Donatello was born in or near Florence between 1382 and 1387, most likely in 1386.

The real name of the sculptor? Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, but he is better known under the diminutive name Donatello, which can be translated as "little Donat".

Donatello came from a fairly wealthy family. Was his father, who came from the old Bardi family, an artisan? a wool comber, but lost his fortune and died quite early. Therefore, from his youth, the sculptor had to earn a living by his labor.

After the death of his father, Donatello lived with his mother in a small, modest house. Donato did not attend school as a child and understood Latin rather poorly.

He was first trained, it is believed, by a jeweler and in the workshops that worked on the decoration of the Florentine cathedral. Probably, here he became close to Brunelleschi, with whom he had a close friendship throughout his life.

Like his friend Brunelleschi, he played a decisive role in the development of the new art. He was a tireless worker who devoted himself to hard work in search of artistic perfection. Florence, Pisa, Siena, Prato, Rome, Padua, Ferrara, Modena, Venice? these are the cities where his activities took place, which aroused the admiration of his contemporaries. But at the same time, Donatello did not compromise, did not pursue external prettiness that attracted the general public, did not seek to polish his statues excessively, being afraid to deprive them of the freshness of the first plan, and continued to do everything in his own way.

Alberti believed that Donatello was not inferior in genius to the most famous artists of antiquity. Little is known about his creative method, not a single drawing of him, not a single model has survived, although there were several of his drawings in the Vasari collection.

According to Pomponio Gaurico, Donatello taught that the basis of sculpture was a drawing, and used the drawing in the process of arranging statues and reliefs, then made a small model from clay or wax, which he remade several times, according to the memoirs of Paolo Giovio.

Donatelo made the statues with his own hands, trusting his students and assistants, basically, only minor details. Although he himself was an expert in the technology of bronze casting, he usually ordered his bronze sculptures and reliefs to be cast by qualified bell-makers.

Then Donatello finished and polished the surface of the work - without excessive care, smoothing, leaving them with a kind of "incompleteness"? non-finito, moving away from jewelry traditions, given the distance from which they will be viewed. Unlike the classical direction of Florentine plastics, in which many of his contemporaries worked, in particular, Michelozzo and Luca della Robbia, Donatello's creations in Donatello's creations are made with realism and liveliness, with greater freedom and courage.

The innovation of Donatello's creative method was clearly manifested in the reliefs, in which he achieves the finest chiaroscuro and the desired play of highlights, freely varying the depth of the surface.

The great Michelangelo adopted a lot from Donatello, his craving for the realism of the statues, their inner beauty and monumentality, which revived the “incompleteness” of a dead stone.

The first period of creativity can be considered the years before 1433, when Donatello worked mainly on decorating the cathedral and the church of Or San Michele in Florence. Already the first major works of the master put Donatello in an exceptional position among his contemporaries, they revealed the exceptional originality of his creative searches.

He made two figures for the facade of the Florentine Cathedral: ? statue of David the Conqueror (1408-1416, Bargello National Museum, Florence), ? seated statue of John the Evangelist (1408-1415, Cathedral Museum, Florence). For the church of Santa Croce, the master carved a wooden "Crucifixion" (1412-1413).

In 1412 Donatello was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke? guild of painters as a painter, sculptor and goldsmith. In the early period of creativity, Donatello was a truly folk artist, performing almost exclusively public orders (communes, workshops, churches). Did he create his statues for the public to see? for squares and facades. Later, Donatello also performed private orders. His fame grew rapidly and everything that came out of his hands invariably surprised his contemporaries with its unexpected novelty.

The statues of saints intended for the facade of the Church of Or San Michele in Florence, which were located in the outer niches, immediately attracted attention with the harsh expressiveness and inner strength of the images:

• ? statue of Mark the Evangelist (1411-1413, Church of Or San Michele, Florence),
• ? statue of Saint Louis of Toulouse (c. 1413), Santa Croce Museum, Florence),
• ? statue of St. George with a relief on the plinth "The Battle of St. George with the Dragon" (1415-1417, National Museum of Florence).

Among the early works of the master are:

• ? lion statue "Marzocco", symbol of Florence (1418-1420),
• ? marble relief "Pazzi Madonna" (c. 1422),

Works for the Siena Cathedral (1423-1429), Tomb of Baldassare Coche, Antipope John XXIII (1425-1427), Statues of the prophets of the Florentine bell tower (1418--1436), Reliquary bust of San Rossore (1425-1427), Tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci ( 1427-1428), marble relief "Ascension of Mary" (1427-1428).

In his works, Donatello strove for the objective correctness of the proportions and construction of the figure, and also took into account the impression that the statue would make if placed in its intended place. According to Vasari, Donatello "worked as much with his hands as with calculation", in contrast to the masters, whose "works end and seem beautiful in the room in which they are made, but then being taken out from there and placed in another place, with another illuminated or at a higher height, they take on a completely different look and give an impression just the opposite of what they produced in their original place.

One of the most outstanding works with confidence can be called a statue of a seated John the Evangelist.

In 1408-1415, various sculptors created statues of the four Evangelists for the facade of the cathedral in Florence - John the Evangelist, patron of the woolen workshop, the work of Donatello, as well as St. Luke - Nanni di Banco, St. Mark - Nicolo Lamberti, St. Matthew - Chuffagni (1410-1415), now they are in the Museum of the Cathedral, Florence.

The statue of the seated John the Theologian is rightfully considered the first Renaissance sculpture in which a new humanistic idea of ​​man was expressed. In the era of the Trecentento, sculptures were incorporeal images, then Donatello endows them with realistic, earthly characters. From this statue begins a fruitful stage in the life of the master, who discovered new era in art, he creates one masterpiece after another,

When the building commission distributed orders for the statues of the four Evangelists in 1408, the young Donatello got a bar of Carr marble, quarried in 1405. Tall and wide, but of a small depth - not exceeding half a meter - sufficient for a Gothic sculpture, but obviously small for a more realistic depiction of a seated person, and therefore the sculpture, in fact, is a high relief. Donatello solved the problem by choosing a position for the figure with an oblique turn of the legs, opposite to the turn of the head, at the same time introducing a latent tension in the passively sitting figure. The courageous image of John strikes with a combination of firmness and seriousness, with energy and flaming inner strength.

The seated Apostle is a strong, powerful old man, with powerful hands, full of restrained dignity and nobility. Massive head, courageous, strong face, framed by large, as if flowing strands of hair and beard. A piercing gaze, heavy hands accustomed to work give John impressiveness and power, reminiscent of Michelangelo's "Moses", who was called "the son of this father", thus, by right of the sitting "John" Donatello is considered the inspirer and ingenious predecessor of this grandiose creation of the Renaissance.

The figure of the Evangelist is full of calm, not stiffness. A strong torso looms through a mass of deep, heavy folds. Compared to him, St. Luke" Nanni di Banco seems more fragile, more proportionately built, it does not have Donatella's power.

At first, the statue of John was located on the side of the main portal, now it is in the left nave of the cathedral.

So, since the time of Giovanni Pisano, Italian sculpture has not known such scale, inner strength, intense life of images, such plastic power and richness of language. Donatello's sculptures embody the image of a man radiating calm confidence, courageous firmness, sublime heroism, endowed with a new measure of concreteness and vitality, naturalness and simplicity. The harmony of these statues is of a different order than that of Donatello's contemporaries - Lorenzo Ghiberti and Nanni di Banco. However, in the early works of Donatello, Gothic trends are still noticeable; later, the sculptor came to create new classical forms, combining antique and modern.

Donatello (Donatello) (real name Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi) (c. 1386-1466), Italian sculptor. Representative of the Florentine school of the Early Renaissance. Developed the democratic traditions of the culture of Florence. Comprehending the experience of ancient art, he created classical forms and types of Renaissance sculpture: a new type of round statue and sculptural group (“St. George”, 1416, “David”, 1430, “Judith and Holofernes”, 1456-57), a monumental equestrian monument ( "Gattamelata" in Padua, 1447-53), picturesque relief (the altar of the church of Sant'Antonio in Padua, 1446-50), a majestic tombstone (the tomb of Antipope John XXIII in the Florentine baptistery, 1425-27).

Donatello (Donatello) (real name Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi) (1386/87, Florence - December 13, 1466, ibid.), Italian sculptor, representative of the Florentine school of the Early Renaissance.

Personality of Donatello

Born in Florence, in the family of a wealthy wool comber Niccolo di Betto Bardi. In 1403-07 he studied at the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, where he learned the technique of bronze casting. A great influence on the work of Donatello had an acquaintance with Filippo Brunelleschi. Ghiberti and Brunneleschi remained the closest friends of the sculptor for life. An idea of ​​​​the personality of Donatello is given by Giorgio Vasari: “He was an extremely generous, amiable person and treated his friends better than himself; never put any value on money...

