The Sculpture of Donatello
The Sculpture of Donatello
The Sculpture of Donatello
311110023Q7864
ONE-VOLUME EDITION
By H. W.
JANSON
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The
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Sculpture of
DONATELLO
ONE- VOLUME EDITION
new photographs
and
his notes
struction
H.
W.
Janson by Mrs.
form he considered
them
suitable.
in whatever
He
presented
make
aged by Lanyi: a redefinition of the masocuvre on the basis of the most rigor-
ter's
ous
critical standards.
The
$40)
original
won
The
digest
of reviews
some idea
the book
was
type plates
received. Since
made
distribution as
it
its
its
512
gives
which
collo-
reception indicated
it
pared.
it
At
less
on
paniment
H.
to the text."
of Fine Arts of
Editor of
New
The Art
Bulletin,
is
=
=
o
en
o
o
works
of Donatello's
CO
author of
THE SCULPTURE OF
DONATELLO
BY
H. W.
JANSON
PRINCETON
NEW
JERSEY
Building
Copyright
Reserved
-)
if*
-^
4O
^/
Foreword
The
two-volume edition of
original
this
book, with
its
512
placed
it
present edition
wider public,
but a
is
been reduced
plates has
oflFering the
low
edition
number
316
of
illustra-
number and
the
cally,
first
as
an Appendix
two recent
p.
250
corrections.
The present
is
The
sig-
listed in
and
ings;
S.
218)
Lorenzo,
first
on
observed by Giovanni
Previtali.
many
individuals
and
institutions
my
owe
thanked the
debt of gratitude
to
them
all.
H. W.
J.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR
PHOTOGRAPHS
Unless otherwise specified, the numeral includes
Alinari, Florence:
all
Georg Kauffmann),
50 (modified by
Alinari-Brogi, Florence: 1-7, 10a, b, 11, 12b, 13, 14b, 15-17b, 18,
21a-c, 23c-31b, 31d, e, 32b, 33-35, 37b-38, 44-46, 47c-48, 51b, c,
e-h, 52, 53, 56b-57, 59, 61, 66, 67, 70-73, 78-83b, 84-98,
c,
d; text
fig.
8,
100,
8 (p. 218)
c,
alle
gallerie,
Florence:
c,
Museum
of
Sansaini,
Rome: 42
Victoria
128
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
11
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Ix
Abbreviations
xviii
CRITICAL CATALOGUE
David (marble), Museo Nazionale, Florence
Museo
St.
St.
dell'Opera del
Duomo, Florence
12
16
21
St.
23
Duomo, Florence
33
41
43
44
Sculpture of the
St.
Museo
Rossore,
Staatliche
Museen, Berlin-Dahlem
St.
45
di
56
59
65
Tomb
75
Madonna, Museum
Assumption,
Tomb
Ascension and Delivery of the Keys, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Tabernacle,
Tomb
Rome
St. Peter's,
of Giovanni Crivelli, S.
Maria
in Aracoeli,
Rome
Museo
dell'Opera del
Duomo, Florence
Musee Wicar,
92
101
Croce, Florence
S.
Cantoria,
88
95
Annunciation Tabernacle,
The Feast
77\
86
Old
103
108
119
Lille
129
131
141
143
Crucifix, S. Antonio,
Equestrian
High
Padua
Monument
147
Altar, S. Antonio,
Padua
151
162
187
191
St.
St.
St.
190
197
198
206
209
S.
Lorenzo, Florence
iii
Contents
REJECTED ATTRIBUTIONS
Two
St. Peter,
219
222
225
228
"St.
Unknown
St.
Prosdocimus and
St.
Lorenzo, Florence
236
237
240
Flagellation
and
Crucifixion, Victoria
242
St.
APPENDIX:
235
Crucifixion,
St.
232
"Niccolo da Uzzano,"
Flagellation,
S.
Saint,
244
246
247
248
250
253
Index
PLATES
IV
1-128
List of Illustrations
TEXT FIGURES
PAGES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
Altar, S. Antonio,
Altar, S.
Altar, S.
Altar, S.
168
168a
168a
Altar, S. Antonio,
168a
Altar, S.
168a
Altar, S.
reliefs
according to Janson
reconstruction
8.
168
South Pulpit,
S.
168b
Lorenzo, Florence, Martyrdom of
St.
218
PLATES, CRITICAL
CATALOGUE
Side view
Ic.
lb.
Front view
2a.
Back view
Head, profile
CRUCIFIX,
3.
4a.
Front view
5a.
4b.
Side view
5b.
CROCE, FLORENCE
Head, profile
Head, front view
Side view
7.
DAVID,
8a.
Front view
8b.
Back view
5c.
Right hand
5d.
ST.
Head and
torso, front
9a.
SCULPTURE OF THE
George Tabernacle,
ST.
St.
Head and
10c.
c.
view
9c.
Right hand
9d.
Right shoulder
1890
10a.
10b.
front
Head
2c.
ST.
6.
S.
2b.
torso of statue,
view
11a.
Head
of statue
lib.
Gable
relief of
lie.
Relief
on base
12a.
tabernacle
12b.
of tabernacle,
12c.
back view
view
Statue, side view
Statue,
Statue, front
detail
13a.
Beardless Prophet
15a.
17a.
13b.
Bearded Prophet
Abraham and Isaac
Niches on east side of
Campanile
Abraham and Isaac, detail
15b.
17b.
17c.
13c.
14a.
14b.
16b.
124e.
"Zuccone," signature
124f.
"Jeremiah," signature
"Jeremiah"
19a,
Front view
c.
18b.
PROPHET AND
THE
19b.
SIBYL,
PAZZI
The
SCULPTURE OF THE
20.
Profile
ST.
2Ic.
St.
Louis, head
21d.
St.
Louis, detail
22a.
St.
21a.
St.
21b.
The mitre
The Sculpture
of Donatella
22b.
St.
23cl.
Mask on base
22c.
St.
24a.
23a.
Crozier
24b.
Angel,
23b.
Crozier
24c.
23c.
Mask on base
of tabernacle
25b.
ST.
ROSSORE, MUSEO DI
St.
25a.
EFFIGY OF JOHN
Full view of
26.
tomb
27a.
XXIII,
EfBgy
S.
left
spandrel of tabernacle
MATTEO, PISA
FLORENCE
BAPTISTERY,
27b.
of tabernacle
arms
EflBgy, detail,
27c.
Effigy, detail,
head
Hope
31c.
head
31b. Hope, head
31d.
30b.
28.
29a.
detail
31a.
detail
Faith,
Faith
30a.
32a.
32b.
Side view
34a.
Torso
35a.
33a.
Front view
34b.
35b.
33b.
Back view
34c.
Helmet of Gohath
Face of Goliath
36.
ARTS,
37a.
37b.
38a.
Detail,
BOSTON
ANGELO A
S.
upper
Head, profile
Head, front view
38b.
left
NILO, NAPLES
upper right
Detail,
ASCENSION AND DELIVERY OF THE KEYS, VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
39a.
Detail,
TABERNACLE,
41a.
Full view
42a.
40b.
Detail,
ST. PETER'S,
Entombment
TOMB OF GIOVANNI
41b.
40a.
42b.
CRIVELLI,
S.
Angels,
44a.
Full view
44b.
Virgin,
44c.
Virgin,
upper half
head
Full view
47b. Bronze
47c. Bronze
48a.
S.
view
front view
capital,
Angels, right
CROCE, FLORENCE
46b.
46c.
Capital, right
46d.
Upper cornice,
Lower cornice,
Winged wreath
46a.
Capital, left
PULPIT,
46e.
46f.
detail
detail
PRATO CATHEDRAL
capital, side
42c.
45b.
OUTDOOR
47a.
ROME
left
ANNUNCIATION TABERNACLE,
43.
(Crown copyright)
48e.
48f.
48g.
49b.
49c.
49d.
Angel panel,
left flank of
balustrade
50.
restored according to
Georg Kauffmann)
51a.
51b.
First bracket
51c.
CofiFer
51 d.
52a.
fifth
Bronze
Bronze
view
51g. Bronze
view
51h. Bronze
detail
52b.
Angel
detail
51e.
head,
left,
profile
51 f.
head,
left,
front
53a.
53b.
Angel
detail
53c.
Angel
detail
VI
Angel
Angel
detail
List of Illustrations
Full view
54b.
upper
Detail,
55a.
left
Old
56b.
St.
Sacristy, interior
Stephen, head
Lawrence, head
Stephen and Lawrence
57b. SS. Cosmas and Damian
John on Patmos
The Raising of Drusiana
St. Jolin in the Cauldron of
St.
601).
SS.
6()c.
St.
58b.
St.
58c-.
St.
58d.
St.
.59a.
St.
59b.
St.
62.
St.
60a.
56c.
LORENZO, FLORENCE
John, detail
59c.
.57a.
.58a.
S.
63a.
St.
6.3b.
63c.
63d.
Oil
Matthew
Mark
Luke
60d.
Apotheosis of
61a.
The Raising
John
Matthew, detail
Mark, detail
61b.
John
St.
64.
of Drusiana,
65a.
65b.
detail
Apotheosis of
65c.
John,
St.
551).
65d.
detail
Front view
66b.
"ATYS-AMORINO,"
67a.
Front view
67b.
BRONZE CRUCIFIX,
68.
Side view
S.
Full view
Back view
ANTONIO, PADUA
Head
69.
70a.
S.
70b.
71.
monument
73a.
73b.
view
7.3c.
Head, profile
72b. Head, front view
72a.
7.3d.
HIGH ALTAR,
74.
75a.
77d.
Symbol
78a.
St.
S.
Armor, detail
Back of saddle
Panel from pedestal, Biblioteca del Santo, Padua
Panel from pedestal, Biblioteca del Santo, Padua
ANTONIO, PADUA
Luke
of St.
head
83b.
St. Justina,
Louis
8.3c.
Singing angels
Angel panel
panel
78b.
St.
Francis
83d.
Dead
79a.
St.
Anthony
83e.
Singing angels
panel
79b.
St.
84a.
panel
80a.
St.
panel
80b.
St.
Francis, head
8.5a.
panel
80c.
St.
Daniel, head
85b.
76c.
panel
80d.
St.
Prosdocimus, head
86a.
76d.
panel
81a.
St.
Daniel
86b.
panel
81b.
St.
Justina
87a.
75b.
75c.
75d.
75e.
76a.
76b.
Angel
Angel
Angel
Angel
Angel
Angel
Angel
76e. Angel
76f. Angel
82a.
Madonna
Matthew
82b.
88a.
of St
John
82c.
88b.
Entombment,
of
Mark
83a.
panel
Symbol
77b. Symbol
77c. Symbol
77a.
of
St.
St.
84b.
87b.
S.
of throne
detail
Side view
ST.
90a.
Prosdocimus
Louis, head
ST.
89a.
Christ
Front view
Front view
Side view
91.
Head and
torso, front
view
Front view
92b.
Back view
ST.
94a.
Front view
94b.
93a.
Side view
93b.
Head
93c.
Left
Head
94c.
Vll
Legs
95.
Head and
torso
hand
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Side view
97c.
96b.
Front view
98a.
97a.
Back view
head
Cushion with signature
98b. Putti with statue of Bacchus
97b.
99a.
TWIN
view
102.
103.
in the
105a.
105b.
107.
108a.
Ptitii
harvesting grapes
100a.
lOOb.
Holofernes
PULPITS,
S.
LORENZO, FLORENCE
Lamentation, detail
114.
109.
11.5.
110.
Entombment,
116.
111.
117.
118.
112.
119.
120.
St. Lawrence
Martyrdom of St. Lawrence,
108b.
Garden
106.
99b.
lOL
104.
Judith,
113.
detail
Tomb, detail
The Three Marys
Tomb, detail
at the
in
Limbo
detail
Crucifixion, detail
121c.
121b.
121d.
ST.
122b.
Front view
"ST.
122a.
124a.
Front view
ST.
c.
ST.
125a.
124b.
Head
124c.
TOMB OF MARTIN
123a.
123b,
Head
V,
S.
124d.
Scroll
LEONARD (OR
ST.
LAWRENCE), OLD
Front view
SACRISTi',
125b.
S.
LORENZO, FLORENCE
Side view
126b.
Side view
ST.
125c.
Front view
125d.
127a.
127b.
Front view
127d.
ST.
128a.
Front view
128b.
Profile
Side view
128c.
viii
Back view
128d.
Introduction
This book owes
War
its
Soon
second World
Dr. Jeno Lanyi, en route from England to this country, died at sea as the result of
enemy
luggage included several suitcases full of written material and photographs relating
work of Donatello. These somehow escaped destruction and were subsequently turned
over to me by Mrs. Lanyi-Mann with the request that I publish them in whatever form I might
action. His
to the
deem
suitable.
much
1930's,
new
of
years to the
was
many hundreds
embodied
of his research,
had been
aim
this
in view,
ing pictorial record of the great sculptor's cewore. However, his scholarly estate, which
exist-
UHch
Middeldorf and Clarence Kennedy were kind enough to examine with me, did not bear out
our expectations: apparently Lanyi had not yet begun to write the monograph.
What we found
were, for the most part, notes relating to his previous pubHcations, bibliographical
excerpts from scholarly hteratiu:e; there
dehvered
in
London
was
some sketches
for
and
files,
new
working on, and scattered observations or memoranda on individual monuments. All these,
however, were far too tentative and fragmentary for publication. Even the magnificent legacy
of
a dilemma. Lanyi's
lavish scale,
most of the Florentine works of Donatello those in the Cathedral and the Museo dell'Opera
del
Duomo,
pulpits of S.
Old
Sacristy
and
Pisa.
half finished,
in
and
enough
primary goal.
my
it
included
also
to close
photographs as a
my
two-volume edition of
in the original
as
it
S.
more than
details of the
this
believe
half, or
supervision;
to
available,
older stock.
its
beyond
my powers.
All I could
hope
to accomplish, I decided,
by means of a thorough
critical
some
of the entries
were
virtues of conciseness
permit
me
likely to
to report the
was
to lay the
form
me
far
pub-
a task
foundation
order, this
b\'
in
The
grow
and systematic
anticipated that
Apart from
its
time-tested
it
would
The Sculpture
fied as
such in
and
at
of Donatella
sifting
notes
of "thoughts of the
Readers familiar with Lanyi's views will have gathered from the Table of Contents that the
conception of the Donatellian oeuvre underlying this book is significantly different from his in
a
number
works, while some others, of whose legitimacy he had no doubt, have been placed in the
rejected category.
The
is
entirely mine.
The reasons
them
for
necessary, however,
The number
of works that have been claimed for Donatello at one time or another
is
so vast
that the total has never been determinedby a rough estimate there
by the increasingly
fore, to confine
my
critical attitude of
comments
resolved, there-
i.e.
the "pending
two decades, of which I had enhad to abandon even this limited goal
countered slightly
as impracticable.
less
For
thought
it
all
apparatus, and a
critical
an additional 200 plates and about 150 pages of text a prohibitive increase
cost of the planned publication.
enough
to
Nor did
in the size
required
and
were important
had
to
be content
with the bare essentials the pieces erroneously claimed for Donatello on the basis of documents
:
and a few
particularly significant. That
or sources (ten of the fourteen rejected attributions discussed are of this kind)
others
hmbo. But
am
under the great master's penumbra. (The Catalogue contains a number of incidental references to such works; they may be located by consulting the
Index, which lists them according to place and ownership.)
Problems of attribution, of course, also arise among the entries devoted to the authentic
the exact degree to which they
fall
oeuvre, especially in the case of large-scale commissions, executed with the aid of collaborators
or assistants. These
monuments
ensembles to which they belong, since to place them under separate headings, for the sake of a
strict division of hands, would have been quite impracticable. The same rule has been followed
in arranging the
ment
sequence of the
monu-
component
parts.
Introduction
The sequence
of the
monuments
is
Here
chronological.
however, a measure of
too,
flexibility
same
all
together in a single entry, whether or not they were actually commissioned and carried out
as a unit.
The
decisive factor in these cases has been the interdependence of the documents.
In a few other instances, slight departures from the strictly chronological order have been
suggested by technical or
are based
on documents
if
artistic considerations.
The
evidence.
The
is
and
useful,
i.e.
treat-
fashion; the
measurements provided
here are taken directly from the originals, unless otherwise noted, so that they do not always
agree with those given in earlier publications. Their degree of accuracy varies with the
shape,
and
(c.
size,
is
less
up
error,
per cent.
With regard
to the
documents,
found myself
in
should
have reproduced them verbatim, after checking the published transcriptions against the original
records for accuracy and completeness; and such had indeed been
me
abandon
to
it
documents
my
me
planned publication.
as impractical.
rendering of the
this
very reason their meaning often admits of more than one interpretation. Thus a direct trans-
would have taken up a great deal of space (many of the texts, especially the contracts,
encumbered by lengthy legal formulas and other kinds of verbal "excess baggage" of
little interest for our purpose) and yet the significance of many passages would have been
far from clear without elaborate critical notes on the vagaries of local usage and similar
problems. I preferred to give the factual content of each document in digest form, citing the
verbatim text only for the ambiguous passages. This method of "interpretive condensation"
lation
are
will, I
The
to
is
me
is
to
demand
translation in
full.
For here,
in
is
therefore, to go
cases
is
have cited
in
my
Of equal
interest
xi
is
to
what they
tell
us about the
posthumous
The Sculpture
of Donatello
reputation of Donatello, the growth of the "Donatello legend," and the changing interpretation
From
of individual works.
illuminating,
and
this
have cited
as
many
as I
was able
is
has
and
more
little
me
selective, classified,
surprisingly few.
as really useful,
still
be
in existence, waiting to
be rediscov-
ered); completed pieces certainly or probably destroyed; and commissions abandoned before
completion.
The
of these
first
is
moved because
of
its
when
it
had
to
be
re-
top of a column in the Mercato Vecchio, a work of the 1420's or 1430's, which was replaced
by a Baroque
it
Loggia di
S.
lost
St.
Bernard
Cathedral"
xii
(cf.
