DONATELLO

            A form of Donatello’s art that was indicative of his craftsmanship is that of relief. Under the influence of Ghiberti, Donatello developed a unique sense of narrative, form, and dimension over his lifetime. Michael Podro states:

We might regard Donatello reliefs as exemplary of depiction in its wide sense in that the cohesion of a work is never a single consonance between the material and the subject, leaving us without adjustments to make; there is never a single perceptual set or consummating consistency but always a crucial disequilibrium and the constant sense that the work may appear to us differently. (59)

In Storytelling in Christian Art from Giotto to Donatello, Jules Lubbock speaks of Donatello’s relief panels: “Donatello in some respects continues the tradition of Giovanni Pisano and Ghiberti in the three-dimensionality of his relief, drawing the spectator into the action from a variety of viewpoints. In the passionate behavior of his figures he resembles Giovanni, while he follows Ghiberti in the way that he draws the spectator into their inner feelings” (225). Donatello attempts to connect his audience to his particular work, as in his The Feast of Herod, where Herod reacts with a shock to the deliverance of St John’s head on a platter. In the same work, Donatello guides the eye of the viewer through a series of backgrounds, pioneering the depiction of depth in relief. Donatello integrated new styles into his relief, but he was not the first to use relief as a form. Lubbock mentions, “relief in bronze and marble had been intensively cultivated in Florence for a century before Donatello emerged as a relief sculptor” (30). Emerging from the reviving Florentine culture, Donatello created a style of narration and expression in his reliefs unseen to that point, and his influence lives on today with his works.

            Aside from the famous sculptures and relief pictures produced by Donatello, he also was commissioned for other special assignments. His Tomb Monument of Pope John XXIII presents an attention to detail and divine narrative. Donatello’s friend, Michelozzo, assisted him on the project, along with other monuments in the late 1420s. His Christian heritage (though likely never a professing believer) gave him opportunities to express the faith narrative in association with eminent contemporaries. Once again, with the Tomb Monument of Raynaldo Brancacci, Donatello presents an attention to form and sacred elements. Donatello’s extensive talents in forming narrative and expression out of a variety of mediums achieved a renowned status in the Italian Renaissance.

            Donatello’s main form of art was sculpture. Although his extensive work in bas-relief lends itself to his narrative capability, his work in sculpture represents a classicism of Roman antiquity, out of which was born the Italian Renaissance. Returning to an emphasis on form and expression, Donatello produced sculptures under several patrons. The most esteemed and beloved by Donatello, Cosimo de’ Medici, commissioned his bronze David. Guilds also composed a large portion of Donatello’s patrons. Notable patrons include: the guild church of Or San Michele, the Confraternity of the Cuirass-makers, and heirs of the condottiero Erasmo da Narni. Donatello’s sculptures present characters in a realistic way, preserving details such as furrowed brows, stern glares, and confident personas. The first of his known statues, David (1408–9), was commissioned “for one of the buttresses of the Duomo” (Poeschke 375). A great number of sculptures followed the next decade, joined by scores of others throughout his lifetime. Donatello’s sculptures’ themes and purposes varied to the great extent that his patrons requested them, and he often encountered issue with patron and project. Nonetheless, his uncanny ability to complete a commissioned work in due time with such expression and detail allowed him to build one of the most impressive collections of art in the Renaissance.