Early period of creativity

Donatello's activity in the 1410s is associated with communal orders to decorate public buildings in Florence. To decorate the facade of the Or San Michele building, Donatello makes statues of St. Mark (1411-13) and St. George (1415-17). In 1415 he completed the statue of St. John the Evangelist for the facade of the Florentine Cathedral. In 1415, the construction commission of the Florentine Cathedral ordered statues of the prophets from Donatello to decorate the campanile, on the creation of which the master worked for almost twenty years (1416-35; five statues are in the Museum of the Cathedral). The statues of the prophets and "David" (c. 1430-32) are still largely associated with the late Gothic tradition: the figures are subject to an abstract decorative rhythm, the faces are treated in an ideally uniform way, the bodies are hidden behind heavy folds of robes. However, already in them, Donatello sets as his task to reproduce the new ideal of the era - the individual heroic personality (especially St. Mark, 1412; St. George, 1415, Habakkuk, the so-called Zuccone, and Jeremiah, 1423-26): the forms gradually acquire plastic clarity , the volumes become solid, the typical facial expression is replaced by portraiture, the folds of the robes naturally envelop the body and echo its curves and movement.

In collaboration with the architect Bartolommeo di Michelozzo in 1425-27, Donatello created the tomb of Pope John XXIII in the Florentine baptistery (Donatello only made the recumbent figure of the pope), which became a classic model for all the later tombs of the Renaissance, designed to perpetuate the glory of the deceased. With the creation of the tomb of John XXIII begins a long collaboration between Donatello and Michelozzo.

In the early 1420s, Donatello turned to the technique of bronze casting. His first work in this material is the statue of St. Louis of Toulouse, ordered to him by the council of the Guelph party in 1422 to decorate one of the niches in Or San Michele (subsequently transferred to Santa Croce, now kept in the museum at the church) is one of the most beautiful monuments that reflected the Renaissance understanding of holiness as a personal feat .

The pinnacle of Donatello's work in bronze is the statue of David (c. 1430-32, Bargello Museum, Florence). "David" was first mentioned in documents in 1469 (at that time he stood on a column in the middle of the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in Florence), after the expulsion of the Medici in 1495, the statue was transferred to the courtyard of the Signoria and became a kind of symbol of Florence and its struggle for independence and freedom. Unlike medieval sculpture, the statue is designed for a circular walk, the sculptor's approach to the topic of nudity was also innovative: for the first time since the Middle Ages, a naked body was depicted on such a large scale and so realistically. Among other works by Donatello of the 1410s - early 1420s - a wooden crucifix from the church of Santa Croce in Florence (c. 1410), a figure of a lion carved from sandstone, the so-called Marzocco, the emblem of Florence (1418-20, National Museum, Florence), the bronze reliquary of San Rossore for the church of Ognisanti (1427, National Museum, Pisa), a bronze statuette from the National Museum in Florence (the so-called "Attis Amorino"; c. 1440, apparently, being the image of Priapus, the ancient deity of fertility) .

Donatello's experiments in relief technique were revolutionary. The desire for a realistic transmission of a visually convincing illusory space leads him to create a "rilievo schiacciato" (flattened relief), in which the impression of depth is achieved through the gradation of volumes. The use of the principles of direct perspective enhances the illusion of spatiality - the sculptor, “drawing” with a chisel, is likened to a painter painting a picture (“The Battle of George with the Dragon”, c. 1417, Bargello Museum; “Madonna Pazzi”, c. 1422, Berlin-Dahlem; “Feast Herod" for the font of the Siena Baptistery, c. 1425; "The Assumption of Mary", c. 1427-1428, the Church of Sant'Angelo a Nilo in Naples; "The Ascension of Christ and the Delivery of the Keys to the Apostle Peter", 1428-30, Victoria and Albert Museum, London ). In the "picturesque" reliefs of Donatello, the architectural background is depicted according to the rules of direct perspective with a single vanishing point of the lines. The master manages to create several spatial zones where the characters are; the feeling of spatiality is enhanced by a fine gradation of the volumes of the characters' figures and illusory architecture - more plastic, voluminous in the foreground, and graphically interpreted, made in the "relievo schiacciato" technique - in the second.

Second Florentine period

From August 1432 to May 1433, Donatello is in Rome, where, together with his friend Brunelleschi, he measures Roman monuments, studies ancient sculptures (according to legend, the locals considered them treasure hunters). The reflection of these Roman impressions are: the tabernacle for the Chapel del Sacramento (now in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome), commissioned by Pope Eugene IV, the "Annunciation" (the so-called Cavalcanti Altarpiece, Florence, Santa Croce Church), outstanding with the calm rhythm of its simple generalized lines and completely antique clarity and beauty of faces, the singing tribune of the Florence Cathedral (1433-40) and the outer pulpit of the Cathedral in Prato (1434-38), decorated with reliefs of half-naked putti dancing and playing various musical instruments, similar to antique cupids.

Genuine "classicism" is achieved by Donatello in the relief created on his return from Rome on the plot of "Herod's Feast" (c. 1435, Vicard Museum, Lille), where in a complex spatial construction, in a variety of combinations of arches, porticoes and architectural decorations, impressions of Brunelleschi's architecture were reflected and L.B.

Around 1440 Donatello creates eight medallions and bronze doors for the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence (1435-43). In four knock-on reliefs (“The Vision of John on the Isle of Patmos”, “The Resurrection of Drusiana”, “The Liberation from the Cauldron of Boiling Oil”, “The Ascension to Heaven”) the sculptor achieves amazing freedom in depicting huge buildings, interiors and figures of people. The complex movement of the masses of figures, their deep agitated pathos, dynamic, intense compositions, the sharpening of psychological characteristics - instead of simple generalized lines, plastic clarity and purity of drawing - speak of a change in the master's manner in the 1440s.

Padua period

With the departure of Donatello in 1443 to Padua, the next period of his work begins. In Padua, he made an equestrian statue of the Venetian condottiere Erasmo de Narni, nicknamed Gattamelata (Black Cat) (cast in 1447, installed in 1453). The model for Donatello was the Roman monument to Marcus Aurelius: the condottiere is depicted sitting in a saddle, in antique armor and with a commander's staff in his hand. Placed at the intersection of the main streets leading to the cathedral square, the monument is visible primarily from a lateral point of view. With the help of the diagonal formed by the rod and sword of Gattamelata, and the position of his hands, Donatello combined the figures of the rider and horse into a single solid silhouette. The appearance of the hero is marked by nobility and self-esteem (virtu) - for the first time since the Middle Ages, a person was awarded a monument for his personal merits and military prowess.

In addition to the statue of Gattamelata, Donatello performs in Padua the sculptural altar of St. Anthony of Padua (installed June 13, 1450) and four reliefs with scenes from the life of this saint (1446-48). The huge (about 5 m long) altar was rebuilt twice in the 16th and 17th centuries; its original form can only be judged by reconstruction. The figure of Mary with the baby, surrounded by six saints (Francis, Anthony, Daniel and Justina, Prozdozim and Louis) constituted a monumental group in the space of the church. Reliefs from the life of St. Anthony in the Cathedral of Padua ("The Miracle with the Donkey", "The Miracle with the Talking Baby", "The Miraculous Healing of the Angry Son", "The Miracle with the Heart of the Miser") - the pinnacle of Donatello's work in the field of "picturesque" relief. The background for the miracles of the saint is the grandiose architecture that organizes and streamlines the action; crowd scenes are full of drama.

AT last years During his stay in Padua, Donatello does little work and, apparently, is seriously ill. In 1453 he returned to Florence, where he lived, except for a short trip to Siena in 1457, until his death in 1466.

Late Florentine period

The late work of Donatello contains many problems; sometimes they talk about the "decline" of skill or a return to gothic techniques and an increase in spiritual expression. In the sculpture of Donatello in the 1450s - early 1460s - in the wooden statue of Mary Magdalene (Baptistery, Florence), in the bronze group "Judith and Holofernes" (c. 1456-57, Signoria Square, Florence), the statue of John the Baptist ( 1451, Santa Maria dei Frari), in reliefs on the themes of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ of two pulpits (“The Crucifixion”, “Descent from the Cross”, “The Entombment”, “Resurrection”, “Mary at the Holy Sepulcher”, etc.) in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence (1460s) - the tragic theme prevails, the naturalism of execution borders on a spiritual breakdown. A number of compositions were completed by Donatello's students, Bellago and Bertoldo, after his death.

The meaning of Donatello's art

In the history of Renaissance plastic arts, Donatello was a central figure. He was the first to undertake a systematic study of the mechanism of movements of the human body, the first to give an image of a complex mass action, the first to interpret clothing in close connection with the movement and plasticity of the body, the first to set himself the task of expressing an individual portrait in sculpture, and drew attention to the mental life of the characters depicted by him.

Donatello was a bold reformer in technology: he brought the modeling of marble and bronze casting to exceptional perfection, extracting the finest pictorial effects from stone and metal. The coloring he used formed the basis of the Florentine polychrome terracotta plastics (Della Robbia family), and the picturesque three-dimensional relief he developed, based on an accurate knowledge of perspective and on a virtuoso gradation of volumes, indicated the paths for further development not only of sculpture, but also of painting.

Donatello(about 1386–1466). The real name of the sculptor is Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, but he is better known by his diminutive name.

Since the time of Italian sculpture has not known a master of such scale, inner strength and such plastic power and richness of artistic language.
The harmony of Donatello's statues is of a different order than that of his contemporaries - and Nanni di Banco - if Gothic trends are still noticeable in Donatello's early works, then later the sculptor came to create new classical forms, combining antique and modern.

