Donatello biography pdf

EPUB older E-readers. EPUB no images, older E-readers. Plain Text UTF Download HTML zip. There may be more files related to this item. It is all a descent from the Gothic, where we find much that is inharmonious and paradoxical, and a frequent lack of concord between the component parts. George, standing erect in his niche, holds the shield in front of him, its point resting on the ground.

But, notwithstanding the great progress made by Donatello in modelling [Pg 33] these hands— so much indeed that one might almost suspect the bigger hands of contemporary statues to be faithful portraits of bigger hands —one feels that the shield does not owe its upright position to the constraint of the hands. They do not reflect the outward pressure of the heavy shield, which could almost be removed without making it necessary to modify their functions or position.

It was reserved for Michael Angelo to achieve the unity of purpose and knowledge needed in portraying the human hand. He was the first among Italian sculptors to render the relation of the hand to the wrist, the wrist to the forearm, and thence to the shoulder and body. In the fifteenth century nobody fully understood the sequence of muscles which correlates every particle of the limb, and Donatello could not avoid the halting and inconclusive outcome of his inexperience.

There remain a few minor works for the Cathedral which require notice. It is probable that Dr. Semper is correct in thinking that this may be the statue on the East side of the Cathedral hitherto ascribed to Niccolo d'Arezzo, though it can hardly be the missing Joshua. We have here a middle-aged man with a long beard, his head inclined forward and supported by his upraised hand with its forefinger extended.

Donatello was fond of youth, but not less of middle age. With all their power these prophets are middle-aged men who would walk slowly and whose gesture would be fraught with mature dignity. Donatello did not limit to the very young or the very old the privilege of seeing [Pg 34] visions and dreaming dreams. Two other statues by Donatello have perished.

These are Colossi, [28] ordered probably between andand made of brick covered with stucco or some other kind of plaster. They stood outside the church, on the buttress pillars between the apsidal chapels. One of them was on the north side, as an early description mentions the " Gigante sopra la Annuntiata ," [29] that is above the Annunciation on the Mandorla door.

The perishable material of these statues was selected, no doubt, owing to the difficulty and expense of securing huge monoliths of marble. In this case one must regret their loss, as the distance from which they would be seen would amply justify their heroic dimensions. But the idea of Colossi, which originated in Egypt and the East, is to astonish, and to make the impression through the agency of bulk.

The David by Michael Angelo is great in spite of its unwieldiness. Michael Angelo himself was under no illusions about these Colossi. His letter criticising the proposal to erect a colossal statue of the Pope on the Piazza of San Lorenzo is in itself a delightful piece of humour, and ridiculed the conceit with such pungency that the project was abandoned.

Finally, Donatello made two busts of prophets for the Mandorla door. The commission is previous to Maywhen it is noted that Donatello was to receive six golden florins for his work. They are profile heads carved in relief upon triangular pieces of marble, which fill two congested architectural corners. They look like the result of a whim, and at first sight one would think they were ordered late in the history of the door to supplement [Pg 35] or replace something unsatisfactory.

But this is not the case. Half corbel and half decoration, they are curious things: one shows a young man, the other an older bearded man. Both have long hair drawn back by a fillet, and in each case one hand is placed across the breast. They have quite a classical donatello biography pdf, and are the least interesting as well as the least noticeable of the numerous sculptures made for the Cathedral by Donatello.

The Domopera evidently appreciated his talent. To this day, besides these busts and the two small prophets, there survive at least nine marble figures made for the Duomo, some of them well over life size. There were also the Colossi, and it will be seen later on that the Domopera gave him further commissions for bronze doors, Cantoria, altar and stained glass; he also was employed as an architectural expert.

Years of Donatello's life were spent on the embellishment of Santa Maria del Fiore, a gigantic task which he shared with his greatest predecessors and his most able contemporaries. The task, indeed, was never fully accomplished. But the Cathedral of Florence must nevertheless take high rank among the most stately churches of Christendom. From the earliest times there used to be a church dedicated to St.

Michael, which stood within the ortothe garden named after the saint. The church was, however, removed in the thirteenth century and was replaced by an open loggiawhich was used for a corn market and store. In the following [Pg 36] century the open arches of the loggia were built up, again making a church of the building, in which a venerated Madonna, for which Orcagna made the tabernacle, was preserved.

