Storytelling in Christian Art from Giotto to Donatello .


Bronze twin pulpits (1460-1470)
North pulpit: H:137 cm L: 280 cm
South pulpit: H:123 cm L: 292 cm


The Birth of Renaissance architecture: Brunelleschi and Alberti San Lorenzo, Florence

The scenes on the pulpits include:

Agony in the Garden
The Flagellation
The Trial of Jesus (includes Caiphus condemning Jesus)
Christ crucified
The Lamentation
The Entombment of Christ
Descent of Christ into Limbo
The Marys at the Tomb
And the graves opened
The Resurrection
The Ascension
Martyrdom of San Lorenzo


Agony in the Garden (1460-1470)
by Donatello


Christ crucified (1460-1470)
by Donatello


The Lamentation (1460-1470)
by Donatello


entombment of Christ (detail) (1460-1470)
by Donatello


Resurrection of Christ (detail) (1460-1470)
by Donatello


Martyrdom of San Lorenzo (1460-1470)
by Donatello