Donatello was born in or near Florence between 1382 and 1387, most likely in 1386. He came from a fairly wealthy family. Donatello's father, the offspring of the old Bardi family, was an artisan - a wool comber, but lost his fortune and died quite early. From his youth, the sculptor had to earn a living himself. After the death of his father, Donatello lived with his mother in a small, modest house; Donato did not attend school as a child and understood Latin rather poorly.

For the first time, the name of Donatello is mentioned in documents in 1401 - at that time he worked as a jeweler in Pistoia - presumably, at first Donatello studied in a jewelry workshop, but it is not known whose student he was, as well as in the workshop of the painter and sculptor Bicci di Lorenzo, using the patronage of a wealthy Florentine banker Martelli. In 1403, the name Donatello is already found in the workshop of Ghiberti, where he worked until 1407, helping to make relief models for the second doors of the Florentine baptistery. On November 25, 1406, the name of Donatello is mentioned in documents related to the construction of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. In 1407, Donatello left Ghiberti and began work in workshops, working on the decoration of the Florence Cathedral.
Already around 1414, Donatello decisively breaks with the traditions of the Ghiberti workshop and embarks on the path of independent development, Donatello radically changes his artistic method, abandoning the Gothic traditions of his teacher, and practically becomes the founder of a new type of sculpture. Proximity to Brunelleschi, whom Donatello could have met no later than 1403, when he was working on the statue of David for the buttress of the Florence Cathedral, should have contributed a lot to this. Brunelleschi was probably the first to introduce Donatello to new humanistic ideas and to the manner of working all "antica, which was then in vogue.

Very little is known about Donatello as a person. None of his letters, not one of his direct statements, has survived. Everything that is known about him comes from later sources, and is not always reliable. There are only a few old reports - for example, his friend Matteo degli Organi testifies in 1434 that Donatello was "a man who was content with any modest food and was generally unpretentious." Giovanni Medici wrote that Donatello had no other position than that which his own hands gave him. When Cosimo Medici gave Donatello a beautiful dress, the sculptor put it on once or twice and did not wear it again, so as not to “seem to be a sissy” ( Vespasiano da Bisticci*).
In the light of these testimonies of contemporaries, the story of Vasari, which appears already in the treatise, looks not so implausible. Pomponio Gaurico* "On Sculpture" (1504). “He was an exceedingly generous, amiable man, and treated his friends better than himself; he never attached any value to money and kept it in a basket suspended from a rope from the ceiling, from where each of his students and friends could draw as needed, without telling him anything about it.
His personality aroused the respect of the Florentines, which is eloquently evidenced by the plot of a street performance, in which a messenger arrived with an invitation to the court of the “King of Nineveh” himself to fulfill important orders, to which Donatello refused, as he had to finish the statue for the Florentine market and couldn't do anything else. The testimony of Ludovico Gonzaga, who unsuccessfully tried to persuade the master to move to Mantua, has been preserved: “His brains are arranged in such a way that if he does not want to come, then all hopes must be abandoned.”
Donatello's character was not easy, he often delayed the completion of orders, often refused to fulfill his obligations when they were not to his liking, and did not attach much importance to the social status of the customer. Such freedom of behavior was possible in republican Florence, but already in the 16th century it was rather an exception, since the artists became dependent on the Medici court.

As little as about Donatello the man is known about his creative practice. Not one of his drawings, not one of his models has survived to our time. Meanwhile, Vasari had his drawings in his collection, and Pomponio Gaurico reports that Donatello claimed that the basis of the sculpture is a drawing - at this stage, a motif is fixed, which receives further refinement in a small model made of clay or wax. Such models, according to Paolo Giovio*, Donatello redid it several times until he found the right solution. Unfortunately, no such model has survived.
The master made the statues mostly himself, entrusting only minor details to his students, in the execution of large monumental orders he widely used the work of assistants, statues and reliefs from bronze, he usually ordered skilled bell makers to cast, although he himself was well acquainted with the technique of casting from bronze. Finishing the surface of bronze statues and reliefs Donatello himself carried out - without excessive thoroughness, smoothing, leaving them with a kind of "incompleteness", moving away from jewelry traditions, taking into account the distance from which the statue will be viewed and the impression that this statue will make, installed on the intended her place. According to Vasari, Donatello "worked as much with his hands as with calculation", in contrast to the masters, whose "works end and seem beautiful in the room in which they are made, but then being taken out from there and placed in another place, with another illuminated or at a higher height, they take on a completely different look and give an impression just the opposite of what they produced in their original place.
Unlike the classical direction of Florentine plastics, in which many of his contemporaries worked, Donatello's creations are made with realism and liveliness, with greater freedom and courage. Donatello solved the tasks of the new realistic art by means of statuary plastics and relief. The statue is the central problem of his early work. Somewhat later (c. 1420), Donatello began to develop the problem of a perspective-built, multifaceted relief, which later occupied him all his life. The work of this master develops along these two lines.

And another important and eternal problem is the relationship between Donatello and antiquity and the role of antiquity in his work. The people of the Renaissance were inclined to consider Donatello as "the great imitator of the ancients" - something like the ubiquitous Vasari looked at things. The works of Donatello, in his opinion, "were considered more similar to the outstanding creations of the ancient Greeks and Romans than anything that was ever done by anyone." This connection of Donatello with the ancient heritage was strongly emphasized in the literature of the 19th century, while M. Reymond and V. Bode* did not focus on the fundamental dissimilarity of Donatello with the ancient masters. Recognizing that Donatello persistently sought out antique samples and, as far as possible, carefully used them, Bode at the same time noted: "... it is unlikely that anyone else, in all his perception, was as far from antiquity as he was."

Indeed, Donatello treated the ancient heritage so arbitrarily and knew how to subordinate ancient borrowings to his own ideas so successfully that they completely dissolved in them. In his eyes, the ancient motif was almost synonymous with the realistic motif - he was especially persistent in his search for it when he was faced with the task of depicting a figure in motion or contrapposte*. The ideal forms of ancient classics touched him little. But everything that had expression in ancient art, such as, for example, roman portrait I-III centuries AD * Roman historical relief ( Trajan's column*), Roman provincial sarcophagi, Roman architectural ornament, he was keenly interested in, and he was not afraid to draw individual motives from these sources. But what is remarkable is that not a single ancient monument is known to date that Donatello would accurately copy. There are no direct borrowings from ancient sources in his early works, which open a new era. There is not a single statue (except for the so-called Atisa Amorino)
and not a single relief on an ancient theme, which received such great importance from sculptors in the second half of the 15th-16th centuries. Christian themes completely dominate, in which antique echoes do not sound so often (in the late period they almost completely disappear).

Allegorical figure of a boy (Atis) 1430 Donatello. Bronze. National Bargello Museum.

The first indisputable of the works of Donatello that have come down to us is his "David"- now in the Bargello Museum. This statue was made for buttress* Florentine Cathedral in 1408-1409, but then, probably because of its insufficient size for such a remote location, it was transferred by order of the signoria in 1416 to the Palazzo Vecchio, where the statue was finalized by the master. Then the scroll in the hands of David was replaced by a sling, which received an inscription calling for civil deeds: "Those who bravely fight for their homeland, the gods will grant help even against the most terrible opponents." The statue was placed near the wall of the Palazzo Vecchio and served as a symbol of the independence of Florence.

David. 1409 Donatello.

The head of David is decorated with a wreath of leaves. amaranth* - ancient emblem of the unfading glory of the brave. This detail was undoubtedly suggested to Donatello by some connoisseur of ancient literature, most likely his friend. Niccolo Niccoli* - thus decorated the statues of Achilles, Jason, Hercules. Otherwise, the statue is still largely connected with the traditions of medieval Gothic art - the Gothic curve of the figure, graceful limbs, a thin, pretty face devoid of character, somewhat reminiscent of the type of ancient Bacchus. But in the rich plastic life of the body with extensive use of contrapposto (the right shoulder and leg pushed forward, the head turned in the opposite direction, set back left leg) the desire of the master to freely deploy the figure in space is already felt. Very successful and new is the motif of a naked left leg, effectively framed by falling folds of draperies.
Traditionally, David was portrayed as a wise king of advanced years - with a scroll of laws in his hands, or a psalmist - with a lyre. The image of the young David the victor was associated with the memory of the deliverance of Florence from the Milan threat and the victorious war with the Neapolitan king. In Donatello's interpretation, David is shown as a young warrior celebrating his victory over the giant Goliath. This statue is the first in the work of Donatello from a series of statues of a heroic theme.