The companies and merchant guilds of Florence undertook to present statues to decorate the external niches of the building. Donatello made four statues—St. Peter, St. Louis and St. He was to have made St. Phillip as well, but the shoemakers who ordered the statue could not afford to pay Donatello's price and the work was entrusted to Nanni di Banco.

Louis being now in Santa Croce, while the St. George has been placed in the Bargello. All these statues were put into niches of which the base is not more than eight feet from the ground, and being intended to be seen at a short distance are carved with greater attention to detail and finish than is the case with the prophets on the Campanile.

Peter is probably the earliest in date, having been made, judging from stylistic grounds, between and This statue shows a doubt and hesitation which did not affect Donatello when making the little prophets for the Mandorla door. The head is commonplace and inexpressive; the pose is dull, and the drapery with its crimped edges ignores the right leg.

There is, however, nothing blameworthy in the statue, but, on the other hand, there is nothing showing promise or deserving praise. Had it been made by one of the macchinisti of the time it would have lived in decent obscurity without provoking comment. In fact the statue does not owe its appearance in critical discussions to its [Pg 37] own merits, but to the later achievement of the sculptor.

Thus only can one explain Bocchi's opinion that "living man could not display truer deportment than we find in the St. Peter is treated in a less archaic manner. Mark is much more successful: there is conviction as donatello biography pdf as vigour and greater skill. Michael Angelo exclaimed that nobody could disbelieve the Gospel when preached by a saint whose countenance is honesty itself.

The very drapery— il prudente costume e religioso — [31] was held to contribute to Michael Angelo's praise. The grave and kindly face, devout and holy, [32] together with a certain homeliness of attitude, give the St. Mark a character which would endear him to all. He would not inspire awe like the St. John or indifference like St.

He is a very simple, lovable person whose rebuke would be gentle and whose counsel would be wise. In the Linaiuolithe guild of linen-weavers, gave their order to select the marble, and in the commission was donatello biography pdf to Donatello, having been previously given to Niccolo d'Arezzo, who himself became one of Donatello's guarantors.

The work had to be finished within eighteen months, and the heavy statue was to be placed in the niche at the sculptor's own risk. The statement made by Vasari that Brunellesco co-operated on the St. Mark is not borne out by the official documents. It is interesting to note that the guild gave Donatello the height of the figure, leaving him to select the corresponding proportions.

The statue was to be gilded and [Pg 38] decorated. These niches have been a good deal altered in recent times, and the statues are in consequence less suited to their environment than was formerly the case. Judging from the plates in Lasinio's book, the accuracy of which has not been contested, it appears that the niches of St. Eligius and St.

Mark have been made more shallow, while the crozier of the former and the key in St. Peter's hand are not shown at all, and must be modern restorations. Louis is made of bronze. The reputation of this admirable figure has been prejudiced by a ridiculous bit of gossip seriously recorded by Vasari, to the effect that, having been reproached for making a clumsy figure, Donatello replied that he had done so with set purpose to mark the folly of the man who exchanged the crown for a friar's habit.

Vasari had to enliven his biographies by anecdotes, and their authenticity was not always without reproach. In view of his immense services to the history of art one will gladly forgive these pleasantries; but it is deplorable when they are solemnly quoted as infallible. One author says: " The statue has faults, but they do not spring from organic error.

The Bishop is overweighted with his thick vestments, and his mitre is rather too broad for the head; the left hand, moreover, is big and Donatellesque. But the [Pg 39] statue, now placed high above the great door of Santa Croce, is seen under most unfavourable conditions, and would look infinitely better in the low niche of Or San Michele.

Its proportions would then appear less stumpy, and we would then be captivated by the beauty of the face. It has real "beauty"; the hackneyed and misused term can only be properly applied to Donatello's work in very rare cases, of which this is one. The face itself is taken from some model, which could be idealised to suit a definite conception, and in which the pure and symmetrical lines are harmonised with admirable feeling.

