Donatello (1386-1466) Renaissance

Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, universally known as Donatello, was born in Florence around 1386 and died there in 1466. The powerful expressivity of his art made him the greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance. Donatello influenced Italian sculptors, notably Michelangelo, well into the sixteenth century.Masterpieces from the first phases of his career include the vigilant marble Saint George, made for the guildhall of Orsanmichele the gilt-bronze Saint Louis of Toulouse at the Church of Santa Croce, Florence  and his bronze relief of the Feast of Herodand statuettes of angels on the baptismal font in the Baptistery of Siena (1425–29) and more famous bronze David, made for the Medici family .

  Saint George 

Maker:

George Edwin Bissell (American, New Preston, Connecticut 1839–1920 Mount Vernon, New York)

Artist:

After an original by Donatello (Italian, Florence ca. 1386–1466 Florence)

Date:

19th century

Culture:

Italian

Medium:

Bronze

Dimensions:

Height: 33 1/2 in. (85.1 cm)

Classification:

Sculpture-Reproductions

Credit Line:

Gift of General J. Watts de Peyster, 1906

Accession Number:

06.145

Statue is idealized, can see emotion in his eyes . How he stands we can feel calm and power .

David 

David looks as girl ,how he stands with hand on the side . Horizontal/vertical position, eternal.

Donatello spent his old age in Florence, often working for the Medici. The twisting, heroic bronze group Judith Slaying Holofernes (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) was originally in their palace, and they were also the patrons of the dramatic bronze reliefs that narrate the Passion of Christ on the pulpits in San Lorenzo (unfinished at his death).