In the years 1408-1415, for the facade of the cathedral in Florence, various sculptors created statues of the four Evangelists - John the Evangelist, patron of the woolen workshop, the work of Donatello, St. Luke - the work of Nanni di Banco, St. Mark - Nicolo Lamberti, St. Matthew - Chuffagni (1410-1415), now they are in the museum of the Cathedral in Florence. When the building commission distributed orders for these statues in 1408, the young Donatello got a beam of Carr marble, high and wide, but of small depth - not exceeding half a meter - sufficient for Gothic sculpture, but clearly small for a more realistic depiction of a seated person, and therefore sculpture , is essentially high relief*. Donatello solved the problem by choosing a position for the figure with an oblique turn of the legs, opposite to the turn of the head, at the same time introducing a latent tension in the passively sitting figure. The seated apostle is a strong, powerful old man, with powerful hands, full of restrained dignity and nobility. A massive head, a courageous, strong face, framed by large, as if flowing strands of hair and beard, a piercing gaze, heavy hands accustomed to work give John impressiveness and power, reminiscent of Michelangelo's "Moses", who was called "the son of this father", such the image of the seated "John" Donatello is considered the inspirer and ingenious predecessor of the masterpiece of the Renaissance.
In this statue of his, Donatello takes a decisive step forward. Strictly speaking, this is the first truly Renaissance statue in which a new idea of ​​​​man found expression. Starting with this piece, Donatello enters a new period of his work and creates masterpieces that open a new era in art.
In the trecento era, sculptures were incorporeal images, but here Donatello endows John with a realistic, earthly character.

John the Evangelist. 1410-11 Donatello.

At an early stage of creativity, Donatello tried himself in different directions. Probably around 1412-1413 (or 1415-1425) he carved in wood crucifixion, now kept in the Florentine church of Santa Croce.
It bears a resemblance to the relief of his teacher Ghiberti, similar in theme, on the second doors of the Florentine baptistery. Christ is depicted with a strong muscular body, but the face is not expressive enough for Donatello. Researchers have not yet come to a consensus about the authorship of Donatello and the time of creation of the wooden Crucifixion, although most tend to believe that it contains features characteristic of the early Donatello.
This work by Donatello is mentioned twice in the sources of the 16th century, and Vasari also gives an anecdote (by the way, not particularly reliable) - that the sculptor showed the work to his close friend Filippo Brunelleschi immediately after completion, but he gave a mediocre assessment of the wooden "Crucifixion", its too plausible appearance : Peasant on the cross.

crucifixion. 1412-13 Donatello. Wood. Church of Santa Croce, Florence.

In 1412 Donatello was admitted to the guild Saint Luke* - the guild of painters, as a painter, sculptor and goldsmith. In the early period of his life, Donatello performed almost exclusively public orders (for communes, workshops, churches) - he created statues for squares and facades - for a wide view, which fully corresponded to the needs of "civil humanism". Later, Donatello performed private commissions. His fame grew rapidly and everything that came out of his hands invariably surprised his contemporaries - including a peculiar spirit of rebellion.

In 1411-1412 Donatello performed statue of Saint Mark for a niche on the south side of the building of the Orsanmichele church, which still adorns the niche intended for it. According to documentary evidence, it was created by the master almost simultaneously with the statue of the seated John the Evangelist (1408-1415), but artistically it is much superior to the statue for the Duomo.
The statue of Mark was commissioned by the foremen of the flax spinning workshop, which is probably why Donatello worked out the draperies of clothes so carefully, depicting them in a variety of forms, and also hoisted the statue of the Evangelist on a flat pillow. Despite the fact that the statue is in a niche, it immediately attracted the attention of contemporaries, Donatello expressed the individual character of the character with great skill.

The figure of Mark is unusually proportional, stable and monumental, perhaps for the first time after the ancient masters, the problem of a stable setting of the figure was solved. The entire weight of the slightly curved body rests on the right leg, the left leg, slightly bent at the knee, is slightly set back, the left hand holding the book simultaneously holds the cloak, which lies in free folds, outlining the relief of the leg, all the long ancient robe is completely subordinate to the figure, emphasizing his position is calm, full of dignity. Everything in this figure is weighty and material - the heaviness of the body, and the muscular arms, and the plasticity of the fabric of clothing. Michelangelo said of the statue of Mark that he “never saw a statue so like a decent man; if that was St. Mark, you can trust his writings.”

Evangelist Mark. 1411 Donatello. Marble. Church of Orsanmichele, Florence.

For the church of Orsanmichele, Donatello created a gilded bronze statue commissioned by the Guelph party, now kept in the museum at the church of Santa Croce, Florence.
Saint Louis of Toulouse, descended from the Anjou clan, renounced the Neapolitan crown, having taken tonsure in the Franciscan monastic order, in 1297 he was consecrated to the archbishop of Toulouse, at the age of 23 he died.
The whole figure of the saint is wrapped in a wide cloak over a simple Franciscan cassock, only the hands and toes shod in sandals are visible from under the robe. With his right hand, the saint blesses, and with his left he presses a staff to himself - also a creation of a sculptor unique for its time. The head of the staff is decorated with figurines of ancient putti - naked boys placed between Corinthian pilasters. The head of Louis is crowned with a heavy archbishop's mitre.

In 1460, the Guelph party resold the outer niche of the Orsanmichele church to the guild of merchants, not wanting to see the statue of their patron saint surrounded by the patron saints of the artisan guilds. The statue of Saint Louis was transferred to the Santa Croce Museum, where it is still kept. The statue was badly damaged during a flood in 1966.

Starting with the statue of St. Louis, realistic tendencies intensify in the work of Donatello, reaching another peak in the statues of the prophets of the Florentine campanile.

Saint Louis of Toulouse. 1413 Donatello. Bronze. Museum of the Church of Santa Croce, Florence.

A kind of apogee of the creative quest of the young Donatello is his statue of St. George, commissioned by the gunsmith shop for Orsanmichele (now stored in the Bargello). In "George" Donatello most fully embodied the new civic ideal. The hero stands unshakable like a rock - there is no such force in the world that can move him from his place, he is ready to repel any onslaught. Vasari gave the following description of this statue: “... her head expresses the beauty of youth, courage and valor in weapons, a proud and formidable impulse, and in everything an amazing movement that animates the stone from the inside. And, of course, in no single sculpture can one find so much life, in no single marble - so much spirituality, as nature and art put into this work by the hands of Donato. At one time, George had a helmet on his head, in his right hand he held a sword or a spear, with his left, leaning on a shield with the emblem of Florence, pressed a scabbard to his chest. These attributes were undoubtedly suggested to the master by the foremen of the gunsmiths' workshop, who wanted to see their patron endowed with everything that they themselves made. Probably, in its present form, when its plastic qualities appear with greater relief, the statue only won.

It may seem that Donatello portrayed George in a strict frontal pose, but this impression is deceptive. In fact, the figure is full of movement, but restrained. Donatello very subtly uses contraposto to enliven the figure. The right shoulder and right arm are slightly set back, the head is slightly turned in the opposite direction, the left shoulder is extended, the body is given a kind of rotational movement, the right leg, unlike the left, does not go beyond the plinth, but is moved somewhat deeper from it. Such an interpretation deprives the figure of any static character, which Vasari already noted. Donatello treats the front side of the statue in such a way (and it is designed to be viewed from a frontal point of view) that it is perceived as a kind of relief. Not a single part (including the obliquely set shield) protrudes from the plane, the arms are pressed to the body, the cloak tied in a knot tightly covers the body. This leads to an easy visibility of the statue, which can be easily captured at a glance, which is greatly facilitated by a clear, carefully thought-out composition of the figure. The statue of George very peculiarly combines the isolation of the marble block, the selected relief of the front aspect and the saturation of movement. This is what makes the statue such a unique work of art. Here Donatello created one of the happiest and most cheerful images of Renaissance art, close in general spirit to what Alberti later clearly formulated: “the serenity and calmness of a joyful soul, free and content with itself”

Although the statue of George stands in a previously made Gothic niche, it does not conflict with it, since the vertical lines are very pronounced in the statue ( straight position the whole figure, crosshairs of the shield, neck, nose). Despite this, the viewer still clearly feels that the statue is cramped in the niche space allotted to it, that its inherent excess of energy needs a wider field of action.

St. George. 1416 Donatello. Marble. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

St. George. Detail. 1416 Donatello. Marble. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

Among the early works of the master also belongs to the statue of the lion "Marzocco", the symbol of Florence (1418-1420)

Marzocco. 1419 Donatello. A rock. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

In the following decade, Donatello worked on the statues of the prophets (1415-1436) for the Campanile (bell tower) of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which were installed in its niches. The prophet Jeremiah (1427–1426, Cathedral Museum, Florence), the prophet Habakkuk (1427–1435, Cathedral Museum, Florence) amaze with the uniqueness of the image, the power of drama, monumental grandeur and expression.

Prophet Habakkuk. 1427-36 Donatello. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

Prophet Habakkuk. Fragment. 1427-36 Donatello. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

Prophet Jeremiah. 1427-36 Donatello. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

Don't forget the tomb Baldassare Cossa, Antipope John XXIII* (1425-1427) - an odious character accused of all mortal sins - Donatello works on this tombstone together with Michelozzo di Bartolomeo.

The headstone is divided into three tiers. The lower tier is decorated with garlands and images of virtues. The middle one is a sarcophagus with the figure of the deceased at the top. Upper - under the folded drapery, there is a breast image of Mary with the baby. The tombstone adjacent to the wall and located between two columns, decorated with elements of classical architecture (pilasters, cornices, consoles) is a luxurious architectural structure. This type of tombstone, which appeared in the 13th century, became widespread in the 15th century.