Poggi,
Duomo,
Introduction
at
some length
The
in the Catalogue.
references to
them can
be located by consulting
easily
A second, and far longer, Ust of lost works could be compiled on the basis of sixteenth
and seventeenth century sources, but their standing is dubious, to say the least. We certainly
cannot aflFord to accept them on faith, since the same sources also claim a number of extant
the Index.
the
work
sources
One
of other artists.
particularly
is
However
low
we
tliat
tempted
is
it
many
them
of
are lost
may
be,
we can form an
clearly
Concerning Donatello's
have disregarded
activities
relatively
in the
Boston
as irrelevant to the
purpose of
is
httle to
be
said.
Museum
this
are included
book.
So far
as
we know, he never
undertook any architectural work on a monumental scale or apart from his sculptural commissions.
painting, although he
work
or
humous fame as a draughtsman, not a single drawing has come to light that can be claimed
for him with any degree of conviction, so that we know nothing at all about his drawing style
(see also below, p. 217). The only work which might permit some conclusions however indirectin this respect, and the one documented instance of Donatello's work as a pictorial
designer, is the stained-glass window of the Coronation of the Virgin for Florence Cathedral.
The operai had requested both Donatello and Ghiberti to submit designs of this subject,
destined for the round window on the east side of the drum of the dome; in April 1434 they
chose Donatello's and entrusted the execution to Domenico di Piero of Pisa and Angelo Lippi,
who completed it in four years. ^ This window, unfortunately, has never been adequately photographed. During the Second World War it was removed for safekeeping and until recentiy
has remained inaccessible while in process of being restored. Its omission from this book was
thus imposed upon me by force majeure. A thorough study of the work is certainly desirable,
although one wonders how much of Donatello's style it will be possible to discern in it. Donatello, after all, had nothing to do with its execution, so that Domenico di Piero and Angelo
Lippi were free to transform his design however they pleased in adapting it to the technical
demands of their craft. Moreover, he apparently availed himself of the help of Paolo UcceUo
and of Bernardo
that the task
design
itself
was unfamihar
may
to
him
all
little
commission, an indication
interest in it). In
alone.*
in 1434,
status of this
XIU
document, however,
is
somewhat uncertain,
The Sculpture
My
of Donatella
is,
to
graphical data about the outward, factual aspects of the master's career: from 1404-1407,
when we encounter
his
name among
members
almost every year a more
the
we have
from other evidence). These data are the structural skeleton for the chronology
and have therefore been fully reported and analyzed in the Catalogue. Only
youth, and the last few years of his old age, do we lack reliable information. Who
filled in
of his oeuvre,
about
was
his
his first
i.e.
De
sculpture, he
"is
called Bartoluccio a
linking
artistic
when Donatello
how long he
pay was. Another
Strozzi excerpt informs us that after June 1, 1407,
Donatello was again or still? employed in Ghiberti's
workshop for the North Doors, at an annual wage of 75
florins, indicating that he was no longer an apprentice
remained
windows
of the
or
what
his rate
of
Cf. Colasanti, D., pp. 9f, and Kauffmann, D., pp. 19,
201, nn. 48, 49.
8 Ghiberti himself could hardly have been Donatello's
first teacher, since he was only five or six years older.
The most plausible assumption would seem to be that
Donatello entered the workshop of Bartoluccio as an
apprentice in the late 1390's, when Ghiberti was on the
point of reaching journeyman status. That he did indeed
receive goldsmith's training is attested by the fact that
he was enrolled in the painters' guild in 1412 as a "gold'^
it,
window
other
in
is
XIV
Introduction
the technical knowledge of stonecarving that brought
for the Porta della
Mandorla
1406?
in
It is
we have no way
219f )
craft
is
known
to
have completed
under one of
it
Banco
or Niccolo di
below, pp.
might just as well have learned his
He
who were working
two prophets
for
for the
is
lost (see
The problem of Donatello's artistic origins, needless to say, is not without parallels at that
time. The early years of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi are equally obscure, and their later development at a number of points offers greater diflBculties than does his. Yet these two men project
themselves onto the historian's imagination as well-defined, psychologically plausible personalities
the earliest,
it
seems
me,
to
we know something
of their
character structure, their individual ways of thinking and feeling, so that they exist in our
minds
as people, rather
ought to be. In
Ghiberti, the
line of
his case,
poems
we have
character
find
any
much
as
we may
insist that it
correspondence, however
Nor do we
is
artistic
trivial,
come down
to us (his only
self-portraits,
assured or putative,
has
and stubborn.
We know
man
^^
him
Comments on
his work.^^
few
am
his
as
whose demands
latter estimate, I
"writings" are
recorded by a contemporary.^"
among
are as
of simple tastes
(The
as
known
afraid,
by
far the
more
that he
we
upon what
little
he had,
just as
beneath
the
overemphasis,
among some
he not
likely to
is
How
to difl^erentiate
How
are
between
enough
for the
While
first,
this
hy-
and
L4nyi
fourth,
older scholars,
XV
right;
The Sculpture
The
we do
at present
task
of Donatello
is
in isolation;
web
we
should have to
beheve, but
cannot
it
began
to cluster
around
the personalities of famous artists since the time of Giotto, and of which Vasari's Lives are
we have
as such, in
is
background of
to illuminate the
Vasari's narrative.
how
little
does
happen,
it
to that of Brunelleschi?
The
we wonder,
that
we know
due
to chance, admits
a variety of interpretations, according to one's view of the relationship between the expressive
man who
its
The dictum
v^
its
me
endow Donatello
the
man
if
its pitfalls if
we
try to use
up
much more
true in a
style,
thumbing the
direct
And
them
or to live
The sahent
let us
has
by
it.
created
tremendous range of
its
were often
We
They inform
strained, that
might take
this as
he failed
to
keep
his
promises
in-
what manner
of
man
it
seems wisest
to distrust all
is
broad
was far too complex to fit any convenient formula. The traditional image of him,
first adumbrated by Vasari and still accepted by Colasanti, as the simple "devotee of nature"
who hved only for his art, untouched by the political, social, and intellectual struggles of the
age, is now well on the way to oblivion. KauFmann, whose ambitious monograph of twenty
personality
it
the coup de grace, tried to substitute another image, that of a Donatello filled
art of the
to create great
symbolic cycles rather than individual works. This conception takes account, for the first time,
meaning to be found in the master's work; as a milestone of Donatello research, Kauffmann's book ranks second only to the pioneer study by Hans Semper,
published sixty years before. But Kauffmann was able to sustain his view only by a highly
selective treatment of the evidence. He has disregarded all sorts of inconvenient facts, and
of the wealth of symbolic
new
sift
like a builder
who
rebuilds
using them again, so that some of the weaknesses of the older structure are apt to show up
once more:
18
his argimient
is
fatally
endangered
XV i
at a
number
of
Introduction
dubious or outmoded attributions. Nor did
as
it
own
was
insisted, as
it
strike
him
as
man
new approach
on the basis
though
its
fitness for
new and more endinring structure he expected to build. The present book is dedicated to
same proposition. The material it contains will, I hope, ultimately yield another integrated
Donatello image an image less rigid and more subtly shaded than those of the past.
the
the
xvu
ABBREVIATION
of literature frequently
cited
Albertini
Balcaires, D.
Lord Balcarres
ford
of
Craw-
Bocchi
Borghini, Riposo
Cinelli
Colasanti
Cruttwell, D.
Maud
Gelli
Giovanni Battista
Bertaux, D.
BilH
11 libro di
Cinelli, Florence,
Cod. Magi.
Lanyi, Pragm.
Girolamo Mancini,
teratur,
Lanyi, Probl
Lanyi, Ril.
in:
32flF
is
dated
Lanyi, Statue
AB
Middeldorf,
in:
Milanesi, Cat.
Paatz, Kirchen
Pastor,
D.
Planiscig,
Poggi,
D.
Duomo
Leo
Giovanni Poggi,
11
Duomo
di Firenze
Reymond,
Sc.Fl.
Schmarsow, D.
Schottmiiller, D.
Schubring,
(Italienische Forschungen,
Berlin, 1909
HB
KdK
Schubring,
1907
Semper, D. 75
Semper, D.
Semrau, D.
'87
Tschudi, D.
seine Zeit
XVlll
separately printed
Abbreviations
Vasari-Ricci*
Giorgio Vasari,
reprint, ed.
Vasari-Milanesi*
Le
Ricci,
Venturi, Storia
Vite
Corrado
italiana,
VI:
1878flF
La
all
XIX
CRITICAL CATALOGUE
Critical Catalogue
Isaiah,
and the
hand.
between the right hand and the right knee of the figure
shows two faint parallel lines running downward in
a smooth curve clearly the "ghost" of a scroll that
has been cut away (see PI. lb). Did Donatello, then,
shift the scroll from David's right hand to the left?
He might have done so had there been some compelling reason for preserving the scroll as an attribute,
but the very opposite seems to have been the case. If,
moreover, the Lanyi "scroll" was meant to be a scroll,
why
does
look so
it
much
the
left
like the
surrounding dra-
p. 197, n. 26,
criti-
rounding area.)
There
tions:
is
all
these ques-
its
incidental resem-
doubt that
little
The
it
resulted from
scroll
and the
leg to a
When,
much
is
left leg and, incidentally, producing the scrollremnant that was to attract Lanyi's and Kauffmann's attention. Our assumption that the statue in
its original state included a considerable amount of
drapery descending from the left hip towards the head
ing the
like
we
if
study the
shows the
continuity of the outhne broken by a sudden gap exactly in the area where we might expect it between
the loop of the sling and the left hand. In a statue
designed to stand on top of a buttress, where it could
presumably be seen not only from in front but laterally
as well, such an outline would appear strange indeed.
But since in the Palazzo Vecchio our David was placed
flat against a wall (it even seems to have been anchored to the wall, by means of the dowel hole in its
back, visible in
blance to a
Pi. Ic),
the
somewhat awkward
effect
we have
noted in the
side view.
If
clusion of
accepted,
can
it
first
see, that
fits
it
is
unthe
some importance
of Donatello's style,
may seem
glance, but
i.e.
development
may
left
leg of the
florins'
2 The seventeenth centtiry pen sketch after the statue adduced by Kauffmann (D., p. 197, n. 21 and pi. 3) in corroboration of this feature, shows nothing of the sort; the loop on top
of Goliath's head has been omitted entirely, and the right hand
1408 with the Zuccone; Cornel von Fabriczy (L'Arte, vi, 1903,
had connected it with the giant Joshua. The latter
view was shared by Schottmiiller (D., p. 58) and Cruttwell
(D., p. 37) while Reymond (loc.cit.) had suggested the
"Daniel" in this connection. Strangely enough, as Ldnyi points
out (op.cit., p. 148, n. 1), the records of the Cathedral work-
sling at that
think
it
far
more
likely
The
pp. 373ff)
The Sculpture
The symbolic meaning of the marble David
new setting is made clear by the inscription
its
(first
the marble David. But in view of their different contexts, we could hardly expect to find a close resem-
in
in David's right
hand had
it
summer
why
be that
of 1416?
the scroll
immediately after
perhaps why the Signoria insisted that the operai
carry out its request with the greatest possible dispatch.
figure,
and
some eminent
So far as
together
if
we
when
same manner.
David as an
have been coined in Florence during the early Trecento, to judge from the one
example that antedates our statue. This is the fresco
by Taddeo Gaddi, of c. 1330-1335, in the Baroncelli
Chapel of S. Croce. It was surely known to Donatello
and may well have been the direct iconographic source
of the marble David, as suggested by Bertaux, D., p.
20, and Lanyi, loc.cit^ In detail, Taddeo Gaddi's David
offers few analogies with Donatello's; he is standing
on the prostrate body of his enemy, with a sword in
his right hand and holding the head of Goliath by the
hair with his left. Only the sHng is similar in shape to
that of our statue; moreover, it is suspended from
of Donatello
of the victorious
in
trophy at his
feet.
David's head
is
wreathed
owe
of the brave.
ing
amaranth, a purplish
in
endming fame
memory
it
thus
Its
name,
came
prowess of
in Greek,
to represent the
means
undy-
sical antiquity.
Andrea
Emblemata,
cxxxvi:
"Strenuorum
(cf.
To
and
all
Alciati,
Critical Catalogue
immortale nomen"
les
New
marble David to assume the role of a civicmonument with such ease. The same humanistic circle that thought up the "renascent" flower
might well have inspired the transfer of the statue to
the Palazzo Vecchio. That all this happened as early
as 1408-1416 makes the marble David one of the true
primordia of Renaissance iconography. Its symptomatic importance can be appraised only in the context
of the general pattern of "cross-breeding" between
theology and philosophy, between literature and the
fine arts, that molded the intellectual and artistic
for the
The "amaranthine
Testament; in
patriotic
Peter 5:4,
have linked
it
in eo,
Greek tenn
as "im-
quam
rumque
this
gaudere decerpi
aliquis
flos
mi-
et laetius renasci." It is
New
Was
it
Vespasiano da
coli," vii; ed.
Bisticci, Vite di
is
and expressive
sance.
between the
said of
formal
its
especially
is
pro-
nounced
artists of
illustri, s.v.
qualities, delicately
perhaps
same may be
uomini
age.*^
If,
new
climate of the
"Nic-
478f.
in the head,
classicahty
its
is still
Tuscan Trecento.
p.
and Humanists,"
section, "Artists
ibid.,
pp.
294flF.
CRUCIFIX,
PLATE
S.
CROCK, FLORENCE
Wood, polychrome; H.
c.
W.
168 cm;
DOCUMENTS
173
c.
cm
(c.
1412)
nonc
SOURCES
1510 Albertini,
(Before 1530)
^illi, s.v.
parable crucifix in
one that
s.v.
is
now
s.v.
"A
competition
in
S.
is
S.
vv^ith
slightly shortened, in
"And by
his
hand,
now
in the
Church
of S. Croce.
."
.
in
S.
still
s.v.
Croce."
to
Some
parts of
it
who
were reproved by
[here], that
he
to see
"Donatello," p. 70:
1550) Gelli,
another
Cod. Petrel.)
had hoped
to
S.
Filippo, to
of
relief,
in S. Croce."
(c.
Church
s.v.
made
a life-size crucifix
which
side entrance
is
now
in S.
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Maria Novella between the chapels of the Strozzi and the Bardi, and he did
criticized the crucifix of Donatello in S. Croce,
do
[better]
and then
it
we have
bit too
it
because he had
to criticize."
s.v.
which he thought a
made
is
in the
middle of
[S.
Croce], as
related above."
i,
p.
178 (Milanesi,
i,
pp. 573f):
"And below
divides the church, to the left above the crucifix of Donatello, he painted in fresco a miracle of
St.
Francis.
."
.
Vita of Bnmelleschi, n, pp. 8f (Milanesi, pp. 333f, slightly rephrased but otherwise unchanged):
"In those days Donatello had finished a wooden crucifix, which was placed in S. Croce below the
St.
Vita of Donatello, pp. 47f (Milanesi, pp. 398f, slightly shortened): "In the same church [S. Croce]
beneath the screen alongside the scene painted by Taddeo Gaddi, [Donatello] did a wooden
it
delicate in every
member and
knowledge,
in
an
When
he
and casually invited him to dine with him, since the two
friends often ate together. As they were passing the Mercato Vecchio, Fihppo bought cheese, eggs,
and fruit; then he gave Donatello his ksy and asked him to take these things home by himself,
pretending that he had to wait for the bread at the baker's. Thus Donatello reached Filippo's house
alone. As he entered the ground floor, he beheld the crucifix, which had been placed in a good
light. It was so perfect, and finished so miraculously, that he stopped in his tracks as if struck by
was
finished, Filippo
went
to Donatello
Critical Catalogue
overcome by the delicate beauty of the work, he opened his hands and dropped the fruit,
and cheese he was holding in his apron, spilling everything on the floor. When Filippo, who
terror;
eggs,
had arrived meanwhile, found him standing thus, he thought to himsfelf, if the wonder of my art
has made Donatello open his hands, it has opened his heart and mind, too. So he laughingly said,
"What have you done, upsetting our entire meal?" Donatello replied, "For my part I've had enough
this morning; go ahead and gather up your share. For I realize and confess that to you it is given
to make Christs, and to me peasants."
shortened,
is
and
trans.
December
Croce,
S.
Croce (from F. Moise, Santa Croce di Firenze, Florence, 1845, p. 184): "... I have
urged Pier Antonio da Vernia to finish the carved and gilt wooden tabernacle {omamento di
Archives of
S.
legniame) for the crucifix of Donatello, which has been placed in the Chapel of the Bardi; but
my design [for it] ..."
1591 Bocchi, p. 165: "In the Chapel of the Bardi, Lords of Vemio, at the head of the cross
eastern end of the church), there
is
the
wooden
crucifix
(i.e.
the
expert workmanship. It has been said that this crucifix was criticized
(i.e.
in every
way and
is still
treasured
it is
by
all as
limbs, but
it is
as highly prized
as
it
was
was made
for
Bernardo
in the past."
was the
The
oldest
The elaborate
time by Vasari was
in
1845
The
(see Moise,
loc.cit.);
it
first
in
gilt
taber-
still
in ex-
has since
loincloth
first
to
draw
I know, this
been properly investigated; its purpose, no doubt, was to permit the
figure to be taken down and placed on a bier or in the
feature
tomb
and
its
So far as
as part of a
Good
the parish.
is
It consists
The
it
Barbigia, in
but acquired
it
St.
Louis Chapel,
it
i.e.
within less
The Sculpture
of Donatella
The
head
row
vertical
crack has
is
character of
arm, are
loc.cit.).
of the S.
nar-
deservedly forgotten,
juncture.
