Donatello biography video

Carved from wood, it depicts Mary Magdalene in a state of repentance, with raw emotion etched into every line of her face. His innovative use of materials—such as bronze, marble, and wood—along with his focus on realism and psychological depth, set the stage for future artists. His works also influenced the way art was perceived.

No longer just religious icons or decorative elements, sculptures became vehicles for storytelling and emotional expression. His sculptures are still admired in museums and churches across Italy, with the David statue displayed at the Bargello Museum in Florence. His techniques remain a cornerstone of art education, and his influence can be seen in everything from Renaissance paintings to modern sculpture.

He dared to push boundaries and redefine what art could be, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire and awe. Through his mastery, Donatello transformed marble, bronze, and wood into something much more than materials—he turned them into stories, emotions, and history. So, Donatello—pretty fascinating, right? Think about it—before Donatello came along, sculptures were stiff, formal, and kind of impersonal.

But then here comes this guy who carves marble and casts bronze in a way that makes you feel like the figures might step off the pedestal at any moment. Look at his David , for instance. He captured emotions that are just as relevant today as they were back in the Renaissance. When was the last time you stood in front of a challenge, feeling unprepared but pushed forward anyway?

Sculpting a nude David in bronze? That was bold. Creating an equestrian statue after centuries of no one even attempting it? That took guts. The Metropolitan Museum has only works that benefited from his style, the best being a fountain figure of a winged infant from the mid-fifteenth century In it can be seen the sinuous forms of the figura serpentinata that originated with Donatello.

The model has even been attributed to Donatello himself. Draper, James David. David with the head of Goliath Bartolomeo Bellano. John the Evangelist for the cathedral in Florence. Both works show a decisive move away from the Gothic style and toward a more classical technique. By this time, Donatello was gaining a reputation for creating imposing, larger-than-life figures using innovative techniques and extraordinary skills.

His style incorporated the new science of perspective, which allowed the sculptor to create figures that occupied measurable space. Before this time, European sculptors used a flat background upon which figures were placed. Around , Donatello entered into a partnership with Italian sculptor and architect Michelozzo, who also studied with Lorenzo Ghiberti.

These innovations in burial chambers would influence many later Florentine tombs. In , the eminent art patron commissioned Donatello to do another statue of David, this time in bronze. The sculpture is fully independent of any architectural surroundings that might support it.

Donatello biography video

Standing a little over five feet tall, David represents an allegory of civic virtue triumphing over brutality and irrationality. In , Donatello was called to the city of Padua by the family of the famous mercenary Erasmo da Narni, who had died earlier that year. In , Donatello completed a bronze statue called Gattamelata , showing Erasmo riding a horse in full battle dress, minus a helmet.

This was the first equestrian statue cast in bronze since the Romans. The sculpture created some controversy, as most equestrian statues were reserved for rulers or kings, not mere warriors. This time marked the beginning of the Humanist movement in Florence, which favored the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome over the stiff and formal style of the Medieval and Gothic periods.

Donatello and Brunelleschi were the first to systematically study ancient ruins for inspiration. Donatello funded this time of artistic exploration by working as a goldsmith. In his influential account of Renaissance Florence, Lives of the Artists , Giorgio Vasari specifically highlights the friendship between Brunelleschi and Donatello.

Although some historians now doubt the attribution of dates, Vasari tells the story of Donatello carving a wooden crucifix for the Santa Croce church now dated to c. The lifelike and moving work depicted Christ as a real rather than idealized figure, with an emotionality and expression in direct opposition to the customary flat iconography of the time.

This was revolutionary and would become a key characteristic of Early Renaissance artists. This led Brunelleschi to say that Donatello had carved a peasant. In an attempt to do better, he carved his own wooden crucifix now dated to c. How are we to dine when you have dropped all the things? If you want anything, take it. To you it is given to do Christs, and to me peasants.

The first clear historical reference to Donatello is found in , when he received a payment for a work of sculpture. Between and , Donatello also assisted Ghiberti with statues for the north door of the Florence Baptistery. He was then commissioned to execute the large-scale figure of Saint John the Evangelist , which he worked on between and , a work which significantly marked the transition in art from the late Gothic to the Early Renaissance.

After the success of this work, Donatello began to receive more significant commissions, including two important sculptures for the guild church of Orsanmichele, which had been a noted part of his childhood. He became known as the first sculptor during this period to utilize the new concepts and techniques derived from the Early Renaissance period's incorporation of mathematics, science, and architecture into art including one point perspective, anatomical accuracy, and even created a signature form of bas-relief for his carvings to emphasize depth and three-dimensionality.

He also collaborated with other artists, including Michelozzo with whom he worked on a funerary monument, once again in Florence's Baptistery. Around , Donatello found himself under the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici, the head of the most powerful family in Florence which was known to be a great patron of the arts. Cosimo commissioned the artist to produce a bronze sculpture of David a symbolic figure for the city of Florence , which resulted in the first free-standing nude statue made since antiquity.

Some critics have speculated, because of the perceived homoerotic elements in Donatello's David , that Donatello himself may have been gay. Very little is known about Donatello's personal life, but he never married or had children. Anecdotes attributed to Angelo Poliziano in , sometime after Donatello's death, infer that Donatello had eroticized relationships with his apprentices, claiming that he employed only beautiful young men and "stained" them so that no one else would want them.

In , Cosimo de'Medici was imprisoned and then exiled from Florence by a faction of rival families. In the absence of his patron, Donatello travelled to Rome and reinforced the classical influence on his work. He returned to his home city the following year, along with Cosimo, and began work on projects for Florence's Duomo and the cathedral in nearby Prato.

This marked a period of significant maturity and success for the artist. As Vasari recalled, "He was most liberal and courteous, and kinder to his friends than himself; nor did he care for money, keeping it in a basket hanging from the ceiling, where his workmen and friends could help themselves without saying anything to him. Although he had worked in Florence for most of his life, in Donatello was summoned to Padua in order to sculpt a funerary monument for the condottiero Erasmo da Narni, who was known as Gattamelata honey-cat.

His equestrian statue was the first of its kind since antiquity. Although the work was well received in Padua, Donatello insisted on returning to Florence. He spent the rest of his years there, setting up a workshop with apprentices, where he continued to receive financial support from Cosimo de' Medici. According to Vasari, when Cosimo died, he asked his son Piero to continue to care for Donatello, and Piero accordingly gave Donatello a farm in Cafaggiuolo.

However, although the artist was initially pleased, he found the rural life too domestic for him, so he returned the land and received a monetary allowance instead, and "passed all the rest of his life as friend and servant of the Medici without trouble or care. Donatello and his innovations in perspective and sculpture during the Early Renaissance contributed greatly to the overall foundation of what would become the flourishing Italian Renaissance.

This included the earliest recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, which moved firmly away from the late Gothic style that had predominated before. His revolutionary work, particularly in his representation of the human body, would go on to inspire the early Italian Renaissance painters, including Masaccio, whose paintings in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence in particular mark a turning point for pictorial art in Europe.

Donatello also made a significant mark in Padua, where he worked briefly, particularly on Andrea Mantegna , who was an important figure in the development of the Venetian Renaissance. He influenced and taught a number of sculptors, including Nanni di Banco. Donatello's place in history was affirmed by Vasari in particular, who claimed, "He may be said to have been the first to illustrate the art of sculpture among the moderns.

Content compiled and written by Anna Souter.