Tomb of John XXIII 1435 Donatello. , Baptistery, Florence.

Tomb of John XXIII. Detail. 1435 Donatello. , Baptistery, Florence.

In 1422, the head of the early Christian martyr Saint Rossore was transported from Pisa to Florence, it was planned to make a new precious reliquary in the form of a bust, which the monks of the order humiliates* ordered Donatello in bronze with gilding. Payment for it was made in 1427 and 1430. The casting was made in 1427 by Giovanni di Jacopo. The bust was designed to consist of several parts - in order to be subjected to fiery gilding after melting. In the middle of the XVI century, the reliquary was transferred to Pisa in the church of San Stefano. It is possible that Donatello borrowed some details from the previous reliquary, but in general he created a new image of the Saint, using the lessons of studying the Roman sculptural portrait.

Saint Rossore Donatello.

Saint Rossore Reliquary. Detail. 1425-27 Donatello. Bronze. National Museum of San Matteo, Pisa.

In 1430 Donatello created "David"- the first nude statue in Italian Renaissance sculpture. Depicting his youthful body, Donatello undoubtedly proceeded from antique samples, but reworked them in the spirit of his time. The biblical shepherd, the winner of the giant Goliath, is one of the favorite images of the Renaissance. Donatello's merit is not that he depicts naked male body but in the unusualness of this body itself. His bronze David does not look like a harsh biblical hero, but only a weak teenager. Neither before nor after Donatello did anyone portray David like this. Thoughtful and calm David in a shepherd's hat, shading his face, tramples Goliath's head with his foot and seems to be unaware of the feat he has accomplished. Unlike Gothic, the statue from the very beginning was designed for a circular view, it was intended to decorate the fountain in the courtyard of the Medici Palace.

David. 1430 Donatello.

David. Fragment. 1430 Donatello. Bronze. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

David. Fragment. 1430 Donatello. Bronze. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

In a terracotta and painted bust Niccolo da Uzano* (c. 1432) Donatello creates the first sculptural portrait of the Renaissance. Turning to Roman portrait sculptures, the author depicted his hero, a banker and a prominent political figure in Florence, in antique clothes as a Roman citizen.

Bust of Niccolo da Uzzano 1430s Donatello. Terracotta. National Museum of the Bargello, Florence.

A trip to Rome with Brunelleschi greatly expanded the artistic possibilities of Donatello, his work was enriched with new images and techniques, which affected the influence of antiquity. A new period has begun in the master's work. In 1433 he completed the marble pulpit of the Florentine cathedral. The entire field of the pulpit is occupied by a jubilant round dance of dancers putti* - something like antique cupids and at the same time medieval angels in the form of naked boys, sometimes winged, depicted in motion. This is a favorite motif in the sculpture of the Italian Renaissance, which then spread in the art of the 17th-18th centuries.


Department. 1439 Donatello. Marble. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

Department. Fragment. 1439 Donatello. Marble. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

For almost ten years, Donatello worked in Padua, the homeland of the deeply revered in the Catholic Church Saint Anthony of Padua*. For the city's cathedral, dedicated to St. Anthony, Donatello completed in 1446-1450 a huge sculptural altar with many statues and reliefs. The central place under the canopy was occupied by the statue of the Madonna and Child, on both sides of which there were six statues of saints. At the end of the XVI century. the altar was demolished. Only a part of it has survived to this day, and now it is difficult to imagine how it looked originally. The four extant altar reliefs depicting the miraculous deeds of St. Anthony allow us to appreciate the unusual techniques used by the master. This is a type of flat, as if flattened relief. Crowded scenes are presented in a single movement in a real life setting. Huge city buildings and arcades serve as a background for them. Due to the transfer of perspective, there is an impression of the depth of space, as in paintings.

Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Anthony. 1448 Donatello.

Mule miracle.* 1447-50 Donatello. Bronze. Church of St. Anthony, Padua.

Miracle with a newborn. 1447-50 Donatello. Bronze. Church of St. Anthony, Padua.

At the same time, Donatello made an equestrian statue of a condottiere in Padua Erasmo de Narni*, a native of Padua, who was in the service of the Republic of Venice. The Italians called him Gattamelata (Cunning Cat). This is one of the first Renaissance equestrian monuments. Calm dignity is poured into the whole appearance of Gattamelata, dressed in Roman armor, with his head bare in the Roman manner, which is a magnificent example of portrait art. An almost eight-meter statue on a high pedestal is equally expressive from all sides. The monument is placed parallel to the facade of the Cathedral of Sant'Antonio, which allows you to see it either against the blue sky, or in spectacular comparison with the powerful forms of domes.

Equestrian statue of Gattamelata 1447-50s Donatello.

Equestrian statue of Gattamelata Detail. 1447-50s Donatello. Bronze, Piazza del Santo, Padua.

In the last years spent in Florence, Donatello experienced a spiritual crisis, his images became more and more dramatic. He created a complex and expressive group "Judith and Holofernes"(1456-1457); statue "Mary Magdalene"(1454-1455) in the form of a decrepit old woman, an emaciated hermit in an animal skin; reliefs, tragic in mood, for the church of San Lorenzo, completed by his students.

Judith and Holofernes. 1455-60 Donatello.

Judith and Holofernes. Detail. 1455-60 Donatello. Bronze, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

Christ before Pilate and Caiaphas. 1460 Donatello.

Garden of Gethsemane. 1465 Donatello. Bronze. Church of San Lorenzo, Florence.

Descent from the cross. 1465 Donatello. Bronze. Church of San Lorenzo, Florence.

Mary Magdalene 1457 Donatello.

Mary Magdalene Detail. 1457 Donatello. Wood. Cathedral Museum, Florence.

Donatello was tireless - one might well say "workaholic" - he worked in many cities - in Florence, Pisa, Siena, Prato, Rome, Padua, Ferrara, Modena, Venice. His works delighted his contemporaries, despite a certain uncompromising nature of the master - he did not pursue external prettiness, which the public always and at all times loves, did not seek to polish his statues excessively, being afraid to deprive them of the freshness of the first plan, and continued to do as he saw fit. .

Donatello spent the last years of his life in Florence, working until old age; died in 1466 and was buried with great honors in the church of San Lorenzo, decorated with his work.

"Hero of the evening" I will choose the prophet Habakkuk - he stands out from the rest and appearance, and the expression of his face and even the folds of his clothes have their restless meaning and their own strict rhythm. An amazing figure that causes some awe - I want to involuntarily lower my eyes and at the same time take a closer look - in Avvakum there is no benevolence, there is no peace - on the contrary, there is a constant inner fire - even the dangerous, constant harsh implacability of a person who knows the future - knows what is hidden from others - from someone for a while, from someone forever. - das_gift

Unfortunately, the notes to this text did not fit in this post, and you never want to cut notes, they are starting points, dotted and closing lines - so it’s necessary to make them a separate post.

Lion commissioned by Ferdinando I de' Medici. 1594

Sculptor - Flaminio Vacca (Italian Flaminio Vacca, 1538-1605). Loggia of Lanzi, Florence

Today we will talk about Quattrocento sculpture, because, probably, it was in sculpture that art took the biggest step compared even with the Proto-Renaissance. This can be seen already at the very beginning of the 15th century, in its first half, on the example of the famous sculptors Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio. (There was already a post about him)

Reliefs on the lintel of the portal of the Cathedral of Piacenza. 12th century

And in order to understand the scale of this step, one must step back a little, because the Romanesque architecture of Italy, unlike, say, France and even Germany, was not so filled with sculpture. Well, here are the reliefs ... Basically, of course, Romanesque reliefs are not very deep compositions, and there is practically no round sculpture at all. Those. for Italy, the abundance of sculpture on the facades was not very characteristic. We see this at the cathedrals in Piacenza, Ferrara, the famous church of San Zeno in Verona ... And this is such an Italian specificity.

Portal of the Church of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona

Partly in Northern Italy, you can see beautiful gates similar to what we see in Germany, for example, in the same San Zeno, with sculptural images.

Magdeburg Gates. 12th century
Hagia Sophia, Novgorod

By the way, we can see similar gates, the so-called Magdeburg Gates, in the Church of St. Sophia in Novgorod. Of course, these gates were once brought to Novgorod from Western Europe, but it was such a common Romanesque culture that used figures of low reliefs and not very intricate compositions.

Relief of the bronze gates of the church of San Zeno Maggiore. 12th century

But gradually, of course, sculpture gained its plasticity, and in the XIII century. we already see developed compositions. We remembered Niccolo and Giovanni Pisano, who made interesting reliefs and were already almost approaching a round sculpture.

Descent from the cross. OK. 1259

Sculptor - Nicola Pisano (ital. Nicola Pisano, ca. 1220-1280). Portal of St. Martin's Cathedral, Lucca

One can recall Arnolfo di Cambio, who made both tombstones and the famous statue of St. Peter, which is today in Rome. But still, they were all tied to a plane, horizontal or vertical, stood in niches or were leaning against the wall.