239 ) placed
tello;
(in
it
The
Schmarsow
(D., p.
artists
10),
would
made
his cruci-
tracted so
S.
his claim
it
It is, I think,
Billi,
tello,
in Renaissance
Pretiss.
bound
meaning
discussion of the
its
and
enough from the sources: there is every reason to beHeve that it did not yet exist in the Quattrocento, otherwise we should find it in the Brunelleschi biography of
their
art,
own
and works of
Semrau ( Thieme-Becker,
and Schubring (KdK, p. 20)
"c. 1420." Frey (Cod. Magi, p. 306) and Planiscig
(D., pp. 27, 139) have argued for a date in the late
1420's, while Reymond (Sc. Fl, n, p. 125) insisted on
placing it in the 1430's. This uncertainty must be
blamed, in considerable measure, on Vasari's anecdote
about the "peasant on the cross." No one, to be sure,
has taken the story at face value, and several of the
scholars named above have emphasized its CinqueCornel von Fabriczy, Jahrbuch
and Otto Kurz, the pioneer authors in this neglected field, have already pointed out the basic pattern to which our story conforms
a pattern derived
from the legendary contests of Zeuxis and Parrhasios,
and of Homer and Hesiod, in Ancient times (Die
Legende vom Kiinstler, Vienna, 1934, pp. 118f). The
1913, p. 421)
a further residue of
Kris
Bode
left
loc.cit.).
Lexikon,
has
Cruttwell (D., p. 25) and Colasanti (D., p. 41) pronounced it a youthful work of c. 1410-1415; Kauff-
mann
it
fruitless.
to transfer to Donatello's
side
wood (Kauffmann,
separate piece of
right
remain
but the
latter,
much
through
skillful
"lobbying," at-
to
them the
evident
p.
10
Critical Catalogue
commission
to
likelihood,
jointly.
crucifixes
and
successors.*
states that the victory went to him by unanimous decision of the thirty-four judges, and we have no reason to distrust his word, since he was writing at a time
when the true facts were still likely to be remembered. ) To contemporary readers, the Brunelleschi biographer's biased version must have had a good deal
But to return to the story of the two wooden crucifixes. Under the circumstances, it seems clear that the
phrase about the "peasant on the cross" is of purely
Cinquecento coinage, and that its meaning, therefore,
must be interpreted in mid-sixteenth century terms
of plausibility; after
all,
fifteenth.
145
own
experience, since
it
it
fire
probably explains
why
Billi's
lutely, there is
the figure.
shall
have
to
by
The
tradition of Donatello's
Albertini,
is
nothing to contradict
The almost
universal
it
in the style of
preoccupation of
is
it
to be found in the
we
his
that gutted
praise of
(Kauff-
synonyms
we
Spirito in 1471.
petitor,"
we
authorship, attested
perished in the
become the
has
"rustic," "peasantlike" as
this
or to Brunelleschi
in the Baptistery;
D., p. 18
Clearly, then,
idealism";
vs.
32,
same subject
^"realism
for "Gothic").
how much
mann,
so strong,
statue of the
Any attempt
standard interpretation)
tello's
loc.cit.)
flict
to view it as an echo of the conbetween Gothic and Renaissance seems little short
of absurd, regardless of whether the progressive role
be assigned to Donatello (as in Semper, D., '75, p.
trial relief
that of
trattato,
its
ancestor
3 Brunelleschi's
was carved before 1420, according to a
document published by Botto {Rivista d'arte, xin, 1931, p.
432), while Donatello's must be dated some thirty -five years
superior merit
later;
*
The
from
tlie
as given in the
leschi
magnanimously relinquishes
the commission.
this is surely
The Sculpture
represents anything but a novel type, and
its
older
left
relatives
1400.
The
is dif-
ficult
Planiscig
fix;
the earher
members
it
nice
it
figure.
lines
if
and
S.
still,
his
is
It is
Or San Michele
date of
crucifix for a
More remarka-
The
St.
Mark
We
may have
the com-
The
half.
lower
its
he alone!
a "peasant."
when considered
it
new and
would thus arrive at a tentative
1410-1411. However, it seems advisable to make
bolder direction.
due only
-^nd
its
Croce
however,
he
caUing
try,
much
fraternity),
tello
justified in
broken with
and shinbone of the right leg, the long, clinging loincloth reaching below the left knee, the long and
ble
we now
Croce
"International Style"
inter-
S.
in detail, are
crucifix,
If
among
Had
opinion of the
of Donatella
dictated
balance,
become
this sense,
to
of
c.
1412
is
to
be understood
two years
in
shift of
one
be ruled
out.
PLATES
4-5
1408-1415
(c.
1409-1411)
DOCUMENTS
A
Cathedral workshop, in the archives of the Opera del Duomo. These were, in part, known to Milanesi
(Vasari, n, pp. 400f, 427),
Paatz, Kirchen,
m,
Semper (D.
p. 545, n. 427).
They
'75, .pp.
and systematically
in Poggi,
Duomo,
1408,
12
Critical Catalogue
was not
kept, since
May
on
29,
later,
ured,
and cut
dovioi to a height of
Duke
ofiF
is
to receive
50
to receive
is
30
two marble
florins for
5f,
21fi^.]
payment
florins in part
figures, a St.
for the
marble figure of
St.
Payment
for a
{211): Donatello
is
key
to lock the
to receive
15
florins
is
working.
marble figure of
St.
John the
Evangelist.
1415, April 16 {215): Donatello
of
1415,
May, otherwise he
May
10 {216): Donatello
florins;
Donatello
is
to
must
finish the
marble figure of
to receive
to receive
is
20
35
25
St.
florins.
florins for
florins for
St.
St.
at
St.
160
SOURCES
1510 Albertini, p.
hand
9:
"On
is
of Donatello."
by
(c.
S.
his [Donatello's]
hand
is
in every part,
St.
which
on the fagade of
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
the fagade of
and clad
[S.
St.
49 (Milanesi,
p. 400, slightly
ii,
p.
S.
in simple raiment,
which
is
made on
The
main
two
Duomo
pairs of
can be seen in a
miniature showing the consecration of the Cathedral
by Eugene IV in 1436 (Bibl. Laurentiana, cod. Ed. 151;
reprod. Raymond van Marie, The Development of the
niches flanking the
The Hague,
(Poggi,
loc.cit., fig.
statues
On
February
1,
1589,
were placed
1929, p.
p. xxxviii, n. 1
cloister
light
3).
portal,
S.
(Poggi,
loc.cit.).
when
them
better
aisles so as to give
Removed
for
op.cit.,
until 1904,
safekeeping in
1940, they
after the
13
The Sculpture
of Donatella
tributes
them
Migliore
illustrata,
Nanni
di
mistook the
1790, p. 233)
Banco
St.
Luke
by Dona-
Florence,
1684, pp. 15, 26) and Giuseppe Richa (Notizie istoriche delle chiese Florentine
vi, 1757, p. 165).
.
David
of
make
an error that
Wilhelm
of 1412," so that
final
any
it
August
less
it
had
St.
to
be omitted
in the
payment
Bode, in the
(D.
'87,
pp.
fifth
the
problem of
and 572,
The
and pp.
is
[the]
David"
is
(op.cit., p. xxxvii),
to
part
"Ita
ment
St.
opposite:
in
this circumstance,
given
n. 493.
whole, makes
Even
art as a
John.
statue of
mission and completion, at a time of crucial significance for the growth of Donatello's individual style
and
St.
was the first payment) that the artist had done little
or no work on the figure up to that time. The authori-
in Paatz, loc.cit.
n. 425;
however, does
not force us to infer that here we have the first payment actually made for our statue, or (assuming it
12, 1412,
behind in
statue, that
pointed out that the earhest payis recorded for August 1412 ( doc.
we
wrong conclusion by
another record (Poggi, doc. 414) which proves that
the statue was finished not later than the summer of
1410, rather than in August 1412. We still do not
are saved from jumping at the
thus assigned the statue to the years 1413-1415 (similarly Planiscig, D., pp. 23ff, 136).
the entry for April 18, 1413 (Poggi, doc. 206) and
ending with that of June 3, 1415 (Poggi, doc. 218),
amount
14
Critical Catalogue
David
could
final
one
marble
eral
November
figures,"
and
purpose
is
November
Donatello had
tine work,
is
we
if
was meant
we
artist's later
cases,
too,
who
Thus there
first
St.
Mark on November
189 ) but he
,
somewhat
The
installment on his
is
p.
may
well have
shown
commis-
in his
more hkely
and the elaboration of details to his asAs a result, he was apt to exceed the time
limits imposed upon him, or to deHver his pieces in a
condition which his patrons, especially those with traditional standards of craftsmanship, would consider
technically deficient or unfinished. The main instances
of this "modern" intractabihty, it is true, date from the
sistants.
18; the
little
siu-face finish
John,
John remained
St.
of the
the entry of
the
less
and probably
important
13) refers to
so,
we may
more than
that no
of course,
sixth
risk,
is
easily
late
John
St.
start.
May
John in
demanding great
in-
creative effort.
13,
provide
fail to
we can
if
assurance
the final
220;
those explicitly
to
naming the
Evangelists.
referred to
less
by name
significant
until
is
not
far
George of
all
According to KaufiFmann,
St.
John be-
St.
Mark
St.
Mark,
too,
it
is
of
St.
a niche
should not
and Semper
four statues.
loc.cit.,
c.
is
Under the
John
this
St.
St.
Once
with
is
is
state
later
in regarding the
another reason
15
J
^ O
head
as several years
George and
its
its
kinship
terribilitd.
The Sculpture
which was
to
influence Michelangelo's
of Donatella
Moses. The
St.
The
it
still
of the
St.
uneven
John
size
is
The
fiery
glance
St.
Mark and
the
St.
in the
shape of regularly carved and precisely placed concave disks, ringed by a concentric engraved circle to
represent the iris. Had Donatello intended to give the
eyes of the St. John a focused glance, he undoubtedly
head of Goliath
When and by
in
such crude
we cannot determine
it
guided Michelangelo-enthusiast of the later sixteenth
century who wanted to direct the gaze of the statue
towards the main portal of the Cathedral. In any
event, Donatello had left the eyeballs uncarved, as in
the marble David. Strangely enough, this tiny but
crucial detail has never been pointed out before, so
far as I know; Kauffmann, in fact, goes out of his way
to stress that the statue is perfectly preserved except
for the tip of the nose. As soon as the eyes are restored
to their pristine condition (this has been done by
retouching in our PI. 5d) the expression of the face
becomes calmer and more pensive psychologically
"neutral," as it were. We also begin to notice other
aspects that strike us as less fully developed than in
the St. Mark. Except for the treatment of the eyebrow region, the St. John displays no physical marks
of old age: the skin is smooth and tightly stretched,
with hardly a trace of wrinkles, no bags under the
eyes, and no hint of advancing baldness. This is essentially a youthful head on which a beard and musfashion
was a mis-
perhaps
ing shape
still
hand
of the
marble
it
St.
it
to a functional relation-
is
in the evolu-
reached in the
ST.
at David's feet.
To summarize our
in every respect less
observations, the
St.
John appears
St. Mark, al-
May
c.
1411,
1415.
MARK
6-7
Marble; H. 236
cm
W.
cm
1411-1413
Communal
DOCUMENTS
Several entries in an accoimt book of the linen drapers' guild, in the
of Florence. Already
known
to Baldinucci {Notizie,
104-107,
and reprinted
i,
p.
Michelangelo Gualandi,
series iv,
pp. 161f. Pietro Franceschini, VOratorio di San Michele in Orto, Florence, 1892, p. 81,
added a further
Critical Catalogue
1409, February 15: Niccolo di Pietro Lamberti
back
commissioned
is
1411, February
The
16:
his
tail;
compensation
Mark from
is
in the niche;
and
to
make
commissioned by the
is
Mark;
St.
all
and
Mark
to bring
that
is
to
fixed at 28 florins.
is
1411, April 3:
at
to procure at Carrara
to assign
of,
it
five representatives
the above-mentioned block of marble. [Here, as in the preceding documents, the block
referred to as la statua di
it
is
called figura.]
The
figure
be 4 braccia
to
is
tall,
it
aheady spent for the block. Donatello agrees in advance to accept their appraisal. His word
vouched for by two guarantors, one of them the sculptor Niccolo di Pietro [Lamberti].
florins
is
The
St.
rosettes,
200
vdll receive
1413, April 29
to see to
it
Mark.
St.
It
details
must conform
inside should
be
like
to the
work.
Franceschini, loc.cit.):
that the figure
Stephen; the paneling, of black marble with inlaid white roses and
The
guild
and tabernacle of
members
in
Mark, which
St.
Or San Michele, be
to stand at
is
mancha).
SOURCES
XIV uomini
(Before 1472)
singhularj in Firenze
istoriche edite
the exterior of
St.
p.
George, the
St.
Peter,
and the
St.
Mark,
."
admirable works.
1510 Albertini,
the
(ed.
"In
p. 15:
Peter and
St.
are
by the hand
of
Donatello."
s.v.
gether were commissioned to do two marble figures which are in the pilasters of
Mark and
St.
s.v.
St.
Peter, praiseworthy
works indeed."
St.
Mark and
St.
Or San
Michele], although he received the commission for them jointly with Brunelleschi."
And
(c.
it
is
1550) Gelh,
it
p. 59:
St.
seen anyone
Saint
who had
Mark resembled
Mark
air,
man
in
one of the
to a greater
in Bocchi, p. 30.)
17
degree than
belief."
and
pilasters of
rv,
this
had never
figure, and if
slightly
The Sculpture
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
n, Vita of Bninelleschi, p. 9
of Donatello
(Milanesi, p. 334):
"When
excellent masters
had carved],
make two marble
crucifixes they
they were commissioned by the butchers' guild and the linen drapers' guild to
alone, since
cessful] completion."
Vita of Donatello, pp. 49f (Milanesi, pp. 402f, shghtly expanded; the significant additions are
placed in brackets below): "At Or San Michele in that city he made the marble statue of St.
Peter for the butchers' guild, a very graceful and admirable figure; and for the linen drapers'
made
Mark
St.
the Evangelist,
him
set
up, since he
it
appear entirely
different. This
to accept
it.
and then, without having touched it otherwise, he uncovered it, whereupon everybody was
with admiration and praised the figure as an outstanding achievement."
1677
"Donatello took great care not to give his works too high a
Cinelli, p. 11:
finish, so
as
filled
not to
and grace he had achieved in the first cast or in the free and truly
masterful strokes of his chisel. He thus enhanced their effectiveness from a distance, even though
they became somewhat less striking when viewed at close range. And in order to avoid this
comparison, he insisted on showing his works only after they had been installed in their proper
lose the natural vividness
places, as
The
history
happened
of
marble
St.
charged
hoped
enough from the documents, but the peculiar wording has given rise to some misconceptions concerning
the role
of
Niccolo
di
Pietro
Lamberti.
Passerini
who
(op.cit.,
150
first
is
specifically
men-
3%
braccia (based
its niche in
on the measured di awing
Riccardo and Enrico Mazzanti and Torquato del
Lungo, Raccolta delle migliori fabbriche antiche e
of the statue in
that the
of the
St.
we assume
3,
if
a figure of that
accounted for
slightly taller
were those of a
marble expert, not of a sculptor. He must have been
accustomed to this, for in previous years he had performed the same task for the Cathedral workshop,
which had sent him and Lorenzo di Giovanni d'Am-
When
easily
13).
is
measurement
however,
Or San Michele."
for
He might have
commission as well,
but he had no better claim to it than any other master;
and since he served as a guarantor for Donatello, he
apparently felt no resentment when the task was entrusted to the younger man. Semper (D. 75, p. 87)
and Kauffmann (D., p. 198, n. 30) have argued that
Donatello could not have used the marble block procured by Niccolo, because the contract of 1411 stipulates a height of 4 braccia for the figure as against 3^
the
Mark
fully dis-
i8
Critical Catalogue
quem
Mark. According
difficulties
On
the whole,
we
see no cogent
work on
Mark was done in 1411-1412, in accordance
with the deadline set by the contract.
In Florence, St. Mark was the patron saint of the
The evolutionary
be
St.
George
remarks above,
weU-summarized
to
and the tabernacle were still unfinished, although the wording suggests that not a great deal remained to be done. Insofar as the phrase di quanto vi mancha was meant
to the entry of April 29, 1413, the statue
difficult to
first
significance of the
exaggerate.
St.
Mark would
it mark the
Iconography of
unequivocal instance of a Renaissance figure, antedating Masaccio by some crucial eight years, its im-
was thus
retailers of cloth
The choice
(cf.
of this saint
Kaftal,
by the
linen drapers
The
strange,
trocento.
and apparently
The
that the
indeed, the
by Wilhelm Voge
the
first
XIV uomini
clearly
enough
of Donatello
form.
The claim
and the
St.
Donatello,
St.
Mark was
show
work
in
fame
in tangible
St.
Mark
we have
by analogy,
its
Doors (see above, p. 11). Its purwas to enhance Brunelleschi's repua sculptor by placing his name at the head
pose, obviously,
tation as
(Festschrift
of the
Hans
St.
fist
Billi,
(and greater)
less
^ The influence of the statue has never been adequately explored; the list of copies compiled by Kauffmann, loc.cit., n. 31,
merely serves to suggest the scope of the problem.
2 Interestingly enough, Vasari's Vita of Narmi di Banco con-
payment the guild would see fit to give him. After finishing
the statue, Nanni demanded a much higher fee than had Donatello, whereupon the g^iild agreed to have the latter arbitrate
the dispute, in the belief that he would fix a price far below
on much the same pattern, and equally fictitious, about Donatello as the mentor of Narmi, who appears
here as a former pupil of Donatello: Donatello had been asked
19
The Sculpture
That the St. Mark held the
Or San Michele statues done
first
place
in the
among
the
buona maniera
New
G. B. Cavalcaselle (A
Art Association,
of the College
Leone
Under
Renaissance.
and
High
little
these circumstances
it
is
highly
History of Painting in
Annual Meeting
who
Hnks
even
at the risk of
it
less attractive at
n,
New
tectural treatise of
of Donatella
handwriting"
"artistic
(i.e.,
of Renaissance
who was
the
first
forms
artistica,
fits
Cinelh's re-
for
of 1413, with
figures in such a
tello
way
St.
Mark by exaggerating
cer-
anecdote.
There
is,
St.
