Donatello 2 Essay Research Paper Donatello s

Donatello 2 Essay, Research Paper

Donatello s work has forever changed the way that art is created, viewed, and interpreted. Generally, this Italian Renaissance sculptor is considered by most experts to be one of the greatest sculptors of all time; he is also thought of as the founder of modern sculpture. Donatello s impact on the art world will never be able to be truly measured. He had such an influence on artists that his techniques are still used by sculptors today.

Donatello was born Donnato Di Niccolo Di Betto Bardi in Florence, Italy. Most records show that he was born in the year 1386, although the actual date of his birth is unknown. His father, Niccolo di Betto Bardi, was a Florentine wool comber; but Donatello, unlike most sons of that time, had no plans of following in his father s footsteps. While nothing is known of his childhood, education, nor of his training in sculpture, it is assumed that around 1400 he began learning stone carving from one of the sculptors working for the cathedral of Florence. It has been estab-lished that at the age of seventeen, he met, learned from, and worked for Lorenzo Ghiberti, a noted sculptor in bronze. As a member of Ghiberti s workshop, Donatello assisted in constructing and decorating the famous bronze north doors of the baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, a project that took more than twenty years to complete.

Not only did Donatello work with noted sculptors of his time, but also with the famous architect, Filippo Brunelleschi. With Brunelleschi, Donatello reputedly visited Rome in the early years of the 15th century in order to study the monuments of antiquity. Oddly enough, Filippo started out as more of a sculptor in silver and gold than as an architect. He had entered the contest for the famous design competition for the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery in 1401 but, of course, he lost the competition to Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was assisted by Donatello. After working with Lorenzo and Filippo, Donatello started his own career as a sculptor.

Donatello s sculpting career can be divided into three periods where the influences in his work took on different styles. The first or formative years came before 1425, when Donatello used a Gothic influence along with realistic and classical motif. The graceful, softly curved lines of the Gothic style paid tribute to his debt to Ghiberti s teachings. Donatello s sculptures which showed this particular style were all created for churches and other large buildings in Florence: Saint Mark at the Church of Or San Michele,

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Saint John the Evangelist at the Opera del Duomo, Saint George at the Museo Nazionale, and Joshua , at the campanile of the cathedral.

The statue of Saint Mark was commissioned by the Arte del Linaioli (the Guild of Linen Merchants) in 1411. Saint Mark was made for the church of Orsanmichele and kept in its tabernacle until recently when it was restored and removed to be placed in a museum. The statue of Saint Mark is an excellent example of the classical style that Donatello had in the first period of his work.

Soon after Donatello finished the work of Saint Mark, he started on Saint John the Evangelist, which he worked on from 1413 through 1415. This statue was paired with the other Evangelists and all were placed together in the tabernacle of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. In 1587, all of the Evangelist statues, including Saint John, were taken to the Museum of the Opera del Duomo where presently they are still seen today.

Another sculpture that demonstrates this first period of Donatello s work is the sculpture of Saint George. Following the creation of his statue of Saint John, Donatello s Saint George, commissioned by the Armourer s

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Guild, was sculpted about 1416 and placed in a niche of the north wall in the church of Orsanmichele. The Italian writer, Giorgio Vasari, gave his positive appraisal of Saint George in his best known book on the lives of major artists of the Italian Renaissance: Vite de Piu Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti Italiani (English translation: Lives of the Artists). Later, when the statue of Saint George was transferred to the tabernacle of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, its beauty was diminished, which also led to decreasing its fame. After creating these sculptures, Donatello extended a different influence to his works.

The second period of Donatello s career existed between the years of 1425 and 1443. During this period, Donatello s work took on more of a reliance on the models and the principles of the sculpture of antiquity. In the 1420 s and 1430 s, Donatello became a partner with the famous architect and sculptor, Michelozzo Di Bartolomeo, as they worked in the Baptistery on the tomb for antipope John XXIII and the monument to Bartolomeo Aragazzi among other commissions. On these works, Michelozzo would give Donatello the architectural designs and then Donatello would transform the plans into statues. As young artists, the

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two men had worked together when they assisted Lorenzo Ghiberti with the famous bronze north doors of the Florence Baptistery. Subsequently, after working together for a time, Michelozzo became the chief architect for the Medici family; Donatello went on to sculpt in Rome.

During the years of 1430 through 1433, Donatello spent most of his time in Rome