AskEssays.com - Discover essay samples

Donatello

4.9 of 5.0 (199 reviews)

Contains
769 words
Category
People

Donatello page 1
Donatello page 2
Donatello page 3
The above thumbnails are of reduced quality. To view the work in full quality, click download.

Donatello


Donatello (1386-1466) was a master of sculpture in bronze and marble and was considered one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists of his time. There is much more to know about him, though then the name alone. He has created some of the greatest works of art, not only in the Italian renaissance, but human history as well.


A lot is known about his life and career but little is known about his character and personality. Donatello never married and seems to be a man of 'simple tastes'. Patrons often found him hard to deal with and he demanded a lot of artistic freedom.




Early career.




Donatello, born Donato di Niccol? di Betto Bardi, was the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool carder. It is not known how he started his career but probably learned stone carving from one of the sculptors working for the cathedral of Florence about 1400. Some time between 1404 and 1407 he became a member of the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti who was a sculptor in bronze. Donatello's earliest work was a marble statue of David. The "David" was originally made for the cathedral but was moved in 1416 to the Palazzo Vecchio, a city hall where it long stood as a civic-patriotic symbol. From the sixteenth century on, the gigantic "David" of Michelangelo, which served the same purpose, eclipsed it. More of Donatello's early works which were still partly Gothic are the impressive seated marble figure of St. John the Evangelist for the cathedral and a wooden crucifix in the church of Sta. Croce.


The full power of Donatello first appeared in two marble statues, "St. Mark" and "St. George" which were completed in 1415. "St. George" has been replaced and is now in the Bargello. For the first time, the human body is rendered as a functional organism. The same qualities came in the series of five prophet statues that Donatello did beginning in 1416. The statues were of beardless and bearded prophets as well as a group of Abraham and Isaac in 1416-1421 and also the "Zuccone" and "Jeremiah". "Zuccone" is famous as the finest of the campanile statues and one of the artist's masterpieces.


Donatello invented his own bold new mode of relief in his marble panel " St. George Killing The Dragon" (1416-1417). The technique involved shallow carving throughout, which created a more striking effect than in his earlier works. He no longer modeled his shapes but he seemed to "paint" them with his chisel.


Donatello continued to explore the possibilities of the new technique he would use in his marble reliefs of the 1420's and early 1430's. The best of these were "The Ascension, with Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter," the " Feast of Herod" (1433-1435), the large stucco roundels with scenes from the life of St. John the Evangelist (1434-1437), and the dome of the old sacristy of S. Lorenzo shows the same technique but with color added.


Donatello had also become a major sculptor in bronze. His earliest work of this was the more than life size statue of St. Louis (1423), which was replaced half a century later. Donatello in partnership with Michelozzo helped with fine bronze effigy on the tomb of the pope John XXIII in the baptistery, the "Assumption of the Virgin" on the Brancacci tomb and the dancing angels on the outdoor pulpit of the Prato Cathedral (1433-1438). His departure from the standards of Brunelleschi did not go to well between the two old friends and was never repaired. Brunelleschi even made epigrams against Donatello.


During his partnership with Michelozzo, Donatello made works of pure sculpture, including several works of bronze. The earliest and most important of these was the "Feast of Herod" (1423-1427). He also made two statuettes of Virtues and then three nude child angels (one which was stolen and is now in the Berlin museum). These statues prepared the way for the bronze statue of David, the first large scale, and freestanding nude statue of the Renaissance. It was the most classical of Donatello's works and was done for a private patron. Its recorded history begins with the wedding of Lorenzo the magnificent in 1469, when it was placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio.


Whether the "David" was requested by the Medici or not, Donatello worked for them (1433-1443), producing sculptural decorations for the Old Sacristy in S. Lorenzo, the Medici church. Works there included ten large ...

You are currently seeing 50% of this paper.

You're seeing 769 words of 1538.

Keywords: donatello ninja turtle, donatello picerija, donatello dj, donatello artwork, donatello versus, donatello pizza, donatello david, donatello paintings

Similar essays


Ethan Frome Essay

Could you ever imagine living your entire life in the same town and if you try to leave something will keep bringing you back. In the novel, Ethan Frome, the main character Ethan Frome lives his life in this way. Through his silence, isolation, and illusions he causes himself to be trapped in Starkfield. In the beginning, on the ou...