Statue of St. Peter. OK. 1300

Sculptor - Arnolfo di Cambio (Italian: Arnolfo di Cambio, ca. 1240-1310). St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

But the Quattrocento, of course, moved the sculpture, pushed it forward, perhaps for the first time after antiquity, returned the circular detour to the sculpture. In fact, the beginning of early Renaissance sculpture is considered to be 1401. This is the famous competition for decorating the gates of the Florentine Baptistery of San Giovanni. As we know, Ghiberti won this competition. Although there were two winners, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, but it was Ghiberti who did it, we will return to this later.

Abraham's sacrifice. 1401

Sculptors - Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian: Filippo Brunelleschi, 1377-1446) (left) and Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian: Lorenzo Ghiberti, 1378-1455). Bargello Museum

And we will start the conversation not with Brunelleschi's rival, who was Ghiberti in this competition, but with his friend Donatello, because it is Donatello who can really be considered the founder of Quattrocento sculpture and Renaissance sculpture in general. It was he who made her so plastically perfect.

Donatello. 19th century

Sculptor - Girolamo Torrini (Girolamo Torrini, ca. 1800-1858). Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Here, for example, is the statue of Donatello on the facade of the Uffizi Gallery. Well, of course, it is later and cannot be considered a portrait, but nevertheless we start with it.

Fictional portrait of Donatello. 1767
Illustration for the "Biographies" by Giorgio Vasari

Donatello, or Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, was born into the family of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a wealthy wool comber. He studied at the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, where he mastered, in particular, the technique of bronze casting, in which, in fact, Ghiberti succeeded.

But Donatello's work was more influenced not by his immediate teacher, but by his friend, Filippo Brunelleschi. They became friends pretty early. Brunelleschi's development of linear perspective also influenced Donatello's vision of space. In general, their friendship - they traveled a lot together, went to excavations in Rome - turned Donatello to the ancient understanding of plasticity. Vasari writes that Donatello was a very generous person, very kind, treated his friends very well, never attached any importance to money. His students and friends took from him as much as they needed. In his workshop hung a bag where he put money, and anyone could throw his hand into it. We certainly know that Vasari was such a person prone to fiction, but still I think that this characterization is close to reality, because indeed, apparently, Donatello was an open, generous, creative person and not very down to earth .

Church of Orsanmichele. 1337-1350
Florence
He was born in 1386. In the 1410s, he works on the so-called communal orders, i.e. on the orders of the city, and makes, like many, in fact, a sculpture for a very interesting church - Orsanmichele. Let's dwell a little on this church, because many sculptors of this time and even later period were noted in it. This church itself is very interesting, because outwardly it does not look like a church in any way. This is a three-story rather large building, which served as both a granary and a church. Those. on the upper floors there were offices and storerooms, and on the lower floor there was a chapel, probably so that people could pray before their transactions.

Interior of the Church of Orsanmichele, Florence

The name Orsanmichele itself translates as "Saint Michael in the garden", because this place was once a monastery dedicated to St. Michael, the Archangel Michael. Either there was a garden, or it was simply called “in the garden”, because the idea of ​​the Virgin Mary in the garden, or angels in the garden is such one of the late Gothic ideas, sort of like a return to a heavenly state.

Tabernacle of the Orsanmichele church. 1352-1360
Sculptor - Andrea Orcagna (Italian Andrea Orcagna, 1308-1368). Florence

Interestingly, when Florence survived the plague, many contributors began to invest gratitude to God here - their donations. And gradually the church ousted the granary from there. Maybe for the first time, or maybe even the only time, because Florence is still a very peculiar city, based on capital, on trade, on everything so earthly. Perhaps for the first time, or perhaps even the only rare time, art and religion have ousted this market element from here and the entire lower floor has been given over to the church.

There was a plague in 1348, and the plague survivors donated 35,000 florins, which was more than the city's annual budget. And it was with this money that Orsanmichel made a large marble tabernacle with the image of Our Lady by Bernardo Daddi. This is the middle of the 14th century, when this grain market, the granary and trading shops, which were at first in the arcades of this building, were really squeezed out of here. The church expanded and occupied almost the entire first floor.

Sculptures in the niches of the facade of the Church of Orsanmichele, Florence

And outside, various craft associations, various trade associations began to order their patrons, whose statues were placed in beautiful niches.

St. George. 1415-1417

Just one such statue is made by Donatello, who is still quite young. He makes St. George. And already this Saint George declares the young sculptor as a very interesting, courageous innovator, a man who is not afraid to tear the sculpture from the wall. Although it fits in a niche, it stands freely there, and it seems that St. George can get out of it, and we will calmly go around him and see him from all sides. Those. she is so complete.

David. 1408-1409
Marble. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Bargello Museum, Florence

An even more interesting work, also one of the earliest, from 1408, is David. But this is not the “David” that Donatello glorified, but “David”, which shows that working with stone, working with marble is very important for Donatello, although, like many, including his teacher Ghiberti, he began as jeweler. But he moves away from what others focus on, from the development of some individual details, but rather he begins to generalize the form, freely letting such folds flow, giving freedom to the pose, etc. We see that it is in the face of Donatello that sculpture departs from what it was in Gothic, from such graphic elements, and moves on to very plastic interpretations. And, of course, David's head itself looks like a statue of some young Roman god - that is, clearly he appeals to the ancient heritage.

David. Fragment. 1408-1409
Marble. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Bargello Museum, Florence

Of course, Donatello's most famous work is his bronze David.

David. OK. 1440

Here is a slightly different story. First, different material. And one can also see the free relationship of the sculptor with the material and with the form. Because in the first, earlier "David", and in this we see that he takes a young being. But if, nevertheless, in the previous “David”, 1408, the whole figure is traditionally covered with a robe, only through it we see good proportions, free movement, setting the figure, like in antiquity, relying on one leg, then here Donatello undresses his hero , makes him, on the one hand, defenseless ... And he shows him already a winner, shows him trampling Goliath's head with one foot.

David. Fragment. OK. 1440
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Bargello Museum, Florence

Indeed, according to the Holy Scriptures, according to the Bible, as we read, David was young. He refused armor, because any armor was great for him[i]. And he comes out with one sling. True, Donatello gives him a sword, with which he apparently cut off the head of Goliath. But in one hand he still holds a stone, which, in fact, he launched through a sling at Goliath. And this young body, which has not yet taken shape to the end, still does not have any such muscles that will even be ... You immediately remember Michelangelo's "David", also young, but quite in such a sporty, as they say, form.

David, three angles. OK. 1440
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Bargello Museum, Florence

Here we see this truly revolutionary step forward, because such an almost youthful-girlish beauty of this hero somehow does not fit with this struggle. And you understand that he did it not by human effort, but by the grace of God that was in a person given to God. He went out against the giant Goliath, relying only on God's power. This is a beautiful, somewhat flirtatious hat - somehow it doesn’t even fit with the image of a warrior.

However, this is exactly the kind of David that Donatello makes. This is a sculpture that looks interesting from all sides. This is a sculpture that is completely made with a circular detour in mind. You can even compare two "Davids", an earlier one and a later one. The bronze David is already a mature work, 1440. David carved in stone is 1408, maybe 1409. Of course, they have something in common, but it is clear how plasticity, volume, freedom, movement, proportion, etc. are being conquered inside Donatello's work.

crucifixion. 1406-1408

The dispute between Donatello and his friend Brunelleschi is well known. They made crucifixes on a dare: Donatello for the church of Santa Croce, and Brunelleschi for the church of Santa Maria Novella. Both churches are in Florence. And we also see a difference in approaches here.

crucifixion. 1410-1415

Sculptor - Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian Filippo Brunelleschi, 1377-1446). Gondi Chapel, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Brunelleschi started as a sculptor, but then left the sculpture. He always strove for harmony, calculated his dome very scrupulously, thought it over so that there was space, so that all proportions were observed. Therefore, his crucified Christ, although it is beautifully executed anatomically and his suffering is beautifully shown, is still a harmonious approach, a work that you can admire. Donatello still shows a body that is already disfigured by death, there is no harmony in it anymore, it seems to sag , because for Donatello this truth of the image was more important. As the truth triumphs in young David, such a peculiar truth, he seems to emphasize this youth, which itself could not win, but won only by God's power, so here we see the sagging of this body, which is no longer possible to admire, but you can only sob and cry.

Madonna Pazzi. 1425-1430
Marble. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Berlin State Museums

Of course, he was not only a master of round sculpture, but also a master of relief, and his reliefs are beautiful. Here is the famous Pazzi Madonna, where he creates in relief not just an image, but an image that is psychologically very filled. In general, I must say, Donatello's merit was that he seemed to be moving away from distant images in sculpture, but moving towards such realism. Realism was understood at that time as the truth of the earth. In the Middle Ages, of course, the contemplation of the heavenly was called realism, i.e. heavenly reality. The same Thomas Aquinas calls God the most real, the only reality, everything else is real exactly insofar as the divine is present in it.