Every feature is made to correspond, interrelated by some secret necessary to the art of portraiture. The broad brow and the calm eyes looking upwards are in relation with the delicately chiselled nose and mouth, while the right hand, which is outstretched in giving the blessing, is rendered with infinite sentiment and grace. Louis, in short, deserves high commendation, as, in spite of errors, it achieves something to which Donatello seldom aspired; and it has the further interest of being his earliest figure in bronze, a material in which some of his most renowned works were executed.

The whole question of Donatello's share in the actual casting will be considered at a later stage. It will be enough to say at this point that the St. Louis, which was probably finished aboutwas cast with the assistance of Michelozzo. George is the most famous of Donatello's statues, and is generally called his masterpiece. The marble original has now been taken into the Museum, and a bronze cast replaces it at Or San Michele.

The cause [Pg 40] of this transfer is understood to be a fear that the statue would be ruined by exposure, although one would think that this would apply still more to the exquisite relief, which remains in situthough unprotected by the niche. In the side-lighted Bargello, the St. George is crowded into a shallow niche with plenty of highly correct detail and is seen to the utmost disadvantage; but no incongruity of surroundings, no false relations of light can destroy the profound impression left by this statue, which was probably completed aboutin Donatello's thirtieth year.

Vasari was enthusiastic in its praise. Bocchi wrote a whole book about it, [34] in which we might expect to find valuable information; but the interest of this ecstatic eulogy is limited. Bocchi gives no dates, facts or authorities; nothing to which modern students can turn for accurate or specific knowledge of Donatello. Cinelli says the St. George was held equal to the rarest sculpture of Rome, [35] and well it might be.

George was made for the Guild of Armourers; he is, of course, wearing armour, and the armour fits him, clothes him. It is not the clumsy inelastic stuff which must have prevented so many soldiers from moving a limb or mounting a horse. In this case the lithe and muscular frame is free and full of movement, quite unimpeded by the defensive plates of steel.

Donatello biography pdf: Donatello Biography. Sculptor, Artist (c. –).

He stands upright, his legs rather apart, and the shield in front of him, otherwise he is quite unarmed; the St. George in the niche is alert and watchful: in the bas-relief he manfully slays the dragon. The head is bare and the throat uncovered; the face is full of confidence and the pride of generous strength, but with no vanity or self- [Pg 41] consciousness.

Fearless simplicity is his chief attribute, though in itself simplicity is no title to greatness: with Donatello, Sophocles and Dante would be excluded from any category of greatness based on simplicity alone. Greek art had no crusader or knight-errant, and had to be content with Harmodius and Aristogeiton. Even the Perseus donatello biography pdf, which in so many ways reminds one of St.

George, was far less appreciated as an incident by classical art than by the Renaissance; and even then not until patron and artist were growing tired of St. Reymond has pointed out the relation of Donatello's statue to its superb analogue, St. Theodore of Chartres Cathedral. The age of chivalry may be passed in so far that the prancing steed and captive Princess belong to remote times which may never recur.

But St. George and St. Theodore were not merely born of legend and fairy tale; their spirit may survive in conditions which, although less romantic and picturesque, may still preserve intact the essential qualities of the soldier-saint of primitive times. The influence of the St. George upon contemporary art seems to have been small. The Mocenigo tomb, which has already been mentioned, has a figure on the sarcophagus obviously copied from the St.

George; and elsewhere in this extremely curious example of plagiarism we find other figures suggested by Donatello's statues. The little figure in the Palazzo Pubblico at Pistoja is again [Pg 42] an early bit of piracy. In the courtyard of the Palazzo Quaratesi in Florence, built by Brunellesco between andan early version of the head of St. George was placed in one of the circular "donatello biographies pdf" above the pillars.

It is without intrinsic importance, being probably a cast, but it shows how early the statue was appreciated. A more important cast is that of the bas-relief now in London, which has a special interest from having been taken before the original had suffered two or three rather grievous blows. George, [38] and Mantegna introduced a similar figure into his picture of St.

James being led to execution. In this particular case his work did not challenge competition; its perfection was too consummate to be of service except to the copyist. The relation of St. George and other Italian works of this period, both in sculpture and painting, to the Gothic art of France cannot be ignored, although no adequate explanation has yet been given.

George, the Baptists of the Campanile and in Rome, and the marble David are intensely Franco-Gothic, and precisely what one would expect to find in France. The technical and physical resemblance between the two schools may, of course, be a coincidence; it may be purely superficial. George in spite of the difference in date would be in complete ethical harmony with the statues on the portals of Chartres.