19 reviews
Download
Michael jordan king of the court

Michael jordan: king of the court Michael Jordan: King of the Court When I began my report I didn?t know much about Michael Jordan, but I did know that he was ?undoubtedly the greatest player in the history of the NBA? (?Michael Air Jordan? 1). It seemed like every time I heard the word basketball I also heard the name Michael Jordan. The...

156 reviews
Download
Gailileo 3

Born: Feb 15 1564 in Pisa (now Italy) Died: Jan 8 1642 in Areetri Gaileo Galilei's father, Vincenzo Galilei (1520-1591), who described himself as a nobleman of Florence, was a professional musician. He carried out experiments on strings to support his musical theories. Galileo studied medicine at the university of Pisa, but...

106 reviews
Download
Colin Powell

My Written Report is a Short Biography of Colin Luther Powell. He was born on May 5, 1937 in Presbyterian Hospital. He was born, and grew up, in the South Bronx, New York. There was a big influence of drugs and gangs where Powell lived but, he seemed to steer away from all of that (source 1, page 23). Powell\'s parents were immigrants from Jama...

150 reviews
Download
Americas vision hamilton or jefferson

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were completely at odds in their vision on how America was to develop. Hamilton wanted to concentrate power in a centralized federal government with limited access and Jefferson wished to diffuse it among all the eligible freemen of the time. Alexander Hamilton feared anarchy and distrusted popular rule w...

70 reviews
Download
Molly pitcher

Molly Pitcher Not many women are mentioned during the Revolutionary war but Molly Pitcher broke this trend by becoming a war heroine, a loyal wife, and a hard worker. Molly Pitcher was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She was born with the name Mary Ludwig. Mary helped a lot on her family's dairy farm. In 1769 Mary became a servant to D...

145 reviews
Download
William Blake

To some people is just an ordinary man. To others, Blake is an English poet, painter, and engraver. Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in London, where he spent most of his life. He was the third of five children in his family. Blake\'s family was Nonconformists Protestant dissenters from the Church of England. They had Blake christened...

185 reviews
Download
Antony and Cleopatra

In Shakespeare's tragedy/history/Roman play , we are told the story of two passionate and power-hungry lovers. In the first two Acts of the play we are introduced to some of the problems and dilemmas facing the couple (such as the fact that they are entwined in an adulterous relationship, and that both of them are forced to show their devoti...

97 reviews
Download
Vincent Van Gogh

On March 30, 1853 was born in the small village of Groot-Zundert, Holland. When he is eleven, he begins schooling where he starts to draw for the first time. People begin to notice how magnificent his works were, and after he finishes school he begins to sell his paintings to art dealers. Van Gogh starts spending more time with his brother...

150 reviews
Download
Siddhartha

In Herman Hess's, , 's constant growth and spiritual evolution is elucidated through the symbolism of the snake, the bird and the river. As a snake sheds it's skin in order to continue its physical growth, sheds the skins of his past: ' he realized that something had left him, like the old skin a snake sheds/ Something was no longer with him...

2 reviews
Download
Biography of galileo

GALILEO Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564. Galileo lived in Pisa until he was about 10 years old. In 1574 his family moved to Florence where Galileo started his education at a monestary named Vallombroso, . In 1581, Galileo went to the University of Pisa to study medicine, while at the University of Pisa, Gali...

152 reviews
Download
MARGARET ATWOOD

IN 1970 MARGARET Atwood, known only in small, mostly Canadian circles for her poetry, published a book entitled The Journals of Susanna Moodie, a persona poem sequence written from the point of view of a legendary 19th-century Canadian pioneer who had encountered the notorious murderess Grace Marks on a visit to a lunatic asylum. Grace had been...

188 reviews
Download
Poore Brothers 3

Poore Brothers Brothers Don and Jay Poore had worked on potato chip packaging equipment and thought they would strike out on their own. While servicing packaging machines in Pennsylvania, Don and Jay had met a gentleman who knew a lot about making potato chips in small kettles 'One Batch at a Time' and he helped them get started. By cuttin...

134 reviews
Download
Riley King

A.K.A. : B. B. King Instruments: Electric Guitar, Vocals Life span: 1925-???? Style Synopsis: Style is the word that describes the way that B.B. He uses signature tremolo and \"T-Bone Walker\" influenced jazzy sounding blues riffs. Also, in words of B.B., \"I don\'t do no chords\". He can also tell when muted notes are more necessa...

136 reviews
Download
Atsisiųsti šį darbą