Mark has an
Michelangelo:
supposed
its
When
the marble
Soderini
have introduced
into the St. Mark, although these distortions
assuming that there are any ought to show up well in the
photographs of the statue (since they are taken, not
from the street level but from scaffoldings tall enough
to afford an undistorted view such as the artist himself
enjoyed while the figure was still in his workshop).
The
of
tortions" Donatello
is
to
"optical principles
course, have
who
been known
frequently refers to
and
came to see it
then mounted the
scaffolding
Michelangelo
and pretended
to retouch
of
from Vitruvius,
compensatory distortions of
to Donatello
when Nanni
own. Donatello, however, insisted that Nanni should receive more, rather than less, and when asked to explain his
decision pointed out that Nanni, as a lesser master, had to labor
his
finds himself
unable to
fit
aim
of
20
Critical Catalogue
a moral that applies with equal force to the Donatello
(Testamentum,
be left to
the experts, who command the special knowledge required; no layman should attempt it lest he make a
fool of himself. Here again we have a basic tenet of
of perfection
who
since his
qualified
judgment
version:
[savi]";
n.
statue, unfinished;
DOCUMENTS
Die
p. 336,
us that the
own
man
standards
of a technical kind
it
if
work can be
minority. Our
fully
story,
said to
to
which
embody some
fun-
damental aspects of the new values that set the Renaisartist apart from his mediaeval predecessors.
sance
nonc
ART,
D.C.
(1412, 1420-1430?)
W. 50 cm; D. 42 cm
H. 162 cm;
it tells
WASHINGTON,
Marble
1373;
Zilsel,
41).
8-9
ni, p.
Edgar
by Giotto in his possession that "its beauty is not understood by the ignorant but astounds the magistri artis"
PLATES
DAVID,
in:
SOURCES
1550 Vasari-Ricci, p. 53 (Milanesi, p. 408): "In the houses of the Martelli there are many scenes of
." (repeated almost verbatim in
marble and bronze, among them a David three braccia tall
.
The
earliest
Martelli family
is
asks,
Billi,
the
Anonimo
by
telli
p.
Ill) saw
it
it
which he expects
to publish soon.)
has been
is
it
In 1916
On
work
in Donatello's
Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art, New York, 1949,
lifetime (Charles
175,
p.
lists
Seymour,
Jr.,
who
first
it
had the
status of a
name
of
Why, he
according to Vasari,
Ruberto Martelli?^
tion, since,
as the original
Ugolino
edi-
telli,
tion of the Vite, cited in full below, pp. 191f, clearly excludes the
David from "the many things given by Donatello" to the Mar-
21
The Sculpture
furnish a key
then, that
is
pride of ownership.
the
of Donatella
would seem,
David shortly
of classical sculpture
It
number
statue
of advantages;
it
why
collector
our
figure
his
brother Ugolino
some extent
it
is
useful to
know
that the
name
of Donatello
and
still,
was
was
imposed on the
But where was the
David before it entered Ugolino's collection about
1535-1540? Could it have been an heirloom in the
hands of some other Florentine family which, for
reasons unknown, decided to sell it at that time? The
possibility, while it cannot be denied absolutely, seems
remote. The positive appreciation of fragmentary or
unfinished works of art is a Cinquecento development,
as evidenced by the new interest in collecting the
drawings of important masters; Vasari and his circle
suspects that
loc.cit.,
statue
by the author
it
wanting
presenting
to
it
Martelli, or
Dona-
to
of
is
arbitrarily
of the Vite).
until
its
acquisition
by Ugolino. Since
this
interval
and eventful
Cosimo
to the
ascertain, although
may
some clues.
The date of the David Martelli has usually been
linked with that of the Giovannino. Wilhelm Bode
eventually yield
Mu-
St.
Matthew
Balcarres
of Michel-
true of Ugolino
such an attitude, if
must have been very rare. Fragments
existed at
2
all,
Vasari
it.
In
miiller, D., p.
tradition
told
is
Three such statuettes are known, in the Louvre, in the colKenneth Clark, and in the Berlin Museum. The
Werke des Bildhauers Agostino di Antonio di Duccio, Strasbourg, 1909, pp. 106ff.
^ Perliaps this explains a curious passage in Condivi's Vita
of Michelangelo (1553, xxii); speaking of Michelangelo's bronze
David, Condivi mentions the bronze David of Donatello in the
Palazzo Vecchio and informs us that Donatello was much admired by Michelangelo except for one thing he did not have
the patience to give his works the proper finish, so that they
look wonderful from a distance but lose some of their efl^ect at
close range. This remark certainly sounds strange on the lips
of Michelangelo, the more so as the bronze David of Donatello
does not justify such a stricture. Could Michelangelo have said
lection of Sir
it
the
is
what he
had been
frequently as-
probability, he reported
all
(D., p. 52)
something of the
22
sort
Critical Catalogue
Marquand (Art
in
America,
them
c.
as late as
rv,
losv,
tello's St.
see,
its
velopment.
statue
Mark
We
might
Pis.
8a).
6,
August
plicit
12, 1412,
at
its
at
this
closest coun-
of
own
be cred-
enough
to
mar
The
figure
is
David.
David of 1408-1409
respects may be
which
in
some
David
(
and the bronze
viewed as a critique of ours) but as the only piece in
marble that permits us to observe Donatello's working
methods. The technical and artistic lessons it holds for
us deserve to be more fully explored; thanks to Kenits
point that on
florins by
work done on the
it
recall
and, as
the years
to
ficient
a study has
seated
St.
now become
possible.
PLATES
10-12
PLATES
10a, b, 11a,
12
PLATES
10c,
ST.
Marble
1415-1417)
statue: H.
ST.
He
(c.
209
cm
W.
(at the
phnth) 67
cm
Marble
Marble
relief,
H. 39 cm;
W. 120 cm
lib
W. 64 cm
DOCUI^ENTS
1417, February:
guild
The marble
by the workshop
of Florence Cathedral.
23
is
and swordsmiths'
The Sculpture
who
(Milanesi,
published
by
iv, p.
it
of Donatello
p.
ii,
source nor
original
its
probably Florentine
is
its
style,
original
p. 195, n. 6,
and
540, n. 113].)
SOURCES
(1451-1464) Filarete, Trattato deU'architettura, book
622)
p.
Such
is
the
St.
XIV uomini
di
St.
v.
not timid.
alert (pronto),
George
ed inedite
edite
do a
Or San Michele
of marble, at
(Before 1472)
to
Wolfgang
(ed.
xxiii
figure. It
is
in Florence."
the
St.
Opere
istoriche
p.
George, the
St.
and the
Peter,
Mark, admirable
St.
."
works
1510 Albertini,
p. 15:
"In
St.
Peter and
are
by the hand
of
Donatello."
(Before 1530)
Billi, p.
1550)
St.
St.
George
in
alertness."
in
low
a miraculous work."
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
St.
ii,
p.
50
Milanesi, p. 403
in this
And
George
Father
in
medium low
"is
more
relief."
a figure of the
(A
work
art
of
movement
variant of this
relief in
{gesto
and
spirit
And on
the
marble of
St.
St.
George
Marmi
how he once
no modern marble
armed
spirit of the
relief,
una
fierceness,
its
certainly
made
George, very vivid and proud; the head shows the beauty of youth, the brave
as
which the
St.
who complained
tells
had been given a place of honor next to the Palazzo Vecchio while
Donatello's masterpiece was hidden away in an inconspicuous spot: "I would rather deserve a
throne and not be on it than be on it and not deserve it."
nelli,
(Before 1584)
di
mano
II
of inferior merit,
Lasca (Anton Francesco Grazzini, 1503-1584): "In lode della statua di San Giorgio
di Donatello a
Orsanmichele
in Firenze," a licentious
boy
what matter
beautiful
Ganymede,"
its
physical
live
friend;
inconstancy, the
in
"my
poem
fits
if
his
of temper,
24
Critical Catalogue
am
my
to
Edward Lowinsky
indebted to Professor
attention.)
printed edition,
(first
Milan, 1822-1825,
of this
with notes, in Semper, D. 75, pp. 175flF, 249ff). The key terms
lengthy and repetitious "appreciation" seem to be derived from Vasari's comments on the
statue.
Apart from
IV,
German
pp. 255ff;
translation,
its
that
was
already "historic" at the time of writing, Bocchi's treatise can claim our attention only in the con-
text of
Schlosser-Magnino,
La
vividness.
The
St.
at the sense of
master.
Many have
sculpture,
it
movement, the
celebrated
and
very famous;
is
wonder
is
practically
Cf. Juhus
nil.
Roman
figure
its
it,
is
regarded as equal to
spirit
both in verse and in reasoned prose; and not very long ago there
supreme work of
be praised,
in everyone's opinion."
Sometime
Madonna
in that of the
church
delle
(this
loc.cit.,
is
and Milanesi,
Cat., p. 8),
to Pietro Franceschini
of
p. 75), this
the
happened immediately
Madonna
tributed to
after 1628,
when
loc.cit.).
it,
was transferred
new
location of the
George,
St.
is
putting
an argumentum ex
ing
76).
it
in the
himself
it
and
by remov-
to place a
bronze
[Vasari,
No
and
in 1886-1887,
n, p. 403]
when
note, while
Semper [D.
birth was being celebrated, the St. George still remained in the tabernacle of the Madonna delle Rose,
as attested by the numerous publications issued on
that occasion. Very soon thereafter, the statue was returned to its first location.^ But by 1892 it had been
'75, p.
The reason
is
obscure. It could
would be
less
which [the
inally
painted originally.
2 See Franceschini,
is
may
op.cit., p. 85.
statue]
was
be
orig-
Cruttwell,
loc.cit.,
mentions
Palazzo
cortile of the
25
The Sculpture
decided to return to the plan of 1860
of Donatella
Franceschini,
and the
statue
is
niche.*
be seen
which
it
had been
hand
monument. Contrary
to Kauffmann's belief
(D.,
George must
also
The helmet,
belonged
tello
drill
have
is
Dona-
equipment
which appears in the relief was, in all probability,
copied from that of the statue, rather than vice versa,
the statue is Hkely to have been executed first perhaps one to two years earlier. Now we know that the
to a further conclusion: since the military
St.
hole
the tabernacle,"
to
above
the nose (PI. 11a), and two each among the curls on
either side of the head ( PI. 10b ) Since these do not lie
in one plane, they could not have served to anchor
a halo. If they had any purpose at all which can
hardly be questioned they must have been intended
to hold a helmet in place. The modern beholder may
be tempted to think of these accouterments as alien.
of the left ear, another at the hairline, directly
more
useful than
to
see below, p. 29 )
assume,
left
lance,
we may
shape,
in the St.
beneath the
his left
Our
(PI.
p.
12b) can be accounted for only on the assumption that it was meant from the very start to hold
the shaft of a lance or the hilt of a sword. Moreover,
by the
"St.
of our statue,
we do
is
in the
26
Palazzo Pretorio.
Critical Catalogue
content to accept 1416, the date published
by Milanesi
on
marble for the base of the tabernacle, as documentary evidence for the date of the
statue as well, without regard to the difference between the Florentine calendar and standard usage.
(Paatz, loc.cit., having changed Milanesi's date to
for the sale of the
in
who
loc.cit.)
for
it
provide a statue
is
was
normal procedure. Offhand, the most plausible interpretation of the Siebenhiiner document would be that the
Cathedral workshop served as a purveyor of marble to
the armorers' guild, both for the St. George and the
base rehef, and that the "figure" was simply a block of
suitable dimensions.^ If this assumption is correct, the
purchase of the "figure" would yield a valuable terminus post for our statue, confirming the generally ac-
of
it
lapis that
not
on
criteria of style.
A radical
by Herbert
Siebenhiiner,
after
An adequate
it.
St.
Mark
tober 1415.
The
brief
summary
document
of
to indicate that
it
The
linen drapers,
it
will
be
recalled,
how much
which
assumes that
he
tacitly
this
had become
St.
me
strikes
as at all convincing:
was
must
Oclittle
to
was a
us
tell
if
all,
carving,
fectly
had commissioned
adapted
been responsible
to
and direction of the hole, seem perthe hilt of a sword or the shaft of a
George "figure"
as well.
27
The Sculpture
lance but not to the strap of a sling. Moreover, one
apt to ask
how
this
hand (which,
if
Siebenhiiner
is
George have been the subject of considerable comment. Reymond (So. Fl, n, pp. 91f) had suggested
a kinship with the St. Theodore at Chartres Cathedral;
Max Dvorak (Geschichte der italienischen Kunst,
Munich, 1927, pp. 79f) and more specifically Kauffmann (D., p. 5) derive the pose from Gothic statues
of military saints.^ Such northern types undoubtedly
have a place among the ancestors of our statue, but
Kauffmann vastly exaggerates their importance. He
is
right,
he even ventures to reconstruct Donaworking procedure the artist must have started
by drawing an outline of the figure on the front face
of the marble block. This view entirely disregards the_
powerful and aesthetically decisive spatial aspect
of the pose, its subtle but effective contrapposto: the
weight of the body is not evenly distributed but rests
mainly on the forward leg; the left hip is thrust out;
and the plane of the entire body, as well as of the
frontality that
The
tello's
shield,
is
full military
of Donatella
Siebenhiiner's
tello's
to the
is
Davids.*
be
to
sure,
is
is
angelo,
who
St.
George
as a
St.
HB,
David
for Donatello
is
documented
David
Brinckmann No.
8,
of
c.
1503-
Mark
1953, p. 6n).
Kunstchronik sum-
The
mary, then,
introduced by him
just
represents, as
it
George has
St.
for
The
St.
forward thrust
all
shows an astonishing
for
Schubring,
Apart from
known admiration
p. 40,
its
earliest "defiant
28
Critical Catalogue
stone."
And what
as our figure.
if
we
imagine the
St.
George
fully
is
a truly revolutionary
the
human body
earliest
that
St.
Mark
(cf.
the
fore Pilate,
Here the
The Renaissance
mounted
we
St.
Road
from By-
itself
has enriched
at the
advantage of
this
further emphasis on
its
realistic
aspect.
detailed
St.
graphically speaking
but
to its vivacita,
its
The base
"living
According
beardless
to
head
details of his
KauflFmann,
loc.cit.,
St.
George kilHng
youthful,
the
(Kauffmann, D.,
St.
ceding
George
and W.
Strasbourg, 1917).
They
F.
all
f.
bild.
Museum,
as
it.
The
The only
dissenters
c.
1932, p. 19),
1430;
who
believe
it
may be as late
who dates it
p. 136),
doubt that the "marble for the base of the tabernacle" was the slab from which our relief is carved.
The transaction becomes far more meaningful if we
think of it as involving not ordinary marble but a
piece carefully selected for a special purpose. In view
of the novel character of the base rehef, with its subtle
gradations of carving, it seems plausible enough that
Donatello should have insisted on marble of the most
flawless quality, and that such a piece could be procured only by special purchase from the Cathedral
workshop. We cannot be sure, of course, that Donato
Kst., vi,
who
status).
1428;
p. 56, retains
documented
its
them
actual source
tello actually
executed the
of the
at
relief
presence."
relief as
hand
29
is
nothing to
The Sculpture
of Donatella
The
George
seems
relief
com-
fully
some
we know,
overstate
all
and
it
has
of a
we
first
1420's.
The
D., p. 30).
Even the
same point as those of the side wall. The most that can
be said of them is that they run in the general direction of the main vanishing point. The entire building
is
not "constructed" with ruler and compass but
sketched freehand, so that it defies any test of ac-
classical
St.
model
George, on
To my knowledge,
in 1417
relief.
loc.cit.,
the figures
zon.
in
ters
is
George
relief
is
it is
is,
its
is
so conspicu-
Corinthian pilas-
if
not
p.
only
the rendering of
ously impaired.
know
knew
imprecise no-
And
is
backgrounds
from the
i,
still
silver altar
Sc. Fl,
did not
studies of Brimelleschi
in-
Reymond,
rules, if
(ill.
very reason,
what
Florentine Baptistery
What he
ishing point
it
this
rider in
the
tious,
of the reliefs
rehef the
Hellenistic reliefs.
oiu:
still
calls
Planiscig,
turi,
Kauffmann
ture
in
his lance.
the case:
Raumbild"; Morisani states that the architecshows "un'inflessibile rispondenza alia regola
scientifica"; and even White, generally far more cau-
hnk with
classical sources,
tivisches
is
among
extent,
is
The
mode
Ma-
known
instance.
Compared
to
saccio,"
30
Critical Catalogue
92ff) this
88flF,
and
here,
it
The revolutionary
as
new mode
qualities of the
are far
account for
Nor
in
its
way
in
such a
still
holder,
no longer applies
George panel
(e.g.
by Schott-
logical extension of a
fails
view also
suffers
difficult to
from
its
share today.
all,
becomes quite
new mode
may be termed
of relief
carrier;
it
it
no longer
acts
is
to let the
forms
to
is
schiac-
effect
relief plane, or
sculptural rather
irrelevant.
mere neutral
dis-
at
odd angles
into curves
to the
note the
Yet the
one
The Hildebrandian
St.
predecessors,
that make
was unattaina-
they are
(i.e.,
training as a painter
as a
to the St.
tendencies
pictorial
apphed
observe
reliefs
modehng
miiller, D.,
difficult to
often
is
definition,
This
it
followed by Ghi-
vistas.
make
today.
more strongly modthan the hooves, which show the same shallowof carving as the trees of the background land-
eled
as to
ness
way
painting.
is
known examples
earliest
"pictorial" in
throne of
its
St.
conventional
new
it
relief,
concern here
is
valeurs of hght
Dooro
values, achieved
is
principle of schiacciato.
3'
North
cannot be by-passed
The Sculpture
young Donatello.^^ Here
as a stimulus to the
of Donatella
challenge that he was anxious to meet:
again, as
how
to create
Ghibertesque
Blessing
even
territory.
though Vasari
explicitly claims
older literature
it
{op.cit., p. 84, n.
Venturi (Storia,
vi, p.
246),
of
all
whom
the base
(D., p. 67)
drew
attention to
Madonna (compare
its
of
much
individual scrutiny.