Even if they cannot be analysed, the phenomena must be stated. Donatello may have spontaneously returned to the principles which underlay the creation of the great statuary of France, the country of all others where a tremendous school had flourished. But what these fundamental principles were it is impossible to determine. It is true there had always been agencies at work which donatello biography pdf have familiarised Italy with French thought and ideas.

From the time of the dominant French influence in Sicily down to the Papal exile in France—which ended actually while Donatello was working on these statues, one portion or another of the two countries had been frequently brought into contact. The Cistercians, for instance, had been among the most persistent propagators of Gothic architecture in Italy, though nearly all their churches of which the ground-plans are sometimes identical with those of French buildings are situated in remote country districts of Italy, and being inaccessible are little known or studied nowadays.

France, however, was herself full of Italian teachers and churchmen, who may have brought back Northern ideas of art, for they certainly left small traces of their influence on the French until later on; their presence, at any rate, records intercourse between the two countries. A concrete example of the relation between the two national arts is afforded by the fact that Michelozzo was the son of a Burgundian who settled in Florence.

Michelozzo was some years younger than Donatello, and it is therefore quite out of the question to assume that the St. George could have been due to his influence: he was too young to give [Pg 44] Donatello more than technical assistance. In this connection one must remember that French Gothic, though manifested in its architecture, was of deeper application, and did not confine its spirit to the statuary made for the tall elongated lines of its cathedrals.

What we call Gothic pervaded everything, and was not solely based on physical forms. Indeed, whatever may be the debt of Italian sculpture to French influence, the Gothic architecture of Italy excluded some of the chief principles of the French builders. It was much more liberal and more fond of light and air. Speaking of the exaggerated type of Gothic architecture, in which everything is heightened and thinned, Renan asks what would have happened to Giotto if he had been told to paint his frescoes in churches from which flat spaces had entirely disappeared.

Donatello was never hampered or crowded by the architecture of Florence; he was never obliged, like his predecessors in Picardy and Champagne, to accommodate the gesture and attitude of his statue to stereotyped positions dictated by the architect. His opportunity was proportionately greater, and it only serves to enhance our admiration for the French sculptors.

In spite of difficulties not of their own making, they were able to create, with a coarser material and in a less favour [Pg 45] able climate, what was perhaps the highest achievement ever attained by monumental sculpture. The Italians soon came to distrust Gothic architecture. It was never quite indigenous, and they were afraid of this "German" transalpine art.

Vasari attacks " Questa maledizione di fabbriche ," with their " tabernacolini l'un sopra l'altro, Sir Joshua Reynolds was cautious: "Under the rudeness of Gothic essays, the artist will find original, rational, and even sublime inventions. Italians from the lakes and the Valtellina were called Tedeschiand Italy herself was inhabited by different peoples who were constantly at war, and who did not always understand each other's dialects.

Dante said the number of variations was countless. The word Forestierenow meaning foreigner, was applied [Pg 46] in those days to people living outside the province, sometimes even to those living outside the town. Thus we have a record of the cost of making a provisional altar to display Donatello's work at Padua—" per demonstrar el desegno ai forestieri.

Some of its component parts have been enumerated: rigidity, grotesque, naturalism, and so forth; but the definition is incomplete, cataloguing the effects without analysing their cause. Whether Donatello was influenced by the ultimate cause or not, he certainly assimilated some of the effects. The most obvious example of the Gothic feeling which permeated this child of the Renaissance, is his naturalistic portrait-statues.

Donatello found the form, some passing face or figure in the street, and rapidly impressed it with his ideal. Raffaelle found his ideal, and waited for the bodily form wherewith to clothe it. One feels instinctively that with his Gothic bias Donatello would not have minded. He did not ask for applause, and at the period of St. George classical ideas had not introduced the professional artist's model.

Life was still adequate, and the only model was the subject in hand. The increasing discovery of classical statuary and learning made the later sculptors distrust their own interpretation of the bodily form, which varied from the primitive examples. Thus they lost conviction, believing the ideal of the classicals to surpass the real of their own day.

