Donatello (redirected from Donatello Di Betto Bardi)

Donatello (dŏnətĕl`ō, Ital. dōnätĕl`lō), c.1386–1466, Italian sculptor, major innovator in Renaissance art, b. Florence. His full name was Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi. In his formative years he assisted Ghiberti in Florence with the bronze doors for the baptistery. By 1406 he had begun to work on the cathedral. His marble David (Bargello, Florence) still echoed the Gothic form, but his St. Mark (Orsanmichele, Florence) and St. John the Evangelist (cathedral mus., Florence) mark a turning point toward a new humanistic expression. His St. George (now in the Bargello) is a striking portrayal of ideal youth. Even more important is the accompanying scene, St. George and the Dragon (c.1416), a pioneering attempt to work out a system of perspective.

During the next decade, he worked on the famous scene Salome for the Siena baptistery, which he completed in 1427. He invented a technique known as schiacciato (shallow relief), in which he ingeniously achieved effects of spatial depth. During that period he carved several prophets for the Florentine Campanile, including the Zuccone (Baldhead), a vibrant characterization. In 1430–32, he went to Rome with Brunelleschi and became one of the first Renaissance artists interested in ancient monuments. Reflections of classical putti (male infants) can be found in his rendering of the lively cherubs in the Singing Gallery (1433–38, cathedral mus.) and in the pulpit at Prato. Classical influence is also evident in his bronze David (c.1432, Bargello), one of the earliest freestanding nude figures of the Renaissance.

In demand throughout Italy, Donatello was invited to Padua in 1443, where he stayed for 10 years as the head of an enormous workshop. He designed the equestrian statue of Gattamelata (1447–53) and the high altar for Sant' Antonio (1446–50). Upon his return to Florence, he carved the acutely expressive Magdalen (c.1460?, baptistery), which was greatly damaged by the flood of 1966. In his last years he worked on the pulpits of San Lorenzo, creating a magnificent series of reliefs. He was one of the most influential painters and sculptors of his time. Most of his works have remained in Florence, but a good representation can be seen in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. Two examples of his work can be found in American collections, an unfinished David (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.) and the Shaw Madonna (Boston Mus.).

Bibliography

See studies by F. Hartt with photographs by D. Finn (1973) and by J. Pope-Hennessy (1994); Donatello and His World (1994) by J. Poeschke.

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Donatello

 orig. Donato di Niccolò

Equestrian statue of Gattamelata, bronze sculpture by Donatello, 1447–53; in the Piazza del …

(credit: Anderson—Alinari from Art Resource/EB Inc.)

(born c. 1386, Florence—died Dec. 13, 1466, Florence) Italian sculptor active in Florence. He learned stone carving from the sculptors of the Florence Cathedral (c. 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 (c. 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 (c. 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.

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Donatello

real name Donato di Betto Bardi. 1386--1466, Florentine sculptor, regarded as the greatest sculptor of the quattrocento, who was greatly influenced by classical sculpture and contemporary humanist theories. His marble relief of St George Killing the Dragon (1416--17) shows his innovative use of perspective. Other outstanding works are the classic bronze David, and the bronze equestrian monument to Gattamelatta, which became the model of subsequent equestrian sculpture

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Donatello

Miriam’s ardent friend ever ready to defend her. [Am. Lit.: The Marble Faun]

See : Defender

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Donatello

throws Miriam’s persecutor over cliff to death. [Am. Lit.: The Marble Faun]

See : Murder