The
it
If
God
Our
relief is his
plastic
volume
relief of
Kirchen,
is
iv,
sort,
Bode
it
would have
it.
in 1415. This
Again in contrast to
Nanni di Banco, Donatello has chosen a rigid frontal
view, thus endowing his figure with a solemnity entirely appropriate to the subject. At the same time,
this frontality
it
the base relief he was free to introduce the architectural vocabulary of the Early Renaissance. Paatz,
made without
rendered
by illusionistic means and the triangular field assumes
the character of a window from which the figure
emerges. The molding of the frame has a curious
double function that emphasizes the new relief concept; on the one hand, it belongs to the architecture
of the niche, yet it also serves as a "window frame"
which is an integral part of the rehef God the Father
uses it as a sill on which to rest his book, and near
its
(op.cit., p.
here, however,
Franceschini
is
is
Even
by considerMadonna.
beyond doubt,
itself.
claim,
rest.
echoes in some
it
after,
its
nacle
contemporary with
its
the same
half-length figure of
in the
St.
ing
it
confidently assume,
is
so
place
PI.
relief. I
We may
the Father
simply para-
God
it is
turous.
artistic
of Middeldorf
(AB,
phatically perhaps
and Donatello's
32
reliefs.
Critical Catalogue
13-17, 124e,
PLATES
13a, 15b
1416-1435
BEARDLESS PROPHET
(east side,
W.
H. 190 cm;
first
of base 59
(1416-1418)
cm
BEARDED PROPHET
PLATES
13b, 15a
(1418-1420)
H. 193 cm;
W.
of base
64 cm; D. of base 44
cm
1421
H. 188 cm;
W,
of base
ZUCCONE
PLATES
W.
(1423-1425)
"JEREMIAH"
PLATES
W.
of base
(1427-1435)
(west
side, third
DOCUMENTS
A number
among
of entries
Duomo, known,
in
Milanesi {Vasari, u, pp. 404, 427) and other scholars of the late nineteenth century (see
Paatz, Kirchen, m, pp. 555ff, notes 458-460, 464-467). They were rendered most completely and syspp. 276flF),
37ff),
1415,
to
Campanile.
1416,
March
is
advance of 20
advanced 25
florins for a
is
to carve.
marble figure he
marble figure he
is
is
working on.
working on
December 18-19
230, 231
December 23
232 )
florins;
he
is
to receive
45
florins as the
sum
still
due him.
florins for a
the Campanile.
1419, October 11 {238):
for the
is
doing
Campanile.
is
credited with 95
florins,
name
of both artists.
33
The Sculpture
May
of Donatella
nude boy
at his feet
for the
prophet with a
Campanile.
florins
more
vdth
his son
November 6 {251): Donatello and Nanni are to receive 95 florins, the remainder still due them for
the figure of the prophet Abraham with the boy at his feet, which they have made for the Campanile and which has a value of 125 florins.
1422, September 1 {255): Four marble statues have been carved for the Campanile but are
is
to install in their
still
in
appointed places as
quickly as possible.
1423,
on
for the
August 27
payment
for a
payment
for a figure
marble figure he
is
working
Campanile.
(
263 )
Donatello receives 25
florins in part
he
is
September 28 {265): The consuls of the Arte della Lana and the operai of the Cathedral declare
void all outstanding commissions for statues that have not yet been started, and agree that the
operai
may
now on
May
16 {272): Donatello
for the
is
payment
for a
Campanile.
June 1 ( 27 S ) Notwithstanding the previous resolution ( of September 28, 1423 ) Donatello retains
the commission for the figure he has just done for the Campanile, and the operai are free to grant
,
for
it
as
they
deem
suitable.
marble figure
just
by Donatello.
figure recently
by
at
95
florins;
is
to receive
26
is
florins as
the remainder
-^
due him.
payment
for a statue
he
is
doing for
the Campanile.
About July 11, Michelozzo's Catasto Declaration (the day and month are missing, but it seems plausible to assume that he made out his Declaration at the same time that he wrote Donatello's, which carries the above date; see Fabriczy, op.cit., n. 1, and Rufus Graves Mather, Rivista d'arte, xix, 1937, p.
186 ) As the last of the commissions jointly undertaken by him and Donatello since they "became
partners about two years ago," Michelozzo Hsts a marble figure Sys braccia tall for S. Maria del
Fiore, which is about three-quarters finished. He expects it to be appraised at 90 to 100 florins.
They have already received 37 florins in advance.
:
1428,
at present
it
still
needs;
since contracts for these statues might have to be canceled; since employees of the opera have
often been getting advances, partly for fear of sudden dismissal; and since sculptors have been
getting permission to carve their statues outside the Cathedral workshop, which has
it is
now
worked
to the
34
Critical Catalogue
The master-in-charge
of the opera
is
1434, January 31
advanced 22
is
for a statue
florins
he
is
Habakkuk.
and a
figure
he
is
payment
florins in part
for the
doing.
still
to
is
at
90
florins;
the master
to re-
is
due him.
be paid 15
florins for
Habakkuk.
1464, August 8
881
The very
beautiful four statues on the side of the Campanile facing the church
are to change places with those on the side facing the Baptistery,
Before 1472 )
edite
of
XZV uomini
ed.
1510 Albertini,
p. 10:
in comparison.
OURCES
S
(
made many
istoriche
things
S.
"The Campanile
is
adorned with
did the four facing towards the square and two facing towards the Porta dei Canonici."
(Before 1530) BiUi, pp. 38f: "[Donatello did]
two figures on the Campanile, on the side towards
the square: one is a Hkeness, drawn from nature, of Giovanni di Barduccio Cherichini, the other
.
young Francesco
represents the
by
side,
Cherichini and the young Francesco Soderini; and two figures on the opposite side, above the
1550) Gelli,
p. 58:
"[Donatello]
Abraham
.
and the
sacrificing Isaac
did three
life-size
figure next to
it."
with Isaac on the side towards the Canonica and the two in the center of the opposite
he carved that
that the old
figure,
man
friends of his
is
whom
man
was aware
of speech. Donatello
who seems
It is said
that he
side, the
power
who was
modeled
it
present
from
when
life
and
Giovanni di Barduccio Cherichini and the young one Francesco Soderini, two
he saw frequently."
1550 Vasari-Ricci, pp. 50f (Milanesi, pp. 404f): "On the front face of the Campanile he did four marble
figures 5 braccia tall; the two in the center are portraits from life and represent the young Francesco
Soderini and Giovanni di Barduccio Cherichini, today called
when he wanted
On
else
il
to say,
the side of the Campanile towards the Canonica, above the entrance,
to sacrifice Isaac,
statues."
35
The Sculpture
of Donatello
1568 Vasari-Milanesi, vn, pp. 306f (description of the decorations in S. Lorenzo for the funeral of
Michelangelo ) "Inside the first chapel next to the high altar towards the old sacristy, there was
:
a painting
life-size,
.
showing Michelangelo
the most famous painters and sculptors of the ancients, each with a characteristic attribute.
And
similarly
on the
left
own
and on
his
S.
era since
."
.
1596 Bernardo Davanzati, preface of his translation of Tacitus' Annales into Tuscan
in Opere, ed. Enrico Bindi, Florence, 1852; the passage cited
translation, in
Semper,
'75,
below
is
(modem
reproduced, with
edition
German
by gentlemen and by usage are not vulgarisms but [sources of] energy and strength. Neither Homer
nor Dante eschew them in their sublime poems whenever they express themselves forcefully.
Everything, then, depends on the context. Donatello knew this well enough when he carved the eyes
of the famous Zuccone on the Campanile of our Cathedral, which look as if they had been hollowed
out with a spade; had he made them for the normal view, the figure would now appear blind,
for distance devours diligence. And a generous recklessness {sprezzatura magnanima) renders the
[artist's] concept more vivid rather than debasing it, as in portraying some great wrath, treachery,
revolt, or fury, for instance, which takes not "proper" words but appropriate ones. Nor do the
rough-hewn blocks of the great palaces diminish nay, they enhance the majestic effect of the
structure."
The
statues
presumably
1422
(cf.
side.
too,
can be regarded as
when
west
it,
and Nanni
tello
Museo deirOpera
years ago.
The
Literature
on
the
with
to carve
on Decem-
event,
it
225ff).
side,
which had hitherto been regarded as an unqueswork of Donatello about 1415-1418. I, too,
tionable
and
west sides of the Campanile, only one can be eliminated without further ado as a possible work of Donatello and has never been so considered in modem
times: the Obadiah, from the southernmost niche of
the west side, signed by Nanni di Bartolo ( see below,
through both
1 The fact that Nanni could accept the commission for both
himself and Donatello suggests that the two masters had en-
is
called a
36
artists'
Critical Catalogue
Since the Abraham was a joint commission, the documents do not record how much of the total price of
125 florins went to each artist, and we have no external
data to help us in determining the division of labor.
That the design of the group is by Donatello has been
acknowledged by every critic; but most of them, from
Schmarsow (D., p. 19) and Tschudi (D., p. 8) to
clusions: at the
now
traditional, Ottavio
Morisani
body
of Isaac
now
Studi su Donatello,
its
niche; even
reveal an unsuspected
subtlety of touch.
to
and
unimportant details such as the bundle of firewood or the back of the Abraham, which
play no part in the aesthetic impact of the group.
Morisani also corrects the overemphasis on the physical drama in previous interpretations of the work:
to the carving of
Abraham
is
we
the event"
moment
as recently finished
Donatello's
movement
and
itself,
gaze
is
still
may be hidden
ham
is
it
ix,
1929, p.
Rome
p.
who
up
year
journey in 1402-
years,
1403).
to
con-
carried
(Geza de
146,
in
(op.cit.,
florins
later,
doc. 256 )
to the
both to
formal necessity of a stable group fitted into
the narrow Gothic niche. The compositional problem
he faced is similar to that of the Abraham and Isaac
groups on certain Early Christian sarcophagi, which
may have inspired Donatello to some extent (Schubring, loc.cit.; Middeldorf, AB, p. 574), although the
and
1422
occurs.
tice
22,
for
for a
fixed
on September
"after
the climax
father's
see the
The
out
intended for
1423.
March
the
On
burden of
his
is
last
mentioned
in
him
been absent from the city for many months and being
unable to return because of unpaid debts. ) Still, it is possible
that the partnership with Nanni helped to pave the way for
Donatello's collaboration with Michelozzo, wliich may have
begun as early as 1423-1424, rather than in 1425 (see below,
as having
to ease the
(He
commitments by
pp. 54f).
37
The Sculpture
of Donatello
D-IV
to the difference
Habakkuk and
for
it
was
of the
first
made by Lanyi
who
thus
hand
of an assistant. Since
severe form in the "St. John," the assistant was probably the young Nanni di Bartolo, whose artistic be-
'75, p.
106),
to D-I
to
be the
"St.
had quite
whom
dubbed a "Moses"
121) while Schmarsow had
arbitrarily
(op.cit.,
23ff)
and
type,
p.
as D-II (1418-1420).
"St.
it
is
and D-II
2 Kauffmann
(D., p. 29) also assumes that the documents
between 1423 and 1436 involve only two statues by Donatello;
Poggi {Duomo, p. be) and Colasanti (D., pp. 17ff) regard
D-IV and the Habakkuk as separate entities, in addition to
D-III, which they identify with the "St. John" of the west
side;
its
sees Donatello as
so close to the
is
The pen-
John" eliminated, there is indeed no other choice, unless we are willing to concede
the possibility that D-I and D-II might be the Zuccone
of
and the
St.
With the
the
those of the
The
Mark and
Nicholson
St.
much more
tion of the
pp. 225ff.
38
Critical Catalogue
glance, these confrontations
one wonders
suflBcient to
man
seem
they
if
sort
What
links the
head of
and
could give
rise to the
first
Not only
our
wanted
figure
(op.cit., p.
name
Was
is
this
"St.
own
judg-
John"? To mod-
felt differently.
In any event,
may
well
it
statue.^
We
inscription
Schubring, KdK, p.
why
explain
we
to
99),
How
to place
p. 579).
if
The chronological
p.
is
an arrangement strongly suggestive of an epigraphic "afterthought" for which I know of no precedents elsewhere. And why should Donatello have
statues, the
is
an inscription.
scroll,
"Jeremiah"
to carry
of
^the
and psychological experience that was to find its fullest expression in the Zuccone and the "Jeremiah" (the
"Poggio" head, which I attribute to Nanni di Bartolo,
likewise derives from that of the beardless prophet;
Kauffmann (D.,
is
inner surface
legend
of our statue
"Jeremiah."
not
is
the
among
are
convenience
on styhstic grounds alone. Kauffmann (D., pp. 26, 29f
has gathered a wealth of arguments for placing the
Zuccone in the mid-1420's: he points out that its drapery stvle in many ways recalls that of the St. Louis
shall continue to call that as a matter of
is
so strikingly
hand
what he regards
39
The Sculpture
and execution as to preclude the
possibility of a long-delayed and frequently interrupted working process. These are all, I believe, excellent reasons for equating the Zuccone with D-III
unified in conception
(1423-1425;
The
in the
work
drastic
St.
ance in Florence of
"Roman" character,
by Francovich and Kauffmann, is much more
phenomenon
a parallel
are the
the
right
bend
hand
at the wrist
is
wedge
serves as a
that
the
statue
needs
only
the
The
Renaissance
power
"Roman'
among more
The most
pediment of the
it
of Donatello
of speech in order to
Catasto Declaration
the
is difficult
tend to be exaggerated.
Still,
there can be
Nicholson,
of Galienus
p. 121).
tradition
that
There
is,
first
two are
likenesses,
modern
op.cit.,
)
Mark and
St.
below,
doubt
little
only
Semper (D.
The artistic merit of the "Jeremiah" has been somewhat obscured by the fame of the Zuccone. While the
which he regarded as
men had been prominently associated with the banishment of the Medici
in 1433; Francesco Soderini, in fact, had wanted to
see Cosimo strangled rather than merely exiled (cf.
is
embody
latter
Roman
rhetor
Old Testa-
he
who
in the "Jeremiah,"
the last
is
member
one
is
tempted
of the head,
* If,
as
is
the
more
to say, too
ous, so that
Kauffmann (D.,
p.
Semper
interest in trying to
downward
of the
two
as incongru-
is
considerable
determine
portraits
somehow be
we may
had
I,
bend
'87,
anywhere.
it
40
do not betray
his
hand
Critical Catalogue
Cosimo
we suspect, no
what context Giovanni di Barduccio
Cherichini and Francesco Soderini had distinguished
climate of Florence. Gelli and Vasari,
longer
knew
themselves.
in
And
in 1433,
Gonfaloniere.
because of the
members
The
two
Gianozzo Manetti.
18
W.
1418-1420
cm
DOCUMENTS
Three entries in the records of deliberations and disbursements by the operai of the Florence Cathedral
workshop, in the archives of the Opera del Duomo. Published by Semper, D.
S.
is
p. 140;
is
to
J.
Cavallucci,
florins for
a sand-
1420, January 9 (Semper, p. 278, doc. 36): Donatello receives 5 florins in part
lion that
C.
Florence, 1887.
75 and
stairs in the
payment
for a sandstone
S.
Maria Novella].
1420, February 21 (Semper, p. 278, doc. 37): Donatello receives 7 florins as final
stairs of the
papal apartment.
41
payment
The Sculpture
(Cavallucci,
who
of Donatello
does not reproduce the original wording of the document, adds that "the following
florins under the same heading"; this entry is probably identical with Semper
which would carry the date of February 21, 1419, "Florentine style." The dates given in
Cavallucci are not adjusted to the modern calendar, while Semper's dates generally agree with those
in Poggi, Duomo, whenever the same documents are transcribed by both authors, so that in our
instance, too, Semper has presumably changed the year in conformity with present usage. Paatz [Kirchen,
m, pp. 755 and 843, n. 547] states that the Marzocco was completed in 1421, on the assumption that
Semper retained the Florentine style for his dates.)
SOURCES
Undated (from Cod.
memorie laiche in
Brown,
The
Dominican
Church of S. Maria
J.
90): "Donatello ... is doing a sandstone lion to be put on the
Novella
column
Edinburgh, 1902,
p.
by
Wood
ham
1917,
damage
it
was transferred
its
place
i,
p.
365) and E.
Hon but
p.
as modified in 1452.
Lensi, op.cit.,
which
The attribution of our statue to Donatello was already current in the early nineteenth century (see
Florence,
Andrea Francioni, Elogio di Donatello
.
in
la patria
for a
do che
libertd ciascun
posed
pedestal,
KaufiFmann, D.,
to its predecessor,
long,
cates a date of
(c.
Donatello's
its
Bacciotti (Firenze
show the
by
also
Florence, 1840,
pictures
Museo Na-
to the
The same
154n).
Donatello's
p.
mantegna.
1 Cf.
Richard Krautheimer and Trude Krautheimer-Hess,
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Princeton, 1956, p. 256.
2 Lensi also cites the Chronicle of Matteo Villani to the efiFect
that towards 1350 four stone Marzocci had been placed at the
comers
of these Marzocci.
42
Critical Catalogue
been accorded a secure place among the canonical works of the master. Kauffmann (D., pp. 40f ) has
rightly pointed out the dependence of the Marzocco
on the countless lions in Florentine mediaeval sculpture, which ultimately derive from classical models.
He also believes that Donatello must have studied
the living animals that were kept in a special enclosure
near the Palazzo Vecchio.^ The Marzocco is indeed
somewhat more naturalistic than its predecessors, especially in the formation of the back and the hind
legs; yet the distinguishing quahty that stamps it as
a Renaissance work is not its realism but its "humanism" the uncanny extent to which the animal physiognomy has been sufiFused here with the expressiveness and nobility of Donatello's human heroes. In
studying the head of the Marzocco, one immediately
thinks of the St. John from the Cathedral fa9ade (PI.
5d), the
since
especially of
down
to such details
of similar date.
kind,
it
its
TWO
in
St.
BUSTS (PROPHET
AND
SIBYL)
19a, c
Marble rehefs; H.
c.