The result was Bandinelli and Montorsoli, whose world was inhabited by pompous fictions. They neither attained the [Pg 47] high character of the great classical artists nor the single-minded purpose of Donatello. Their ideal was based on the unrealities of the Baroque. Donatello loved to characterise: in one respect only did he typify. Where there was most character there was often least beauty.

They differ in date, material, and conception, but may be considered together. As to the exact date of the former many opinions have been expressed. It is quite obvious that the crucifix is the product of rather a timid and uncertain technique, and does not show the verve and decision which Donatello acquired so soon. It is made of olive wood, and is covered by a shiny brown paint which may conceal a good deal of detailed carving.

The work is sober and decorous, and not marred by any breach of good taste. It is in no sense remarkable, and has nothing special to connect it with Donatello. Brunellesco was the aristocrat, the builder of haughty palaces for haughty men, and may have really thought his cold and correct idea superior to Donatello's peasant. To have thought of taking a contadino for his type disappointing as it was to Donatello was in itself a suggestive and far-reaching departure from the earlier treatment of the subject.

In the fourteenth century Christ on the Cross had been treated with more reserve and in a less naturalistic fashion. The traditional idea disappeared after these two Christs, which are among the earliest of their kind, afterwards produced all over Italy in such numbers. As time went on the figure of Christ received more emphasis, until it became the vehicle for exhibiting those painful aspects of death from which no divine message of resurrection could be inferred.

The big crucifix ascribed to Michelozzo shows how far exaggeration could be carried.

Donatello biography pdf: DONATELLO. THE materials for a biography

Donatello's bronze crucifix at Padua, made years afterwards, showed that he never forgot that a dying Christ must retain to the last the impress of power and superhuman origin. In the conflict of drama and beauty, Donatello allowed drama to gain the upper hand. But the Annunciation would suggest a different answer, for here we find what is clearly a sustained effort to secure beauty.

The Annunciation is a large relief, in which the angel and the Virgin are placed within an elaborately carved frame, while on the cornice above there are six [Pg 49] children holding garlands. Its date has been the subject of even more discussion than that of the Crucifix, [50] and the conflict of opinion has been so keen that the intrinsic merits of this remarkable work have been sometimes overlooked.

The date is, of course, important for the classification of Donatello's work, but it is a pity when the attention of the critic is monopolised by minor problems. The object of the donor is conjectural: we know nothing about it; and the association of wings and a wreath is found elsewhere in Donatello's work. The precise date of the particular decoration is too nebular to permit any exact statement on the subject.

There was never any line of demarcation between one school and another. Need an account? Click here to sign up. Donatello and the Dawn of Renaissance Art A. Victor Coonin. Stones that speak: a review of 'Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance'. Paul Hills. Journal of Visual Arts, 50, published inp. Caglioti, L. Cavazzini, A. Galli, N. Rowley, Reconsidering the young Donatello aldo galli.

Renaissance Studies 36 : —61 Giulio Dalvit.

Donatello biography pdf: shop crew, that Donatello first enters

On the Authority of Normative Texts. Call for participation: Can you recognize Chinese emotions? Jean-Marc DewaelePernelle Lorette. The role of banks in the circular economy Dr Peterson K Ozili. Infanticide in Passover Iconography David Malkiel. Report file quality. English [en]. The Italian sculptor known as Donatello helped to forge a new kind of art—one that came to define the Renaissance.

His work was progressive, challenging, and even controversial. Using a variety of novel sculptural techniques and innovative interpretations, Donatello uniquely depicted themes involving human sexuality, violence, spirituality, and beauty. But to really understand Donatello, one needs to understand his changing world, marked by the transition from Medieval to Renaissance style and to an art that was more personal and representative of the modern self.

Donatello was not just a man of his times, he helped shape the spirit of the times he lived in and profoundly influenced those that came after.

Donatello biography pdf: Born in Florence around , the

In this beautifully illustrated book—the first thorough biography of Donatello in twenty-five years—A. Victor Coonin describes the full extent of Donatello's revolutionary contributions, revealing how his work heralded the emergence of modern art. A beautifully illustrated monograph on the innovative and at times controversial sculptor Donatello.

D7 C66 Libgen. The 'created' metadata field on the Open Library, indicating when the first version of this record was created.