Donatello

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Marble statue of John the Evangelist (1408–1415), which until 1537 stood with the three other evangelists in the four large niches next to the main portal of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore ; since 1936 in the Museo del Opera del Duomo

Donatello (actually Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ; * around 1386 in Florence , † on December 13, 1466 in Florence) was an Italian sculptor and medalist .

Life

Donatello was born in Florence as the son of the wool comb Niccolò di Betto Bardi. His name is mentioned for the first time in 1401 during a fight in Pistoia . Vasari reports that he stayed in Rome with Brunelleschi from 1402 to 1404 , but there is no documentary evidence of the trip. There he got to know the remnants of antiquity, on which he formed his style, which introduced the Renaissance in sculpture on the basis of a penetrating study of nature.

The early years: Florence and Pisa 1386–1430

The grave monument for John XXIII. , Baptistery of San Giovanni , Florence
Saint Mark , Orsanmichele , Florence

From 1404 to 1408 he assisted Lorenzo Ghiberti with 21 other assistants in his workshop. Donatello appeared for the first time in 1407 with two statuettes at the Porta della Mandorla of the Florentine Cathedral . In 1408 he received the commission for the figure of David as the buttress coronation for the cathedral, today in the Museo nazionale del Bargello . In 1414 he began with the first figures for the not yet filled niches of Giotto's campanile . His peculiar talent was first shown in the marble statues of Saints Peter, Markus and Georg for Orsanmichele (1411-1416). From 1416 he had his own workshop. From 1423 he received orders from outside Florence, such as Orvieto, Ancona and Siena. From 1425 he maintained a workshop community with Michelozzo , which the two continued even after they moved to Pisa. It was then that Donatello began to devote himself to bronze casting . He was assisted by Michelozzo.

Between 1423 and 1427 bronze works were made in Orvieto and Siena , there the Pecci tombstone , at the same time marble tombs: for Pope John XXIII. in the Baptistery of Florence until 1427, for Brancacci in Sant 'Angelo in Nilo in Naples , for whom Donatello executed the relief of the Assumption of Mary , for B. Aragazzi in Montepulciano . In 1428 both received an order from Prato to design the outer pulpit of the cathedral.

Florence 1432-1442

David , Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Bronze pulpit in the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence

In 1432 Cosimo de 'Medici tried to persuade them to return to Florence. After his return, Donatello was commissioned to build the Cantoria , the singer's pulpit in the Florence Cathedral, which is now in the Cathedral Museum. During this time he created several of his most beautiful bronze works for Cosimo de 'Medici. One of them is his most popular figure of all, a young David who, surprisingly, wears a fashionable hat with a laurel wreath and puts his foot playfully on Goliath's head . It was the earliest free-standing nude figure since ancient times. This David shows from all sides the sight of harmonious grace and playful ease. The bronze figure called Amor-Attis has the same playful grace and provoked the most diverse speculations of the viewer. Equipped with a multitude of attributes - wings, wing shoes, poppy capsule, snake, hair adorned with a flower, bared genitals - it could be Priapus , Mercurius , Perseus , Cupid , Mithras etc., but no interpretation fits exactly.

Padua 1443-1453

Donatello lived in Padua from 1443 to 1453 . In 1446 he began work on the high altar of the Basilica of St. Anthony . There were bronze reliefs from the life of the saint, symbols of the evangelists, reliefs of the burial and children making music. At the same time he began with the famous equestrian statue of Erasmo di Narni, called Gattamelata , the first such creation in Italy since ancient times.

Florence 1454-1466

Donatello, statue, Uffizi Gallery , Florence

In 1454 Donatello returned to Florence. In 1455 he created the unique wooden figure of the penitent Maria Magdalena for the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence , an expressive figure of religious fervor and ardent faith. Presumably from Cosimo de 'Medici he received the order for a Judith and Holofernes group , which was to be erected as a fountain figure in the garden of the Medici Palace. In the form of the first free-standing group of sculptures since antiquity, Donatello created the stark contrast between a delicate female figure, with veiled hair and clad in wide robes, a symbol of the Christian cardinal virtue of humility, the vice of pride and pride, personified by the one in pagan nakedness shown Holofernes , overcomes. The group was soon given political symbolism: in 1494, after the Medici were expelled from Florence, they moved out of their palace to be placed in the Piazza della Signoria , as an example of the heroic liberation of a people from the clutches of a tyrant. Already in 1504 they had their exposed place at the David of Michelangelo post, a new symbol of the Florentine Republic. One of Donatello's last works is an unfinished Lamentation of Christ made of bronze. In the last years of his life he worked on bronze reliefs for the pulpit of San Lorenzo, some of which were not finished. Donatello died in Florence on December 13, 1466 and was buried in the crypt of San Lorenzo in the immediate vicinity of his friend and patron Cosimo de 'Medici.

stylistics

Donatello marvelously united antiquity and nature, immediate life and style, and was a pioneering master in the free statue , in the most delicate relief, in portraits, in drapery, in the representation of children and gentle women (Madonnas) and in the composition of more dramatic Force. A bold technician in sculpture, he was at the same time an excellent draftsman and painter and contributed just as much to the regeneration of painting as the entire sculpture of the 15th century until Michelangelo was under his direct influence. He led the established in ancient times and rather neglected in the Middle Ages Kontrapost again.

present

Several of Donatello's major works were considered lost, burned in a Berlin bunker in 1945. In 2015 the works reappeared in the Moscow Pushkin Museum in a war-damaged but restorable condition.