64
1422
cm each
DOCUMENTS
An
by the operai
workshop, in the archives of the Opera del Duomo. First published by Semper, D.
(already mentioned in Baldinucci,
The
i,
1422,
May
of
13: Donatello
Nanni
di
is
Duomo,
della
craftsman."
loc.cit.
none
Schmarsow
489f, n. 227).
these heads
pletely).
m, pp.
SOURCES
nimiber of authors
279, doc. 43
'75, p.
might
of the Siena
Font
even more
43
striking.
Madonna
31a); to me,
(PI.
19b)
is
The Sculpture
THE
PAZZI
of Donatella
MADONNA
19b
Marble
H. 74.5 cm;
relief;
W.
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The panel was purchased
Museum
v.
Beschreibung d. Bildwerke
Epochen Kgl. Museen, Berlin, 1888, p.
Tschudi,
V.
2nd
d.
CJiristl.
15,
No. 39;
loc.cit.)
the relief
was demolished
when
had been
none
nesi, p. 418),
in the
is
none
Bode (Jahrbuch,
1422)
(c.
1886 (Wilhelm
in
cm
pest,
able to acquire
it.
Bode
stucco replicas of
also states,
C.
J.
miiller Hsts
Cavallucci
loc.cit.,
who
Pazzi there
is
Madonna
Madonna
left
."
The authorship
yond
in
vor
our
this tavoletta is
given as 6
florins,
The value
be-
v,
1884,
same
27ff;
pp.
see
also
the
and
32fiF,
.
long
.
more rigorous
them
all,
Donatello's career.
half of
of
left
suggesting a far
signed
Madonna remains
Florentiner Bildhauer
relief in
of the Pazzi
is
au quinzieme
and
loc.cit.,
among
essays in the
of 1492
is
is
fit
dispute. It
No. 55 )
cento.
by
The
relief
and
Florence,
Calza,
della
low
Convento
the
in
(it
it
hand and
in
p.
some other
details,
Dance
of Salome;
first
44
it
Critical Catalogue
as late as
c.
1430. Colasanti,
same way
as
Masaccio
may be
mann
Without entering into the problem of priority between Donatello and Masaccio, I beheve the Pazzi
Madonna demands to be placed at least four or five
years later than the St. George ensemble, on the basis
of the drapery style alone. The same conclusion is
suggested by the astonishing classicism of the Virgin's
profile, which immediately evokes the Prophet and
Sibyl on the Porta della Mandorla (see above, p.
43; PI. 19a, c). The resemblance even extends to
such details as the shape of the ears, with their peculiarly elongated, dropUke lobes; the foreshortened
left hand of the Virgin, too, has its counterpart in the
hands of the two busts of 1422. Such radically fore-
c.
relief
(D., pp. 67
it
so
and
George
must have been done im-
especially to the
Tabernacle
God
lib) that
(PI.
mediately afterwards.
it
The
St.
by Lanyi, Ril., p. 292) is indeed inboth pieces show the same simplicity of
(also observed
structive:
upon
vanishing points,
is
is
the foreshortening in
St.
relief,
we
still
is
is
two years
but
still
or
of Donatello's style
in a sense
similar kind,
begun one
much
earlier
thus vindicating
the profile view of the Child's head, his gesture of grasping the
the
panel, a
XrV
Century,
New
1423
20-24, 25b
ST.
PLATES 20 -2 3b
1422-1425)
TABERNACLE,
PLATES
(c.
20, 23c-24,
25b
NOW
CONTAINING VERROCCHIO'S
ST.
THOMAS GROUP
opening:
DOCUMENTS
Several entries in the record, very incompletely preserved, of deliberations of the Councils of the
Parte Guelfa
and
45
Most
of
them
The Sculpture
were summarized
in Pietro Franceschini, S.
full texts
They have
May
of Donatello
New
York, Wildenstein
& Co.
two important
additions,
by
14 and 19 (Fabriczy, pp. 247f; Poggi, doc. i): The Council of the Parte Guelfa authorizes the
florins to the ojfficials in charge, in order that the image of St. Louis which
disbursement of 300
is
to
be placed
possit
1425,
November 24 and 28
(Fabriczy,
loc.cit.;
The Council
resolves that
S.
on the
Saint's
Or San Michele,
in
iii):
who
which
are
will
among
be determined by Piero
di
it is
to
di
be sold
at a fair
Mighore Guidotti
the six operai in charge of building operations at the Palazzo di Parte Guelfa; and
the proceeds of the sale are to be used to finish the ceiling of the Audience Hall of the Palazzo.
The Merchants' Tribxmal together wdth the consuls of the five major
guilds having decided, on December 29, 1459, to buy the tabernacle of the Parte Guelfa at a price
to be set by Piero di Cosimo de'Medici and Antonio di Migliore Guidotti, and the Parte Guelfa
having subsequently agreed to sell on the same terms, the two arbiters now report to the Merchants'
1460, January 21
Poggi, doc. iv )
circumstantiis)
1463,
March 26 (Fabriczy,
years' delay
the
title,
due
The Merchants'
ornamenta ibidem
1463,
et
signum
et
existentia).
March 29 (Fabriczy,
loc.cit.;
who
and
are to replace the device of the Parte Guelfa on the tabernacle with
by Allan Marquand, American Journal of Archaeology, viii, 1893, p. 153): The Merchants' Tribunal approves payment of 25
florins to Luca della Robbia for the medallion with the device (signum et arma) of the Mercanzia
which he has made and is to install above the tabernacle, in accordance with the commission he
had received in January or February of the same year.
1487,
December 28 (Fabriczy,
loc.cit.;
Poggi, doc.
p. 258; brief
vii;
originally published
The
Signoria, acting
on a
petition of the Merchants' Tribunal, agrees to bear the cost of "perfecting" the tabernacle containing
St.
Thomas, which
house
at the
made
is
of marble;
and
on a
The
total
ofiice for
46
assaying metals.
florins.
Critical Catalogue
SOURCES
(1472-1483) Codex of Buonaccorso Ghiberti, Florence, Bibl. Naz.,
27 (Semper, D.
fol.
'75,
315;
p.
Fabriczy, pp. 251f; Poggi, p. 5; for the date see Robert Corwegh, Mitteilungen Kunsthist. Inst.
Florenz,
at
"The
iv,
lui),
similar
list,
p. 15:
and
(Before 1530)
1550) Gelli,
by
later
St.
Croce] ...
beautiful figure;
1515-1520
St.
man renounced
access to
florins, all
St.
Louis
expenses being
made
del Verrocchio."
p.
75): "[At
Thomas
St.
to
in bronze; they
were made
Croce] and
is
him one day why he had made a statue so clumsy and unlike
he believed he had never made a statue that was truer or
And when
kingdom
d. of
loc.cit.)
a friend asked
c.
of
when
is St.
made
oz.
."
the bronze
his [usual]
Thomas by Andrea
"Donatello
his disciple,
"He made
now contains
p. 59:
the church of
S.
UflBzi; it
Billi, p.
tabernacle that
(c.
by an anonymous compiler
St.
S.
statues of Christ
"On
lire
to his charge."
1510 Albertini,
94
florins
preserved in the
is
on the fa9ade of
is
for his
3277 pounds of brass/ for 350 pounds of wax/ for 122 pounds 3
florins/ for
his friend
laughed at
becoming
this,
a friar.
he added: 1 had
What
to
show
that
think?'
1550 Vasari-Ricci, pp. 50, 57 (Milanesi, pp. 403f, 416): "[At Or San Michele] facing the church of
St. Michael [Donatello] made the marble tabernacle for the Mercanzia, in the Corinthian order,
style; it
was intended
for
two
statues,
which he refused
to
make
because of a disagreement about the price. After his death, Andrea del Verrocchio did these figures
in bronze."
tall.
When
Croce there
S.
is still
reproached that
fool to relinquish a
kingdom
to
St.
Louis by [Donatello],
five
becoming a
friar."
p. 362, slightly
shortened and
re-
phrased): "It happened that the Council of Six of the Mercanzia had commissioned Donatello to
make
Michael.
When
it
was
finished
the
is
and
on the
exterior of
Or San Michele,
wanted
to order a
across
bronze [group
of] St.
St.
Thomas
favored Donatello for the commission, while others insisted on Lorenzo Ghiberti. Both sides were so
stubborn that they never carried out their plan during the lifetime of Donatello and Lorenzo.
Thus
it
came
to pass that
Andrea
was proposed
47
for the
commission by
his friends."
The Sculpture
1591 Bocchi,
"On
p. 160:
S.
of Donatella
a bronze
is
St.
Louis
by Donatello. The artist did not Uke this figure, which through accident had been made rather
hastily, and did not number it among his best efforts. Still, it is prized today as the work of a
master of limitless ability, lifelike and betraying great knowledge."
The
mained
is
Albertini. It re-
in the niche
shifted to
fa9ade wall
until the
when
on the
it
was
interior
pp. 15f,
to the refectory,
dell'Opera di
Wildenstein Gallery,
ican
museums
S.
New
was
by an observation
op.cit., p.
when
its
for a brief
i,
Florence, 1754,
Bruno Bearzi
25),
published in Poggi,
where the
crozier touched
return to Florence
moment placed
of
who examined
On
in 1949, after
St.
Museo
S.
was removed
it
the
was not
presence of our
in
St.
made
of
oxii
How
statue
long
document
it is
ance, inasmuch as
a gesture of appeasement.
it
Still,
Strasbourg, 1904)
propounded
made
Or San
lost, if it
(
,
SimiParis,
Paatz,
may
sale, as
be, the
From
its
ancient
vigor-
it
for
that
However
bility
gruppe
re-
of
it
was
the entry in the Ghiberti Codex from which it appeared that Donatello had made a bronze St. Louis
for a tabernacle at Or San Michele. When the testiFranceschini's discovery of the Parte Guelfa
must
(D. '87, p. 80) had been the first to connect the figure
with the tabernacle of the Mercanzia, on the basis of
mony
at the
ago. F. Moise,
loc.cit.,
this point of
who
ence, 1845, p. 88), thought that they must have been intended
to accompany an image of the Holy Cross rather than of St.
Louis.
2 On the Yale cassone, which shows the niche before the arrival of our statue, the coat of arms of the Parte Guelfa appears
48
cf.
Critical Catalogue
likelihood
it
statue, since
it
be too shallow
its
for our
to hold sculp-
many
The
risk;
which consists of
together, is open in back and thus gives the impression
of having been designed strictly for a frontal view; in
fact, its balance is so bad that it cannot sustain itself
without some external support from behind. Such,
however, was not the case originally. The back and
side views (PI. 22a, c) show a number of round holes
some degree
of
the trouble to
statue,
transfer to S.
due
to the
portal of
its
The
may
possibly be
it
make
That our
artist
demon-
S.
strates his
"fit"
was
are willing to
knob of
them occupied by escutcheon-holding putti; the other two, on
the side away from the beholder, were left empty
lost
through accident or
theft.
elaborate
cal analysis of
so
many
the
it
was
cast in
skill; it
the exigencies of
gilding
(i.e.
fire
Louis
is
the sublimation of
and the
and variety of
by any other work before
St.
textural richness
method of gilding, which had been used previby Andrea Pisano and Ghiberti for the Baptistery
Doors. To apply it to a piece of sculpture in the round
on the monumental scale of the St. Louis was a novel
and daring idea, and considering the diflBculty of the
task Donatello's solution was equally daring. He pro-
The
to con-
also
ously
phrase
in date.
this
it
prompted Donatello
strik-
life-
ceeded
size.
insists,
he
"essentially Gothic."
tional logic
and
retardataire
St.
eflFects
work
more
thor-
of this experience
bronze
sore
49
its
first
commission
of
S.
in
Ros-
less precisely
The Sculpture
datable
we
of Donatella
simply
debut.
by a
of bronze sculpture
field
The
and
recast
first
author to
Semper's theory
Codex
of Buonaccorso, which
had been composed by
and decided
become
had anything
lozzo
to
St.
not, in
my
view, the
statue,
is
that the
St.
we
tello's
They
casting ability.
technology of large-scale
casting at that time after all, even Ghiberti had bad
luck with his St. Matthew, which had to be partially
body
own bronze
Louis,
turn, led
ments
is
habitually
St.
Louis
still
of specialized craftsmen
may be inferred
from several documented instances, so that we need
not hesitate to accept Pomponio Gaurico's remark as
essentially correct. How indeed could he have done
among Renaissance
sculptors.
and
stable
trusted his
wax models
is
indicated
by the
tell
50
Critical Catalogue
tax declarations for the Catasto of 1427. ( Michelozzo's,
published by Fabriczy, Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunstslgn., XXV, 1904, Beiheft, p. 62, lists the works under-
artists since
Stegmann-Geymiiller,
ners "about
FL,
I,
document
in
Munich,
in Toscana,
"Donatello"); so did
s.v.
Reymond
who contended
(Sc.
that the
The date
Louis cannot
Florence,
i,
the
St.
and 1425
ments
alone;
as well,
row
of brack-
document of 1487). WiUielm v. Bode immediadopted the same point of view ("Donatello als
," Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss.
Kunstslgn.,
Architekt
xxn, 1901, p. 52), but another group of scholars
Marrai, Supino, Gerspach insisted, on grounds of
style, that the tabernacle could not have been designed
much
in the
ately
some
we may assume
p. 53),
begun
work
of 1422
is
see below,
was not
St.
more than half a century. The disdate and authorship is of considboth historically and methodologically,
(op.cit.)
trag,
its
it
ion of
with the
Schmarsow
(D., p. 40).
The
latter
wards,
when
Verrocchio's
n.
Thomas group
(Festschrift zu
after-
Ehren
La
vita
nuova,
i,
setting; in
who dated
no opin-
(op.cit.,
wanted
,"
It
may be
lung Michelozzos
is
tabernacle orig-
The
p. 88),
Heinrich
316), so that, to
settled.
to Fabriczy,
subsequently
Thomas group
St.
St.
whose main argument, the resemSt. Louis Tabernacle and the architectural framework in Masaccio's Trinity fresco, was
indeed a compelling one. His dating was accepted
without dissent in the entire Donatello literature from
went
was
and Geymiiller (Architektur, op.cit., Nach1906, ad nb, "Donatello") also supported a late
it
IV, p.
pute concerning
that
erable interest,
i.e.,
The
as
tello.
The new
ward
51
went
to
Dona-
for
right in stating
in this setting.
to
The Sculpture
of Donatello
tabernacle
if
we
its
type,
would thus be
and a
far
more
radical
A. Marabottini in Commentari,
v,
by
(Studi su Donatello, Venice, 1952, pp. 103ff). MoriHke that of Planiscig, is the con-
to
paneled
pilasters;
art,
attached
was
of brackets also
Thomas
in-
was added
at that time.
St.
group.
background
it
Morisani Hnks
the Florentine
money
which shows spirally fluted columns, surmounted by a curious combination of Ionic and Corin-
mention
that the Signoria thought the work could be done for
less than 30 florins. Since we do not know how much
of this sum the Mercanzia spent on the tabernacle
part of the money, it will be recalled, had to be used
for repairing the clock at the Mercato Nuovo
the
to "perfect" the tabernacle, but fails to
is
difficult to
estimate; in
it is
Lorenzo fuori
on the
early
Dugento fagade
of
then believed to
verted to Christian use, the pioneers of Early Renais-
when used
is
Baptistery,
however,
already present
in a
fluted
The
capitelli
to in the petition of
is
missing
is
to
be
filled
(the only
1440
191ff;
(cf.
influenced
St.
52
of the
Critical Catalogue
After 1450, in contrast, spirally fluted columns are no
cf especially the
.
head of Herod,
PI.
29a ) and
among
have been
exception
being
the two
(the
one
able to determine
of
Pulpit
North
the
on
columns topped by statues
elimibeen
have
S. Lorenzo, PI. 105b): they seem to
nated from the decorative repertory as "impure" several decades before the supposed "perfecting" of our
tabernacle in 1487.
claims
The argument
so far as I
art,
toria
mated by Kauffmann
39-40).
Pis.
(D., loc.cit.),
Michelozzo because of
out discussing
The
artistic
it
its
of this triple
ascribes
to
it
for Donatello in
it
who
head
is
The
invention
the
though the carving may not be entirely his. The ornamental detail is, of course, the work of assistants. It
should be noted that the Trinity is not framed by a
evidence alone.
Some
with
little
are hard
and dry
it
own hand,
is
The two
close
them
pp.
weak
as
far.
Morisani,
thesis,
lac.
denounces
so
definite date
can be
as-
120f)
nimbus of overlapping
circular
formalized clouds.^
Morisani
by a
appropriately,
in execu-
enough
parts of
far
is
less
more
the conception
are
done
in a
is
low
strikingly fresh
relief closely
close relationship
it
and
approaching schiacci-
illusionistic ren-
dering of
tabernacle
is
of the
been transformed, aesthetically speaking, into "windows" much like the gable relief above the St. George
niche (PI. lib), and their frames have the same characteristic double function: they belong not only to the
the master's
niche
more
form, to
realistic
way
to a greater fluidity of
detail
is
and, above
quite
new in
all,
to
Cf Poggi
which
26)
who
.
not the case. (Giuseppe Marchini, "Aggiunte a MichRinascitd, vii, 1944, p. 48, dates the Trinity relief
in the Sala dei Capitani c. 1422-1425, immediately after that
of the St. Louis niche, and attributes it to Michelozzo; in my
opinion, it is a work of c. 1470, Verrocchiesque in flavor, even
though the portal itself clearly belongs to the early 1420's. The
relief must have been added after the sale of the St. Louis
niche perhaps as a sort of symbolic reminder of it and may
indeed have been paid for with some of the proceeds from the
sale, which had been allotted to the embellishment of the
Palazzo; cf. the document of January 14, 1460.) The motif of
the three-faced Trinity occurs repeatedly in Florentine Quattrocento sculpture (cf. Alfredo Lensi, Dedalo, vi, 1925-1926, p.
