Donatello
In January 1401, a fifteen-year-old boy named Donato stood accused in the town of Pistoia. He had struck a German man with a wooden stick and drawn blood during a dispute. This young apprentice lived twenty-five miles from Florence at that time. His father Niccolò held an official job there as a wool-stretcher for the Arte della Lana guild. The incident marked his first appearance in any surviving documentary record. It suggests a volatile temperament beneath the quiet demeanor later described by biographers. Donato was likely visiting with his father when the fight occurred. He would soon return to Florence to begin training under Lorenzo Ghiberti. That apprenticeship started around 1404 and lasted until 1407. During those years he worked on the famous bronze doors for the Florence Baptistery. Yet the memory of that street brawl remained a strange footnote in his early life.
By early 1408, Donatello received a commission for a life-size prophet statue for the cathedral. He paired this work with another sculptor named Nanni di Banco. Their statues were intended for the upper levels of Giotto's Campanile tower. These positions placed the figures three meters above ground level. Viewers had to look up at them from a sharp angle. Fine details became virtually useless for visual effect from such heights. Donatello created six of the eight required figures between 1414 and 1423. The last piece finished in 1435 was known as Zuccone or Baldy. This striking marble head reportedly became his favorite work among the series. Other statues included the Beardless Prophet and the Bearded Prophet completed between 1414 and 1420. A figure called il Populano remained unfinished until 1435. The visibility challenges persisted throughout the century. Michelangelo later attempted to place his David high on the same tower but found it too heavy to raise. Donatello proposed a lightweight solution using a brick core covered in clay painted white. This White Colossus stood there until the 18th century.
Donatello developed a new relief technique he called stiacciato meaning flattened-out. All parts of these reliefs sat very low against the background surface. This contrasted sharply with other sculptors who mixed deep and shallow carving in single compositions. His first milestone appeared on the base of Saint George for Orsanmichele around 1416. Figures projected slightly forward yet stayed within a unified skin-plane. An arcaded hall on the right side represented a partial scheme of perspective. Another major development arrived in bronze with The Feast of Herod created between 1423 and 1427. This piece sat low enough that its bottom aligned with a viewer's knee. Three receding planes defined by architecture held figures in different depths. Herod recoiled in horror while Salome danced nearby. Musicians played behind them as John's head was presented to two other figures. Two vanishing points created subliminal impressions of tension and disharmony reflecting the grisly subject matter. Other examples included The Assumption of the Virgin completed in Naples from 1426 to 1428. The Madonna of the Clouds dated circa 1425 to 1430 served as a domestic piece.
Around 1425 Donatello entered a formal partnership with Michelozzo. Michelozzo trained at the mint making dies for coins before becoming a sculptor. He was ten years younger than Donatello but excelled at organizing workshops. Donatello had too much work and struggled to manage large teams effectively. Both men maintained excellent relations with the Medici family who supported their projects. Their collaboration lasted nine years until a dispute mostly caused by Donatello ended it. From 1425 to 1428 they collaborated on the Tomb of Antipope John XXIII inside the Florence Baptistery. Giovanni de' Medici acted as executor alongside other Medici supporters. Donatello crafted the recumbent bronze figure while Michelozzo handled stone figures with assistants. This tomb became the model for Quattrocento wall-tombs whenever elaborate expression was required. After his death in 1427 the partnership took on Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci's monument in Naples. Pieces were shipped south from Pisa where a donkey helped transport materials. A boat purchased by Donatello carried marble from Carrara to the coast. The main surviving product included an Assumption relief discussed elsewhere. Finishing occurred in 1429 for the font at the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Siena.