Madonna di Citerna sculpure de Donatell Madonna della Mela

And since that time, starting with the Quattrocento, maybe even a little earlier, when the gaze from heaven descends to the earth, that which reflects the truth of life is already called realism. And here such, perhaps, not very beautiful Mother of God, not an ideal image, but it is an image of a real mother who hugs her son with real feeling. It is somehow very customary for us to belittle this and say that now, the period begins when the Mother of God is painted as a simple Florentine, a resident of Siena or any other city. But in fact, for those masters, this was a conquest: they showed that these were not abstract feelings of the Holy Virgin Mary for her son, but these were real feelings. And if these are real feelings, then this is the reality of the incarnation, which means that the sufferings of the Mother and the Son will also be real, and so on. Those. for the masters of the Renaissance, this realism was filled with religious experience, the approach of God to man. The gap between heaven and earth is getting smaller.

Feast of Herod. 1423-1427
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Baptistery of Siena Cathedral

Some researchers write that Donatello “draws with a chisel”, that he brings a lot of picturesque into his reliefs. First, we see that it brings perspective. He has several plans in relief. For example, in the relief of the Siena Baptistery, the composition "Feast of Herod" is known. We see several plans in architecture. This is something that not everyone manages to do in painting, and Donatello is already doing it in sculpture. Perhaps at that time he was the most consistent student of Brunelleschi in this sense, who developed perspective, of course, applied it in architecture, applied it in drawings, etc. But most of all, of course, we see it in Donatello.

Death of Christ. 1446-1453
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Basilica of Saint Anthony, Padua

Or, for example, this relief in the Pisa Cathedral of St. Anthony, which depicts the dead Christ. Here, too, there is the anatomy of the human body, the materiality of the folds. Here, perhaps, there is no perspective, because there is a very clear backdrop, but, in any case, there is this desire for authenticity. Realism is understood as authenticity. You look at it and understand that the suffering of Christ is real. His human body is real, his human suffering is real, and his human death is real.

Annunciation. Altar of Cavalcanti. OK. 1435
Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Church of Santa Croce, Florence

Sometimes it seems that he goes into deliberate brutality, rudeness, but sometimes he does very elegant things, such as, for example, this famous "Annunciation". This is the Cavalcanti altar in the church of Santa Croce - Holy Cross. Even gold and marble are used here, and this scene is very elegantly done when the archangel Gabriel brings the news of the birth of the Savior to the virgin Mary. This composition is very interesting precisely in the sense that here the sculpture approaches painting. Even this golden cutting gives picturesqueness to plasticity.

Annunciation. Fragment. Archangel Gabriel. OK. 1435
Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Church of Santa Croce, Florence

And, of course, we again see amazing faces. They are completely human, just with human psychology. Such a somewhat surprised-sublime archangel, such a somewhat contemplative and slightly frightened Mary.

Vasari writes thus, calling him Donato:

This is a very important remark, because, as I said, together with Brunelleschi, Donatello went to excavations in Rome. Indeed, much has not yet been excavated, and the little that he saw, he somehow immediately turned into his work. Apparently, he was so fascinated by antiquity that he also infected one of his customers, the most influential, Cosimo de Medici, so that he acquired antique things. And he, Donatello, restored them. This is very important point, because during the period of the Quattrocento there really is an accumulation of knowledge about antiquity. We can say that the return to antiquity happened a little earlier, that it was rather intuitive. And since that time, archeology has been developing, developing, as we would say, and scientific knowledge, i.e. research and restoration, accumulation of documentary knowledge, etc. And all this immediately translates into artistic practice. In Donatello, at least, this is very well seen.

Rome in the 15th century The Nuremberg Chronicle (lat. Liber Chronicarum, German. Die Schedelsche Weltchronik). Incunabula. 1493

One of the brilliant and, perhaps, the first works in this genre is the equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata, which was made by Donatello for Venice. Probably, after the famous antique equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which Donatello clearly focused on (he saw it, of course, in Rome), this is the next such significant equestrian figure. Again, it is designed for a roundabout, very monumental, very expressive. Other sculptors will then be guided by it. But first, perhaps, two words about who, in fact, Donatello glorified with this monument.

Erasmo de Narni was the ruler of Padua. Gattamelata is a nickname. It sounds rather strange in Italian, because "gatta" is Italian for "cat", and "melata" is "honeycomb". Therefore, this nickname is very differently explained. All together - either "spotted cat" or "honey cat", which could refer to his character. Maybe the person was flattering. Or "honey-colored cat." Maybe he wore some kind of armor spotted. Some erect this nickname to the name of his mother - Gattelli. And some attribute this to tactics, the ability to lure the enemy like a cat. In general, it is very incomprehensible. For us, in Russian, it sounds normal, but for Italians it sounds a little strange.

Equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata. Fragment. 1447-1453
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Cathedral Square, Padua

Donatello cast this statue in 1447, but it was installed much later, already in 1453. As I said, the monument to Marcus Aurelius, which now stands on the Capitol, served as a model.

Equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata. 1447-1453
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Cathedral Square, Padua

But here everything is somehow more brutal: a more powerful horse is already a little tight, even, I would say, the rider sits on it not very gracefully. His legs are slightly shortened so that they do not hang down, he specially shortened these legs. And in order to somehow connect the two figures, Donatello does a very interesting thing: on the one hand, he gives the rod in the right hand of the condottiere, and on the left he has a sword hanging diagonally. And this diagonal, as it were, brings the figure of a horse out of static. In any case, this is a truly monumental and very significant work, showing that Donatello was able to think monumentally.

John the Baptist. 1455-1457
Bronze. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Siena Cathedral

For some time he lives in Siena, then returns again to Florence. It was rumored that at the end of his life he worked little, maybe he was sick a lot. By the way, he lived a long life when he died, he was about 80 years old, which, of course, was quite a significant lifespan for that time. But it is hardly possible to say about him that at the end of his life his creative energy ran out. Although sometimes some researchers write about this, calling his later works a little retrograde, returning to some kind of pre-Renaissance plastic, a little, maybe, more Gothic.

Penitent Mary Magdalene. 1455-1456
Wood. Sculptor - Donatello (Italian Donatello, 1386-1466). Cathedral Museum, Florence

It doesn't seem to me. It seems to me that they may be less monumental, if we look, for example, at the last two works - the sculptures of John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene. They are marked with the 1450s, most likely it is the 1455th, i.e. this is not even the last, but the previous decade before death. Maybe, indeed, by the end of his life he did not work so much. But these works, completed towards the end of his life, show that he still remains a sculptor who very clearly feels the plasticity of the human body.

Fonte battesimale di siena, c, donatello, fede, 1427

Here he certainly makes some pretty detailed clothes. And he feels the sculpture not just as an image of some abstraction, but he kind of gets used to each of his characters, he sees a person. He sees a man in John the Baptist, he sees Mary Magdalene, who has already lost all her beauty. But it is clear that inside he empathizes with her. He is a sculptor who passes everything through himself. What we will not see, say, with other sculptors. Therefore, we can say that he is indeed in many ways the founder. Although Ghiberti, perhaps, starts earlier, he even studied with him, but it was Donatello who made a lot of key, turning points.

Portrait of Donatello. 1490-1550
Fragment of the painting "The Five Founders of Florentine Art". Unknown artist. Louvre, Paris

On the famous panel by Paolo Uccello, which depicts five Renaissance artists, he is already captured at such an advanced age, apparently as the next generation of masters remembered him.

Donatello, santi stefano e lorenzo, 1434-43

The works of Donatello in the sacristy of the church of St. Lawrence in Florence are bas-relief medallions depicting the evangelists inspired or immersed in thought, as well as scenes from the life of John the Baptist, full of drama. There you can also admire the doors he cast with the figures of the apostles and saints. Donatello conveyed passions sharply, with some rigidity, sometimes even in repulsive forms, as, for example, in the bas-relief “The Entombment” made of painted plaster, located in the church of St. Anthony in Padua. The same applies to the last work of the sculptor, completed after the death of the author by his student Bertoldo - the bas-reliefs of two pulpits of the Church of St. Lawrence depicting the Passion of the Lord.

Tomb of Antipope John XXIII

Donatello also created, together with his student Michelozzo Michelozzi, several tombstones in churches; Of special note is the monument to the dethroned Pope John XXIII, which served as a model for numerous tombstones created in the 15th-16th centuries in many churches in Italy.

Donatello spent the last years of his life in Florence, working until old age. He died in 1466 and was buried with great honors in the church of San Lorenzo, decorated with his work.

Vasari writes: “His death caused endless grief to his fellow citizens, artists and everyone who knew him during his lifetime. Therefore, in order to honor him after death more than they honored him during his lifetime, they arranged for him the most honorable funeral in the aforementioned church, and all the painters, architects, sculptors, goldsmiths and almost all the people of this city saw him off, in which they did not stop composing for a long time. in honor of his various kinds of poems in various languages ​​... "I think that Vasari did not exaggerate here, because indeed Donatello lived such a long life, outlived his teacher Ghiberti, outlived his friend Brunelleschi, and at such an honorable age, of course, very many of him praised.

Donatello Borromeo Madonna Kimbell. madonna col bambino, firenze, ca 1400-1430

Niccolo da Uzzano by Donatello - cast

Portrait busts - a branch of plastic art, loved by the Greeks and Romans and completely abandoned in the Middle Ages - was resurrected by Donatello. Some of the children's busts of Donatello reproduce reality to a high degree and are extremely pretty. Donatello with extraordinary fidelity foresaw the impression that his work would produce at a certain distance, and knew how to determine the degree of their completeness. Some of his busts are remarkable in their individuality and most characteristic [of what?]. Donatello conveyed the spiritual life of the person he represented with extraordinary skill.

