Facts about Donatello
Donatello's sculptures are considered supreme expressions capturing the spirit of the era.
Donatello was the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a member of the Florentine wool combers guild, and was born in Florence, most likely in 1386.
Donatello's bronze life-sized David, which he produced for Cosimo de' Medici, was one of the most overtly homosexual works of its era.
During this period (1446-50) Donatello also executed four extremely important reliefs with scenes from the life of St. Anthony for the high altar.
Between 1425-1427, Donatello collaborated with Michelozzo on the funerary monument of Antipope John XXIII for the Battistero in Florence, in which Donatello contributed the recumbent bronze figure of the deceased, under a shell.
Frequently, violent outbursts would result from Donatello's passionate entanglements.
Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's sculptures are both considered supreme expressions of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture, and they both exercised a potent influence upon the painters of the age.
In 1411-1413, Donatello worked on a statue of St. Mark for the church of Orsanmichele.
Between 1415 and 1426, Donatello created five statues for the campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
Moving to Florence, Donatello assisted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti with the statues of prophets for the north door of the Battistero di San Giovanni.
Donatello worked with architect Filippo Brunelleschi and sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Michelozzo, and was commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici who became his greatest patron.
In 1443, Donatello was called to Padua by the heirs of the famous condottiero Erasmo da Narni, who had died that year.
Donatello provided the general design and personally executed the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence and the Deposition from the Cross; he worked on the reliefs of Christ before Pilate and Christ before Caiphus, with Bellano.
Donatello died in Florence in 1466 at the age of 80 and was buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, next to his patron, Cosimo de' Medici.
According to some historians, Donatello made no secret of his homosexuality, and his behavior was tolerated by his friends.
Donatello (Donato di Niccolт di Betto Bardi) (c. 1386 – December 13, 1466) was a famous early Renaissance Italian sculptor and artist from Florence.
Donatello did not marry, choosing instead to live with other artists and his many young workshop assistants.
When Donatello's patron, Cosimo, was exiled from Florence, Donatello went to Rome, remaining there until 1433.
Until 1461, Donatello remained in Siena, where he created a St. John the Baptist, also for that city's Duomo, and models for its gates, now lost.
Donatello (1386–1466) A sculptor who revolutionized the art in Florence during the early Renaissance. Born as Donato di Niccolo Bardi, he was an apprentice in the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, and assisted Ghiberti in creating the famous bronze doors of the Baptistry of Florence.
Around 1430, Cosimo de' Medici, the foremost art patron of his era, commissioned from Donatello the bronze David (now in the Bargello) for the court of his Palazzo Medici. This is now Donatello's most famous work, and the first known free-standing nude statue produced since antiquity.
Donatello was one of the greatest Florentine sculptors. He lived mostly in Florence but spent some time in Rome, Padua and Siena. Donatello was greatly influenced by antique art and Humanist theories.
Donatello had an immense impact on the art and the artists of the Renaissance. He invented the shallow relief technique. In the shallow relief technique the sculpture seems deep but is actually done on a very shallow plane. ... He also made the first bronze sculpture.
Donatello, original name in full Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, (born c. 1386, Florence [Italy]—died December 13, 1466, Florence), master of sculpture in both marble and bronze, one of the greatest of all Italian Renaissance artists.