764; Morisani, loc.cit.; also G. J. Hoogewerff, "Vultus trifrons,
p.
is
is
elozzo,"
La
emblema
diabolico,
imagine
in
53
The Sculpture
of Donatella
angels kneel on it, and the God the Father of the St.
George Tabernacle rests his book on it. Our spandrel reliefs, then, exhibit a uniquely Donatellesque approach
to architectural sculpture. They would be recognizable
the one
if
we knew
del Noviziato of
must have
roughed them out before he turned them over to an
assistant who finished the carving. (Perhaps he did
this only for the spandrel on the right, which is noticeably superior to its companion in both design and
execution.) The two angels are important to us also
history
or
location.
Donatello
himself
power
St.
is
evident throughout
Louis Tabernacle
with
is
by
finished
to create so
far
general thesis
(cf.
Tombs and
n.
his
Strasbom-g, 1900 )
Among
St.
still
fails to
and the Brancacci Tomb for Michelozzo while crediting Donatello with the main outlines of the Coscia
Croce
102)
but
Tomb and
miiller-Fabriczy-Bode view of Donatello as an architectural designer, assign the tabernacle to the older
this
St.
why
the partner-
Schmarsow
an architect, a
when
ability as
1425,
was
the structure
but the earhest of them, Albertini's Memoriale, is almost ninety years later in date than the monument
itself,
followed the
The Schmarsow-Semrau thesis received a severe setback with the publication of Fabriczy's evidence for
dating the St. Louis Tabernacle in the early 1420's. If
Poggi,
also
Croce.
S.
Stegmann-Geymiiller, op.cit.)
(in
on
sec-
subordinated to the "picturesque" (malerisch) ensemble effect. If, as he assumes, these sharply dif-
is
54
Critical Catalogue
the Prato Pulpit
which
strike
him
The
knob
St.
good deal
as adaptations of
tonishing piece
tello's
of
fountainhead of the
to Brunelleschi, the
new
among
PI. 23a,
b) a
,
truly as-
DonaGeorge panel
to the sparseness of
St.
archi-
tectural style.
lated
compared
his friends.'^
op.cit.,
all
in nuclear
form (Geymiiller,
problem is no longer to
decide whether Donatello or Michelozzo designed the
St. Louis Tabernacle ab ovo, but whether Donatello
was capable of adapting the vocabulary and syntax of
individual flavor
Viewed
in
common
the
is
by a
shell
What
belong
gives the
and the
to the basic
knob design
its
of Donatello's tastes
his reliefs
lozzo.
pressive.
1417
testifies
is
sculpture:
two
and
back-
is
notable for
its
lack of accuracy
some
rules
still
Madonna
recalls the
Brunelleschi,
Stuttgart,
1892,
pp.
trast,
Geymiiller
67f),
(op.cit., p.
27) have
tabernacle, in con-
represents
without that
Nanni
The
If
tellesque,
di
it is
is
basically
un-Dona-
be positively identified
as characteristic of Michelozzo,
task,
and engineer-
to
demonstrate
"
14),
who
(La
sacristia vecchia
di S.
the architecture"
Rome
the
two
friends
were together
at
least in his
Lorenzo,
when
On
at
authorship.
common
in
55
The Sculpture
tello, in all likelihood,
was commissioned
to
of Donatello
and be responsible
do both
Codex
why
Michelozzo,
within Hmits
terials,
10 It
instructive to
know
meaning
made an important
artistic
contribution as well.
work on the
of
would be
his
experience to carry
chose
shortly before
general terms,
He
particularly suita-
ble because he
ture in
his
was equal
or not.
25c
Gilt bronze;
W.
H. 56 cm;
60.5
1422-1427
(c. 1424)
cm
DOCUMENTS
Three entries
first,
incomplete publication
i,
excerpts in Semper, D. '75, pp. 310f; a complete transcription, including not only the declarations
186flF,
(and reliquary) of
St.
(i.e.
from the
oltre la
The records
Rossore from Florence to Pisa in 1591, are also in the State Archives. These were
excerpted by Giuseppe Fontana and published posthumously by his son, Giovanni Fontana
del Donatello esistente nella Chiesa del Cavalieri di
1427, July 11:
The
of St. Rossore.
friars of
He
Ognissanti
in turn
owes 15
and
Mather, 20
S.
florins to
florins or
more
Cappone Capponi,
to
Un opera
friars of
Ognissanti
owe Donatello 30
tomba,"
Prior of the
still
owe Donatello 30
florins
[according
bronze.
Church
St.
some-
Rossore, donated by
Lodovico Covi.
November
3:
lation of the
24 pounds of white wax have been consumed on that date during the solemn trans-
head of
St.
56
S.
Stefano].
Critical Catalogue
November
head of
12:
St.
Further expenses are listed in connection with the ceremonial translation of the
Rossore (22 pomids of gunpowder for a salute as the relic was carried across the
November
for the
29:
head of
di
Giovanni
Rossore, also
known
as Lussorio or Russorio,
was
Fontana,
op.cit., p. 6).
The
them regard
friars,
it
it
The
many of
excellent documentation.
either as a
59;
its
none
of the
all its
to receive
Rossore.
SOURCES
St.
is
cism
apparently
phenomenon
the history of
of
widespread
dis-
Louis (see above, p. 49) was not dispelled imtil Lanyi's careful examination of the work
(Probl, pp. 14flF). Since it is referred to only in Dona-
tello's
Donatello's bust
iv,
rather than
pp.
i,
Dance
who
lozzo
of
has found
little
favor
it
to
be
lost),
among Donatello
280,
of
scholars
Miche-
St.
expert bronze
caster
(see
the capacity
in
above,
p.
compagno
Louis,
which
is
of the older
above,
p. 49),
fire-gilt;
too,
see Lanyi,
all,
is
cast in
and
and the
Donatello owed him
loc.cit.,
eflBgy
The claim
Rossore
actually
little
more than
St.
is
under which Donatello could be relieved of sole responsibility for a work that seemed, for whatever reason, to be below his standard. Only Kauffmann has at-
the
rediscovery (Semper, D.
Curiously enough,
S.
its
Salome.
50), even
though in this instance we know that the casting
was done by another man, Giovanni di Jacopo. Here,
then, is a further argument against the assumption
ence,
Since
of
insisted
lozzo in the
and
the bust
scholars until
57
specifically
Michelozzesque qual-
The Sculpture
ities in
completely: the
St.
of Donatella
existed in the later Trecento. But why should Donatello
have adopted so outmoded a tonsorial habit? Perhaps
it would be well, in this connection, to keep in mind
some
came
left
moved
as a later addition )
two
be a
three bolts,
of the
two
Of
later addition;
its
it
these,
workmanship is
and
larger pieces,
it is
less precise
than that
interferes
with the
it
off in
order to
make
it
fit
over the
possibly
sort
wooden bust
the head
all,
in a reliquary of
even
before
it
hke character and related it to the similarly individualized features of the Campanile prophets, although I
find myself unable to accept all the conclusions he
draws from his analysis of this aspect of the St. Rossore.
The
was housed
it
seems
that the
likely, for
fairly
livery.
florins,
a part of the
Louis,
it
will
to
collar).
that they
reli-
by pointing out
lated to the
St.
Louis, so that
its
is
closely re-
D., p. 41
also
reason that
seam
it
was not
cast
by Michelozzo. The
some
re-
of
the folds, the ornamental use of Kufic lettering (comPI. 27b), and certain realistic details of the head
do not yet occur in the St. Louis, such as the incised creases on the neck and the crow's feet (com-
pare
that
pare
realistic
Critical Catalogue
together, suggest a position halfway
while in the
St.
less
surface, as
it
it
St.
Donatello
were, like
which
If
resembles the
quality).
between the
well inte-
i.e.
until 1424;
and its
by the
neat and regular (in the "Jeremiah" and the Zuccone, where we find it again, it looks
much more natural). The various observations, taken
strikes us as a bit too
26-27
FLORENCE
1425-1427
213 cm
litter); L.
DOCUMENTS
1419,
December
Grabmals
his
1843, pp.
v,
292flF;
The executors
met from
He
relics,
As
it]
and endowed,
is
to
be
St.
his executors
An
1421, January 9.
excerpt from the statutes, accounts, and minutes of the merchants' guild (Arte
Arte e storia,
p.
to
be buried
1888, p. 36,
and reprinted
itself
and
in the Baptistery
may be
built,
is
but
deemed
it
to
he
vite
would
must be of modest
sufficient, since to
in Vasari,
officers,
tomb
vii,
is
as above,
An
Cavallucci,
Munich, 1911,
may be
size
be buried
in the Baptistery
is
no small honor
in itself.
published in Vasari-Frey
op.cit., p.
342:
The tomb
of Baldassare
v.
The head
of the
workshop
is
authorized to
Valori four panels (tabulas) of white marble, at the usual price, for the
1427, about July 11. Michelozzo's Catasto Declaration (the
plausible to
Donatello's,
which
carries the
i,
first
tomb
of
sell
op.cit., p. 61, n. 1,
to Taldi
John XXIII.
i,
J.
and
inedito
by C.
will
In the absence of Giovanni de'Medici, three executors plead the desire of the deceased
341
who were
it
seems
59
loc.cit.,
The Sculpture
pendently, in Rufus Graves Mather,
228): Michelozzo
p.
states that
of Donatella
"New Documents on
The
lists
for
monument
is
still
first
of these
is
tomb
earlier,
and
in the Baptistery
florins,
give an accounting for the project, although they will try to stay vdthin the financial hmits of
the contract.
He owes
florins for
SOURCES
Amerino
VI,
rises the
tall
tomb
"And between
of John XXIII,
rests
at
New
work
of
Donatello."
1510 Albertini,
tello;
(Before 1530)
Billi,
by
all its
1550)
Gelli, p. 58:
"[Donatello]
is
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
many who do
n, p.
made
Donatello
the
figure,
which
is
tomb
the
of
by Michelozzo;
Pope
it is
said to have
made
(c.
his disciples."
this is a
work by Donatello."
it
was erected
at the behest of
p. 13.)
of
many
years, because
by the tomb
I
made
"Donatello
made
for
Faith,
tall,
is
next to
it,
which
are
among
porters
posed
titude towards
in
He
attested
suflFer
as
his statue of
by comparison
by Donatello."
that Coscia should have
is
have related before, but which was for the most part carried out by Michelozzo;
with the
tomb
model by Donatello."
named
will.
Their
at-
formally acknowl-
any event), the three coats of arms beneath the sarcophagus are clearly meant to perpetuate Coscia's
6o
Critical Catalogue
We may
of the incident.
leg,
thigh), surmounted
by the
tiara
on the
monument was
left
mann,
for his
tomb the
The
Baptistery, the
Had
of
illustrata,
testimony of Michelozzo,
Coscia.
that Coscia
was
still
Pope
at the
it
changed
3.
to
at the
head of
his
est to completion,
re-
Tomb was
cepted together.
to
this account,
the
phrase, "some
it
we may
first
(
start.
list,
(in
due anni o
The
incirca)
The
left
vi, Stuttgart,
d. Stadt Rom
1867, p. 653n; but here again, the ultimate source appears to
be Vasari.
tomb among
the
"we have been working on since we besome two years ago," certainly favors
the assumption that the monument was a joint under-
to
lists
partners
who
the projects
came
219).
for the
Martin
monument remains
removal of the original poly-
site.
by Kauff-
and open
unchanged except
and tactics
assert this claim, but for reasons of tact
he expressed his desire only indirectly, through a
lavish gift of relics. The bequest undoubtedly made
it
finished
Florence, Bibl. Naz., Cod. Magi, xvii, 2, fol. 70; see Semper,
and Robert Corwegh, Mitteilungen Kunsthist. Inst.
Florenz, i, 1910, p. 171; the colors are not to be regarded as
whoUy reliable, since the sketch deviates from the original in
various architectural details as well; cf. Ottavio Morisani,
D.
'87, p. 44,
6i
fig. 4.
The Sculpture
liability
and
work on the Coscia Tomb could easily have begun several months before mid-1425. This possibility
must be kept in mind when we consider our earliest
documentary reference to the monument, which informs us that work on the tomb had started sometime
in 1424, Florentine style. Since we do not know the
day and month, all we can really gather from this
notice is that by March 24, 1425, the construction of
the tomb was under way, and that there is one chance
out of four that the actual date of the document falls
within the first three months of 1425. How far advanced the project was at that time we do not know
for certain, but the very fact that oflBcial notice was
taken of it would seem to indicate that the building
activities inside the Baptistery had just started and
were being reported to the officers of the guild as a
newsworthy event. An earlier date for the monument
has been proposed by Giuseppe Fiocco, who claims that
the tomb of Tomaso Mocenigo in SS. Giovanni e Paolo,
Venice, begun in 1423, already reflects the influence of
the Coscia Tomb (Dedalo, vm, 1927, p. 362; the same
the
ii,
first
teacher
monument
{Bolletino d'arte,
ix,
1929-1930, pp.
Paris,
Tomb, and
thedral workshop).
The master
finally
returned to
is
no way
made
and employer, Ghiberti, had visited Venice from October to December, 1424, during an outbreak of the
plague in Florence, and it is tempting to think that
Michelozzo might have accompanied him.^ Another
undoubtedly correct in denying this relationship, the two tombs do have an element in common
that poses an interesting problem: the front of the
Mocenigo sarcophagus is decorated with five shell
niches containing Virtues in high relief. These niches
are separated by ornamented strips, rather than by
loc.cit.,
it is
lozzo
hand,
Michelozzo,
1901, p. 592,
Bildhauer Venedigs
of Donatello
made immediately
afterwards,
the
pendently
ing;
five Virtues in
same basic motif was used indetwo monuments. But if so, where did
it originate? Curiously enough, there are no precedents
for rows of shell niches with Virtues in Tuscan funerary
sculpture, whereas we do find them quite often in
Venice and Padua. The Mocenigo Tomb is clearly
based, in this respect as in others, on the somewhat
earlier tomb of Antonio Veniero in the same church.*
The Virtues of the Coscia Tomb, then, would seem to
in the
directly
or
indirectly,
seems
it
may have
They probably
to
did, but
we do
of
that the
monument
plausible
and
cost
not
of
know
Del Migliore,
1,000 florins
The
is
limit.
for certain
loc.cit.,
inherently
even though
must
he
from
florins,
to
judge
500
close
to
have been priced at
in
Codex
recorded
the
the prices for comparable works
of Buonaccorso Ghiberti (see above, p. 47): Donadoes not reveal his source.
effigy alone
5 In that case, he would have left Ghiberti's workshop immediately upon his return in order to become the partner of
62
Critical Catalogue
Louis, a larger but less expensively
St.
tello's
figure, cost
St.
449
for
florins.
We
do, however,
Tomb
of the Coscia
have a more
is
even
terminus ante
if
and
florins
Matthew 650
significant
made
the
is
framework
more lavish
rather, to the
S.
St.
rational design
less
Louis niche.
It
points,
although far
work
small-scale
model
we
or sketch, unless
are willing to
cal
who began
August
8,
and went
p. 90).
to Siena
that
were no longer needed, which would indicate that the marble structure of the Coscia Tomb was
completed by mid-1428.
As a pioneering achievement of Early Renaissance
Tomb
only to the
is
can
it
100 )
p.
it
Rome
journey (see
Nor
architectural settings
Aragazzi
Tombs and
(i.e.
all,
we
own
projects of
it
second
Or San Michele.
monuments of the
influence
of difficulties:
link
on the sepulchral
by Burger and Kauffmann
loc.cit. ) can hardly be overestimated and reaches far
(
into the sixteenth century. Because of this generally
acknowledged importance (RcMnond, Sc. Fl., u, p.
155, is among the very few who have criticized it as
badly proportioned and "gothicizing" ) the tomb inevitably became a subject of contention in the protracted dispute centering on the St. Louis niche. Is the
Its
new
number
S.
cance of
below,
Louis Tabernacle at
St.
radi-
his services
Roman
that the
That he
may mean
by postulating a
ever, raises a
change
of his
to
marble carver in
this minor capacity under Jacopo della Quercia until
March of the following year.'' Before that, Pagno had
spent 18 months in the workshop of Donatello and
left
in detail,
creation, or should
both.
we have reviewed
To
Tomb,
Tomb
with
to the disadvantage of
no need to recapitulate
the arguments here. The majority, following Geymiiller's and Bode's estimate of Michelozzo, regard
Donatello as the designer of the monument and assume
that the younger master contributed no more than the
architectural details (thus Colasanti, D., p. 53; Kaufl^-
mann,
loc.cit.;
51flF),
there
is
and most
hand,
who
trol)
and
position of the
Michelozzo
(e.g.
com-
So
monument
is
concerned, this
is
than to the
it is
inferiority
of
the
designer.
The bronze
rather
little
my own
tion
in
efiigy
set forth
but there
in Florence,
63
is
The Sculpture
For
claim.
we know,
all
by Giovanni
cast
monumental bronze
taken
may
the image
ward
di Jacopo,
time
considerable
two
three
to
must have
years,
we
monument and
florins,
the
St.
more
Louis, the
realistic
and expressive
with
eflBgy,
its
The
rippling sur-
made
artist
still
it
eflBgies
75,
has
made
And
produced with
been started
year and the
were done
in der italienischen
high that
its
many
the bier
is
The
of 1427, the
first
pay-
we
last six
months
later,
in the
earlier
possibility, I think,
is
might be
variants,
can-
that one
summer
until the
any chance be
though
One
first
placed so
virtues which
Font (Balcarres, D., p.
two bronze
Now
Yet, as
hand.'^
by the same
in
twitching with
ment
accepted by
but has been discarded long since;
still
was
virtues
ship )
tello,
fanciful
Donatello
two
other
loc.cit.,
projected into the features of Coscia's head, heavylidded, porcine, yet even in death
the
Semper,
The
disciples, notably
tello.
its
and
Rossore, and
Masacciesque
ideality, the
St.
comparison with
St.
it
grandeur of the
a
the
tilted
for-
to
and one
desire
eflFectively,
fact that
The
indicates his
the
its
tilt
would have
By mid-
of Donatello
64
artist; cf.
H.
W.
Critical Catalogue
the
Virtues?