Baptismal font of the Siena Baptistry, Donatello

And there was something to praise! Indeed, he was the first, for example, to study the mechanism of motion. That's why he has such free figures: because he studied the mechanism of movement of the human body. He tried in his sculptures not just to repeat the principle of ancient sculpture - relying on one leg - but to repeat this movement. He always has a more complex movement. He was the first to depict mass action in his reliefs. He began to interpret clothes in connection with the plasticity of the body.

Saint Jerome by Donatello

He set the task of expressing an individual portrait in sculpture. I would like to call his saints portraits. Not just a canonical image with such a general facial expression, but something so psychological and realistic that it gives personality to this or that character.

He perfected bronze casting, marble modeling. He very carefully, surprisingly finished work with marble. A round sculpture - he was the first to freely make this roundabout like this. And, of course, these three-plane reliefs - i.e. he introduced perspective into reliefs. All this was done by Donatello.

sources

Donatello: Album / Compiled by M. Libman; Design by artist E. Gannushkin. — M.: Izogiz, 1960. — 52 p. — (Masters of world art).
art history foreign countries. Middle Ages, Renaissance. M., Fine Arts, 1982
History of foreign art. M., Fine Arts, 1984
Libman M. Ya. Donatello. — M.: Art, 1962. — 252 p.
Florence. The city and its masterpieces. Florence, CASA EDITRICE BONECHI, ​​1994
History of world art. BMM AO, M., 1998

Donatello is an Italian sculptor who is a representative of the early Renaissance, the Florentine school. We will talk about his life and work in this article. The biography of this author is unknown in detail, so it is only possible to present it briefly.

Brief biographical information about the sculptor Donatello

The future sculptor Donatello was born in Florence in 1386, in the family of Nicollo di Betto Bardi, a rich wool comber. He trained from 1403-1407 in the workshop of a man named Lorenzo Ghiberti. Here he mastered, in particular, the technique. The work of this sculptor was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with another great man - Filippo Brunelleschi. Ghiberti and Brunneleschi remained the closest friends of the master for life.

He said that the sculptor Donatello was a very generous person, very kind, treated his friends very well, never attached importance to money. His students and friends took from him as much as they needed.

Early period of creativity

The activity of this sculptor in the early period, in the 1410s, was associated with communal orders, which he was given to decorate various public buildings in Florence. For the building of Or San Michele (its facade), Donatello performs the statues of St. George (from 1415 to 1417) and St. Mark (from 1411 to 1413). In 1415 he completes the statue of St. John the Evangelist, which decorated the Florentine Cathedral.

In the same year, the Construction Commission commissioned Donatello to make the statues of the prophets to decorate the campanile. The master worked on their creation for almost two decades (from 1416 to 1435). Five figures are in the museum of the cathedral. "David" and the statues of the prophets (approximately 1430-1432) are still largely associated with the late Gothic tradition that existed at that time. Figures are subordinated to an abstract decorative rhythm, faces are treated in an ideally uniform way, bodies are covered with heavy robes. But already in these works he tries to convey the new ideal of his era - the heroic individual personality - Donatello. The sculptor created works of various themes in which this ideal is manifested. This is especially noticeable in the image of St. Mark (1412), St. George (1415), as well as Habakkuk and Jeremiah (years of creation - 1423-1426). Gradually, the forms acquire clarity, the volumes become solid, the portraiture is replaced by the typical, and the folds of the robes envelop the body naturally, echoing its movement and curves.

Tomb of John XXIII

The sculptor Donatello, together with Michelozzo, creates a tomb in the period from 1425 to 1427. It became the classic model used for later Renaissance tombs. The long cooperation of these two sculptors begins with this work.

Casting bronze figures

Donatello in the early 1420s turned to casting bronze figures. In this material, his first work is a statue of Louis of Toulouse, which he was commissioned in 1422 to decorate a niche in Or San Michele. This is one of the most remarkable monuments, which reflected the understanding of holiness as a personal feat, which dominated the Renaissance.

statue of david

The pinnacle of creativity of this master in the technique of bronze is created around 1430-1432. It is designed, in contrast to medieval sculpture, for a circular detour. Another innovation was the theme of nudity, which Donatello turned to. The sculptor depicted David naked, and not in robes, as was customary before, for the first time since the Middle Ages so realistically and on such a large scale.

Other works by Donatello dating back to the 1410s - early 1420s - a figure of a lion carved in sandstone - the emblem of Florence, a wooden crucifix for the church of Santa Croce, a bronze reliquary for the church of Ognisanti, a bronze statuette located in the National Museum of Florence under the name "Attis Amorino", which is, apparently, the image of the ancient deity of fertility, Priapus.

Relief work

Donatello's experiments in relief technique were also revolutionary. The desire for a realistic depiction of an illusory space leads the sculptor to create a flattened relief, where the impression of depth is made using the gradation of volumes. The use of direct perspective techniques enhances the spatial illusion. "Drawing" with a chisel, the sculptor is likened to an artist painting a picture. We note here such works as "The Battle of George with the Dragon", "Madonna Pazzi", "The Feast of Herod", "Ascension of Mary" and others. The architectural background in the picturesque reliefs of this master is depicted using the rules of direct perspective. He managed to make several spatial zones in which the characters are located.

Trip to Rome, second Florentine period

The sculptor Donatello is in Rome from August 1432 to May 1433. Here, together with Brunelleschi, he measures the monuments of the city, studies ancient sculpture. locals, according to legend, they considered two friends to be treasure hunters. Roman impressions were reflected in such works as the tabernacle, made for the Chapel del Sacramento by order of Eugene IV (pope), the "Annunciation" (otherwise - the Cavalcanti Altarpiece, see photo below), the singing platform of one of the Florentine cathedrals, as well as the external pulpit, made for the cathedral in Prato (time of creation - 1434-1438).

Donatello achieves true classicism in the relief "Feast of Herod", created on his return from a trip to Rome.

Around 1440, the sculptor creates bronze doors, as well as eight medallions for the Florentine Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo (period from 1435 to 1443). In the four reliefs molded from knocking, an amazing freedom was achieved in depicting interiors, buildings and figures of people.

Padua period

Donatello travels to Padua in 1443. Here begins the next stage of his work. He performs an equestrian statue of Erasmo de Narni (statue of Gattamelata). Donatello cast it in 1447, and this work was installed a little later - in 1453. The monument to Marcus Aurelius served as an image. With the help of the diagonal, which is formed by the sword and rod of Gattamelata (Erasmo's nickname), as well as the position of the hands, the sculptor Donatello combined the figures of the horse and rider into a single silhouette. The sculptures he created during this period are truly magnificent. In addition to the above, he performs the altar of St. Anthony of Padua, as well as four reliefs depicting scenes from his life, which are considered the pinnacle of this master's work in picturesque relief.

Even when Donatello depicts real movement, as in the two statues of St. in Florence (at the casa Martelli and at the Bargello), he confines himself to the most modest. In both cases, St. John is represented as walking, and everyone, down to the last toe, participates in this movement. A new secret has been wrested from nature.

A distinctive feature of the skill of Donatello is that this sculptor depicted with the same skill and energy, strength, good looks and grace. For example, the bas-relief of a marble balcony in the Prato Cathedral, carved in 1434, depicts half-naked geniuses and children who play musical instruments and dance with wreaths of flowers. Their movements are extremely lively, playful and varied. The same can be said about other marble bas-reliefs made for the Florence Cathedral.

Donatello in the last years of his stay in Padua did not work much. Apparently, he is seriously ill. The sculptor returns to Florence in 1453 and continues to live here until his death (in 1466), with the exception of a short trip to Siena in 1457.

Late Florentine period

Many questions are raised by the late work of Donatello. This sculptor in the late period of creativity created not so many interesting works. At times there is talk of a decline in his skill, as well as a return to some gothic techniques. Sculpture by Donatello in the period from the 1450s to the early 1460s is represented by a statue of Mary Magdalene (1455, see photo below), made of wood, a group of "Judith and Holofernes", a statue of John the Baptist, reliefs on the themes of the Resurrection and the Passion of Christ two pulpits in the church of San Lorenzo. These works are dominated by the tragic theme that Donatello develops. The sculptor in execution adhered to naturalism, which bordered on a spiritual breakdown. A number of compositions were completed after the death of the master by his students - Bertoldo and Bellago.

The sculptor died in 1466. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, which is decorated with his work, with great honors. Thus ends the career of Donatello. The sculptor, whose biography and works were presented in this article, played a prominent role in world architecture. Let's see what it was.

The meaning of this master's work

Donatello was a key figure in the history of Renaissance plastics. It was he who first began to systematically study the mechanism of movement of the human body, depicted a complex mass action, began to interpret clothing in connection with the plasticity of the body and movement, set the task of expressing an individual portrait in sculpture, and focused on the transfer of the mental life of characters. He perfected bronze casting and marble modeling. The three-plane relief developed by him indicated the paths for the further development of sculpture, as well as painting.