Donatello's bronze David stands nearly life-size and conceived fully in the round. It is independent of any architectural surroundings making it the first known free-standing nude statue since antiquity. The commission remains undocumented but appeared on a column in the Palazzo Medici courtyard during a wedding in 1469. It likely predated construction of that building which started in 1444. Cosimo de' Medici probably commissioned it between 1434 and 1440 after returning from exile. Previous Florentine images showed David clothed unlike Hercules who typically appeared naked. This version wore only a hat and boots serving to accentuate nudity rather than hide it. One foot rested casually on the severed head of Goliath creating a contrapposto pose. Feathers from Goliath's helmet crest brushed against the inside of David's thigh adding sensuous detail. The figure shows a real boy whose chest was narrower than Greek ideals. His waist became the center of plastic interest radiating all other planes of the body. Many previous Florentine images had shown him clothed while this work transformed the King of Israel into a young Greek god. The statue carries sensuous power original to its time.
In 1443 Donatello traveled to Padua at the invitation of heirs to condottiere Erasmo da Narni. Also known as Gattamelata or Honey-Cat he died that year. Designing his equestrian monument began immediately with casting mostly done in 1447 or 1448. Bronze work finished in 1450 though installation waited until 1453. Padua remained under Venetian control yet friendly toward Medici artists. Cosimo likely gave blessing for Donatello's stay there. The commission proved mysterious since Gattamelata specified a modest tomb inside church walls. Yet the Venetian government ordered a grand public monument for a general serving less than a decade. Cost shared between state and family executors but proportions unclear. A competing project existed nearby in Ferrara for Niccolò III d'Este Marquis of Ferrara. That smaller statue stood in civilian dress rather than armor before destruction by French forces in 1796. The Gattamelata sat on ground once used as a cemetery outside Basilica of St Anthony. It became prototype for other equestrian monuments executed across Italy and Europe following centuries. Andrea del Caldiere led actual casting team alongside Donatello.
After returning from Siena Donatello stayed in Florence until his death on the 13th of December 1466. He worked unable to produce much before dying according to Vasari records without timing details. With assistant help he embarked on major projects forming two pulpits for San Lorenzo burial place of Medicis. Panels assembled only in next century with varying sizes. Designs thought done by Donatello himself though modeling parts remain disputed. Some cast from unfinished modelli showing considerable stylistic disparity between panels. Treatment of spaces where scenes set especially varied and experimental. This marked absolutely uncompromising use of every possible means to express emotion and suffering. Work involving glass showed inventiveness hardly seen before in European sculpture. He designed stained glass for Florence Cathedral around 1434 usually given to painters not sculptors. Glass appeared in tesserae form backgrounds including Prato pulpit reliefs. His Chellini Madonna dated circa 1450 served as round bronze relief twenty-eight point five centimeters across. Reverse held intaglio image matching convex front intended as mold for molten glass. Donatello gave it to doctor friend Giovanni Chellini in 1456 though possibly not new then. Last years saw him age while contributing designs rather than carving stone himself.
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Common questions
When was Donatello born and where did he live as a child?
Donato, later known as Donatello, lived twenty-five miles from Florence in the town of Pistoia during his childhood. He stood accused of striking a German man with a wooden stick in January 1401 while visiting with his father Niccolò.
What years did Donatello work on the statues for Giotto's Campanile tower?
Donatello created six of the eight required figures between 1414 and 1423. The final piece finished in 1435 was known as Zuccone or Baldy.
How long did Donatello collaborate with Michelozzo before their partnership ended?
Donatello entered a formal partnership with Michelozzo around 1425 that lasted nine years until a dispute caused by Donatello ended it. They collaborated on projects such as the Tomb of Antipope John XXIII inside the Florence Baptistery from 1425 to 1428.
Who commissioned the bronze David statue by Donatello and when was it made?
Cosimo de' Medici probably commissioned the bronze David between 1434 and 1440 after returning from exile. It appeared on a column in the Palazzo Medici courtyard during a wedding in 1469 but likely predated construction of that building which started in 1444.
When was the equestrian monument of Erasmo da Narni installed in Padua?
Bronze work for the Gattamelata monument finished in 1447 or 1448 though installation waited until 1453. The commission began immediately after Erasmo da Narni died in 1443 at the invitation of his heirs.
On what date did Donatello die and where did he spend his final years?
Donatello stayed in Florence until his death on the 13th of December 1466. He worked unable to produce much before dying according to Vasari records while designing stained glass for Florence Cathedral around 1434.