Works

Equestrian monument of Gattamelata in Padua
John the Baptist (center), Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
  • The Prophets at the Porta della Mandorla , before 1410, Duomo, Florence
  • Crucifix , 1407-1408, Santa Croce, Florence
  • David (marble) , 1408–1409, Bargello , Florence
  • John the Evangelist , 1408–1415, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo , Florence
  • St. George , around 1417, Bargello, Florence
  • The Prophet Habakkuk (Zuccone) , Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
  • Herod's Supper (Sienese baptismal font), 1423–1427, Baptistery of San Giovanni , Siena
  • The Assumption of Mary , tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci, Sant'Angelo a Nilo, Naples
  • David (bronze) , probably between 1427 and 1430, Bargello, Florence
  • Reliefs of the outer pulpit at Prato Cathedral , 1434–1438
  • The Choir (Cantoria) , 1433–1438, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
  • The Cavalcanti Annunciation , around 1435, Santa Croce , Florence
  • Bronze doors of the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo , 1434–1443, Florence
  • John the Baptist , 1438 (this date was discovered on the base during recent restoration work), Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari , Venice
  • Amor-Attis , around 1440, Bargello, Florence
  • Mary Magdalene , between 1440 and 1445, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence.
  • Anthony Altar , after 1446, Sant'Antonio, Padua
  • Equestrian monument of the Condottiere Gattamelata , around 1446–1453, Padua
  • Judith and Holofernes , Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
  • John the Baptist , around 1455, Duomo, Siena
  • The Lamentation of Christ , around 1460 [?], Victoria and Albert Museum, London
  • Resurrection pulpit , after 1460, San Lorenzo , Florence

literature

  • Charles Avery: Donatello. An introduction. Murray, London 1994, ISBN 0-7195-5411-X .
  • Bonnie A. Bennett, David G. Wilkins: Donatello. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-87838-481-5 .
  • Monika Cämmerer (Red.): Donatello studies (= Italian research by the Art History Institute in Florence. 3rd episode, vol. 16). Bruckmann, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7654-2234-7 (with bibliography 1957–1987).
  • Horst W. Janson : The sculpture of Donatello. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1979, ISBN 0-691-03528-8 .
  • Roberto Manescalchi: Il Marzocco - The lion of Florence. In collaborazione con Maria Carchio, Alessandro del Meglio, english summary by Gianna Crescioli. Grafica. European Center of Fine Arts e Assessorato allo sport e tempo libero, Valorizzazioni tradizioni fiorentine, Toponomastica, Relazioni internazionale e gemellaggi del comune di Firenze, November 2005.
  • Eugène Müntz: Donatello (= Les Artistes Célèbres. Vol. 1). Rouam, Paris 1885.
  • Joachim Poeschke: The sculpture of the Middle Ages in Italy. Volume 1: Romanesque. Hirmer, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7774-7940-3 .
  • John Pope-Hennessy : Donatello. Propylaen-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1986, ISBN 3-549-05585-4 .
  • Artur Rosenauer : Donatello. Electa, Milano 1993, ISBN 88-435-4226-5 .
  • Deborah Strom: A new Chronology for Donatello's Wooden Sculpture. In: Pantheon. International Art History Journal. Vol. 38, No. 3, 1980, ISSN  1615-0341 , pp. 239-248.
  • Eike Schmidt : "Fece di scoltura di legname e colorì". Giunti, Firenze 2016.
  • Gosbert Schüssler: A provocative image of the Passion: Donatello's crucifix by S. Croce. In: Karl Möseneder (Ed.): Dispute about images. From Byzantium to Duchamp. Reimer, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-496-01169-6 , pp. 49-72 (lit.).

Movie

  • Ann Turner: The First Modern Sculptor Donatello , 85 min., Arthaus Musik GmbH 2008 (1986), ISBN 978-3-939873-26-6

Web links

Commons : Donatello  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ L. Forrer: Biographical Dictionary of Medallists . Donatello. Volume I. Spink & Son Ltd, London 1904, pp. 604 f .
  2. ^ Donatello sculptures surfaced in Russia , Deutschlandradio Kultur, October 16, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Donatello
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH around 1386
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH on December 13, 1466
Place of death Florence