Some such
to
satisfactory solution of
the chronological point of view alone; for the attribution of the Coscia Virtues to the
strikes
about
me
it.
as less
The
and
hand
of Michel ozzo
tenable the
less
more
think
Madonna
32a).
It
was executed,
but
scientious
of the lunette,
insensitive
believe,
who
craftsman
and garlands
of angels' heads
did
and the
the
frieze
base of the
at the
monument.
28-31
PLATES
28-29
1423-1434
H. and
W. 60 cm
PLATES 30-31b
1423-1427
(c.
1425)
1427-1429
(c.
1428)
PLATES
31c, d, e
The last-named
Statuettes:
Lost or destroyed:
to
H. 36
1429
cm
TABERNACLE DOOR
Museen,
W.
c.20
1434
cm)
(c.
Berlin.
1430?)
DOCUMENTS
A
i,
120flF,
May
Bacci, p. 124 )
Donatello
is
paid 50
lire 1
soldo
186flF.
in behalf of
money advanced
Donatello], since
all
two scenes
who
p. 40):
Donatello
is
is
referred to as having
[i.e.,
Ghiberti and
finished.
made
{el
The chamberlain
of the Cathedral
by Donatello.
April 13
Bacci, loe.elt.
65
to
Florence
The Sculpture
May
for
9 (Milanesi,
p. 134):
of those figures
which are
of Donatella
florins that
still
needed
to
now have
He
180
identities
them
Quercia 40
assisting
florins in
florins, for
made
for
to receive
and 25
story
florins to
St.
from the
He owes
ago."
ojyeraio of
Jacopo della
to Giovanni Turini
florins
for
florins
October 8 (Milanesi,
is
Donatello
is
720
to receive
lire,
is
one of the
originally allocated to
p. 179):
it
lire
the font.
October 26
Bacci, loc.cit.
The operaio
disburses 160
lire in
the font.
1429,
March 12 and
April 18
Bacci, p. 221
made
two
lire for
lire
figures.
gilt
lire in
part
payment
lire
April 27
he serves
Bacci, loc.cit.
Donatello receives 38
as godfather at the
lire
On
Tommaso
di Paolo (Bacci,
refer to a private
item
commission such
is
The
Sienese
were meant
to
fisted his
debtor by name.]
1434, August 18
who had
Pagno
di
Lapo
accounting for
to press his de-
mands before the Cathedral workshop. Donatello has been paid a total of 738 lire 11 soldi so far;
since he was to receive 720 lire for "certain gilt bronze figures" for the font, he has overdrawn
his account by 18 lire 11 soldi. But because he has also made a bronze tabernacle door which was
rejected by the Cathedral workshop, he is granted a fee of 38 lire 11 soldi in order that the time
and effort spent on it might not be a complete loss, thus leaving him a credit of 20 lire. The door
itself is to be returned to the master, through Pagno di Lapo, and the 20 lire are to be paid to the
Sienese goldsmith
Tommaso
di Paolo,
who
is
66
Critical Catalogue
SOURCES
none
had a share
p.
1419 document
begun by
was unable
Among
iii,
pp.
to identify the
Of the others, he
naming the subjects, while Turini is not mentioned at all. Thus we
have no reason to believe that he was referring to the
Feast of Herod as the "Donatello-Vecchietta" panel ( as
assumed by Wolfgang Kallab, Vasaristudien, Vienna,
singles out for individual mention.
1908, p. 265;
cf.
Kauffmann, D.,
p. 216, n.
ment
all
1901,
The same
p.
45,
it
pay-
except for
loc.cit.,
little
report has
direction, just as
183). In
full
195 )
(cf.
(D., pp. 27ff), based on certain resemblances between the Feast of Herod and Quercia's Zachariah
panel, that Donatello owed an important artistic debt
to Quercia (approvingly cited by Tschudi, D., p. 13
and Bertaux, D., p. 73; rejected by Semper, D. '87,
p. 38 and Bode, loc.cit.). The two reliefs do indeed
show a number of similarities, both in detail and in
general disposition; as long as it was assumed that
Quercia's had been modeled between 1417 and 1419
(even though it was not cast until a decade later), its
influence on Donatello seemed plausible enough. But
since Bacci has proved (Quercia, op.cit., pp. 248ff)
that the panel was executed entirely between 1428 and
1430, the influence must have flowed in the opposite
its
Kunstslgn., xxii,
last
in
fore
also
among
support
he thought that
his colleagues:
its
was paid
ists in this
as
much
May
The Feast
of
Herod
is
On October
loc.cit.,
9,
of
Herod might,
in part,
not
collaborative effort,
thesis that
Quercia had
work was
by a native
whose
left
foot
shows a repaired
the
Quercia an indemnity.
3 Pastor, loc.cit., on the basis of the same letter, is uncertain
about the authorship of the architectural background but
ascribes to Michelozzo the entire group of foreground figures
could have
been transferred, as time went on, to the sculpture on the font.
( Milanesi, loc.cit., note, states that in 1478 Vecchietta repaired
the foot of one of Donatello's putti on the font; this, if his
claim is correct, must have been a very minor job, since it has
left no visible traces. More likely, this notice concerns the Turini
finished
left,
misinterpreting
By
mentioned only
Donatello's bronze statue of St. John the Baptist for Siena Cawas delivered with one arm missing, so that it had to be
197).
among
is
thedral
that Donatello's
p.
and
letter
and the
it;
as pointed out
style of the
for
in Donatello's personal
However, the
1427, signed
9,
artist
67
left;
this capricious
The Sculpture
ters
concerned,
is
it
was assured
present a problem,
set-
marks a new
certainly
it
of Donatella
it
since
its
is somewhat uncertain,
was not checked by Bacci ( who
at all), but it appears to be con-
transcription
it
the Early Renaissance (see below, p. 69); in acquiring the technique of linear projection, he must have
had outside help (probably from his friend Brunelleschi), but once he knew it he was fully capable of
applying it wherever the occasion demanded. The
architecture of the Feast of Herod is the direct ancestor of all the equally elaborate and imaginative
As
among
settings
workshop
March, 1425, to retrieve the money advanced to
Ghiberti and Donatello for the font reliefs, it tells us
only that the panels were not yet finished and that the
in
original
John tondi
in the
Old
Feast of Herod.
Herod falls
The commis-
(cf.
Of
greater importance
of
1423-1425,
Cornelius,
loc.cit.,
or of
1425-1427.
document
of
IX,
,"
on the
St.
the head of
Louis Tabernacle
God
the
is
St.
Madonna
(PI. 19b).
The radical
BoUetino darte,
by assuming that
two years until he
resemblance of
to other works
According to
Herod
Herod
in 1423-1425
was modeled
in the
Such a view
had been
cast,
remarks above,
Is it
Donatello's creditors
my
op.cit.,
(See also
his
Quercia,
(Bacci,
name among
Donatello
had he done
How
assuring
lapsed.
(Semper, D. '87, p.
no interest and, probably, little ability in the designing of such backgrounds. His two reliefs in Montepulciano, the only ones he did that are comparable to
the Feast of Herod, show a consciously "anti-pictorial"
approach to the problem of space. Nor does the letter
of 1427 justify the assumption that our panel was cast
by Michelozzo (proposed by Bode, loc.cit., and recently repeated by Planiscig, D., p. 43 and Ottavio
among
is
He
reliefs in
had
demand
this
reaction,
Sacristy of
Padua
37). Moreover, Michelozzo had
delivery dates
responded to
68
Critical Catalogue
to Siena
Herod is hardly
could never be built as we see it. Its
purpose, clearly, is to enhance the action by providing
architecture, the setting of the Feast of
may
florins
plausible;
it
provided for
owed
40
florins
accounting of October
final
were
not.
8,
freedom.
to Jacopo
while the
classicistic standards.
of
hesitated to attribute
would
1423
(who
p.
has
suggested?
(Cf.
first
relief,
Quercia,
work
who
criteria of
Morisani,
loc.cit.,
have pointed
he
(D.,
15ff)
is
To Semrau
op.cit., p. 160.)
that this
to Donatello.
Bacci
it
at that
as
Donatello, Paris,
about
Eugene Miintz
this
ducted in the
Paduan
of
reliefs,
both in
its
35ff;
S.
'87,
pp.
die Reliefkunst,
its
Still,
and
plasticity
its
draw
among
attention to the
its
gradations of
berti,
figures
Journal of the
62f; Giulio
Carlo Argan,
Institutes, ix,
45f;
spective here
is
single vanishing
start
he assumed a
Kauffmann, loc.cit., who sugTrecento precedents for the vista through suc-
Unlike Ghi-
suspect that
cessive rooms.
69
The Sculpture
shown
The
sight of
whose
force can spend itself only to the sides; for the three
figures seated at the table, there is no escape, even
though they shrink away from the horrible salver as
far as the wall behind them permits. Ghiberti, we may
be sure, would never have countenanced a scene so
"fragmentary," so opposed to traditional narrative in
its concentration on a single moment and on the
All the
more puzzling,
12 )
of
therefore,
St.
never used
it
before, nor
do we find
it
in
any
devoted to single scenes, and the docu8, 1427, the only one to mention the
subject of Donatello's "story," defines it simply as
"the head of St. John being brought to the King's
font are
all
of October
We may
show a sequence
table."
word before
external pressure.
better
dome
The
seemed
so impres-
have been
The
in the
is
at the
presence of Salome;
among
a soldier of the
commanded
and
his guests,
ment
Der
clearly a
follows:
Sienese authorities
is
He had
series,
since that
king for the death of the Baptist. And what are the
events alluded to in the background? According to
the Scriptural account (Matthew 14: 6-11; Mark 6:
severed head of
of Donatella
of
his S.
may
suggest
Croce
fresco;
he combined
all
three events of
Roman
differ-
coins,
hand
in a gesture of abhorrence,
in
a separate
compartment
Semrau,
D., pp. 72fF; Fritz Burger, "Donatello und die
Antike," Repertorium f. Kw., xxx, 1907, pp. 2fF; Colasanti, D.,
p. 103; A. Meyer-Weinschel, Renaissance und Antike, Reutlingen, 1933, pp. 30ff; Kauffmann, D., p. 216, n. 186.
^ This detail, on the extreme left, is no longer visible in the
70
Critical Catalogue
of a coronet;
on the
right,
platter in
of her as
drama
first
is lost
The
two
only explanation
show
we
the
can
oflFer is
d'Olona). But
why
latter
may have
his "stage"
regarded as an
guests,
refused to
object, a "prop,"
horrified
of Donatello's composition.
whose
Herod and
chairs not
much
in
game
of musical
tello's
by the
Giotto fresco.
eral formal
Herod
The
at opposite
Herod
who
and
multiplying
the
how
vital
my
Gerini's
Martyrdom
of St.
Matthew
in S. Francesco,
servants be-
it
hind Salome. Could he have followed the same procedure of combining elements from Giotto and Andrea
Pisano in the background of his composition as well?
fresco, but Gerini surely did not invent it. There must
have been older examples of it in the Florentine Trecento. The figure probably belonged to the repertory
of the Giotto school (of which Gerini was one of the
final descendants). But the origin of the type can be
traced further back still; our figure occurs in the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, a fresco of the early ninth
century in S. Vincenzo al Volturno near Montecassino
(E. Bertaux, L'art dans TItalie meridionale, i, Paris,
1904, p. 95, fig. 31; more recent bibliography in Robert
Oertel, Die Friihzeit der Italienischen Malerei, Stutt-
canvas in
fresco
who
S.
been transmitted
to
The
fleeing, horror-stricken
71
The Sculpture
of martyrdom. His ultimate source,
was
classical.
origin; in
we may be
any event, he
its
sure,
florins),
money
ancient
all,
satisfactory completion of
Querela,
referring to a real
it.
However
work on the
of overzealous cleaning,
was
we may assume
he received no
one of
his reliefs. A decade later, he still nourished this hope;
in a letter to the Sienese authorities, written soon
after September 26, 1427, he stated that he had undertaken to do four figures along with the two reliefs, and
asked for confirmation of that order (Milanesi, op.cit.,
p. 124; cf. Bacci,
this
living.
upon
vdth
figures. Once he
had started, he completed the task in short order; six
months later, in the spring of 1429, both Virtues were
delivered and paid for in full.^
The positions of the two Virtues Faith in the niche
between Ghiberti's Baptism panel and his John before
Herod, Hope between the latter and the Feast of
Herod appear to be those originally assigned to
them. As Kauffmann has observed (D., p. 31), Donatello has made both of them turn strongly to the right,
orienting them towards the front of the Font (marked
by the smaU raised podium beneath the Baptism panel).
Both have suffered minor physical damage: the fire
gilding has been partly rubbed off, probably as a result
When Ghiberti, on May 21, 1417, received the commission for two of the six bronze reliefs for the font,
his contract with the Siena Cathedral workshop included a provision that "the six figures to be made
for the Font" would not be contracted for until after
the first of Ghiberti's panels had been completed and
submitted for approval (see Milanesi, Documenti,
op.cit., pp. 89f). The figures in question were the
Virtues at the comers of the basin, since at that time
no work was being done as yet on the upper part of
the font and its sculptural decor. Apparently Ghiberti
of the Virtues
based,
went
in connection
25, 1428,
and thus
Renaissance art. That he
of Donatello
that
64)
and
them doubly
as
their
significant.
an anchor for
Tomb
(see above,
less
makes
Campanile
Croce Annuncia-
some
of the
tion,
statues, the S.
both a revelation
puzzle.
Despite
resemblances in
something
of
a
and
detail to earlier works (e.g. the head of the Faith,
which recalls that of Salome as well as the Sibyl on
39f, 76, 107). Artistically, they are
may
and an
two
figures display a
ideality of
form such as
Poised and
from
classicistic coldness,
payments
for the
two
(95
about the price at which his two reliefs had been appraised; he
florins apiece but had to be content with 210,
while Donatello received only 180 florins for the Feast of Herod.
letter
to
72
Critical Catalogue
sense of that term. KauflFmann,
who was
made
to the
Font (D.,
His point
p. 81).
is
Museum
one of the
Was
match the
is
a repetition of
first
putti
his ability
saw the
on
it,
now
while
number
series.
when he
The
latter.
it
as
a surprise.
come
particularly
qualities
The
figures.)
text of Bode's
The
little
from the
left)
of
it
she speaks
(i.e.,
putti in Siena.
The
was considera-
number and
among
scholars as to the
tello
statuette
Reymond
of Milanesi but
is
in
Siena
(she
that the
insists
Florence
a mistake based
wingless,
number
both by Donatello,
Venturi {Storia,
for
the font.
executed three angels for the font and that the trumpet
blower is the only surviving member of the trio. She
rejects both the Berlin and the Florence statuettes as
greatly inferior in modeling (D., pp. 61f). Bertaux
further
compounded
the confusion
added a reference
putti
on the only
photographic view of the figure then available, which
happens to hide the wings). Schubring {KdK, p. 195)
ence.
makes no mention
to the replica of
(D., p. 86);
is
he
i.e.
that originally
one of the two Donatello angels, in the Museo Nazionale. This statuette, whose pose does indeed recall
third
from the
left
was
(i.e.,
putti supposedly
the
still
in situ,
payments pubUshed by
73
The Sculpture
In the
of Donatella
text,
ence, "wingless"
castanets,"
is
smaller
Donatello's third
unseen.
is
allowed to
turo Vihgiardi,
who
fifth
player
slip
is
at the
end
of the First
tains a
World
He
did not
demand
it,
too,
on the
number
left,
right.
of inaccuracies.
War
among
is
trumpeter on the
the return
he was sure
fifth statuette
which, according to
other.
When
to steal all of
Bacci,
them
at
23;
pis.
op.cit., p.
lii-lv)
how many
of
it
through a
statuettes
Museum,
The
instead of four.
I
it
(D.,
made
five
cast, unfortunately,
putto in Siena; he
he became aware
which showed
fifth
Bode
caused
of
the mischief,
all
is difficult
to ascertain
prob-
putti
those
still
He,
too, omits
Lanyi's demonstration
lin statuette
is
drawing
i.e.
with a
on the rim of
this
still
still
delle
(p. 275)
in situ standing
by Giovanni
was intended to
it
74
Critical Catalogue
stand at the particular comers they now occupy; the
Donatello threesome, greatly superior to (as well as
now
we may
Florence was
made
tute for
it,
claims of classical influence for them, but no relationship to specific ancient prototypes
Reinach, Repertoire de
as a substi-
in
2,
the Florence
la statuaire
(such as that to
.
iv, p.
260, no.
far.
The
classical
be found in the solid, smooth, convex forms of which the bodies of our putti are cominfluence here
When
Louis,
St.
they are not only a good deal larger but far more
is
to
them shows
body
Each of
combined with
so as to yield an extraordinary
by
all six of the statuettes (although only the ones by
Donatello have shells encircled by wreaths), undoubtedly has iconographic significance. The symbohc connotations of the shell, however, are too broad
and manifold Baptismal, Mariological, and otherwise
The use
a vigorous contrapposto
reveals
aspects.
ment
axis,
approaches a similar
eflFect.
to
point of a
of the Siena
tional principle
The
About
six
all
much
for
putt:i,
we
32a
Bronze
relief;
W.
L. 247 cm;
(center section) 88
1426
cm
(c.
above the
Inscription:
scroll,
SOURCES
The
bly
still
in
its
original location. It
presuma-
was introduced
by Semper, D. 75,
p.
some respects
Roman
280
and
no
confines
Tomb is in
Tomb
sojourn (Cri-
lOlfiF, 232fiF
and
Pis.
41b, 123a).
1,
made
few
he had left careful instructions concerning his burial in an honorable part of the Cathedral
and on how the cost of the funeral was to be met ( published in Miscellanea storica senese, 1893, p. 30; summarized in Balcarres, D., pp. 86). The date of the
tomb is usually given as 1426 (only Planiscig, D., pp.
47, 139, is cautious enough to phrase it "after 1426"),
sometimes also as 1427 (Milanesi, Cat., p. 11, and
Vasari, u, p. 415, n. 2, perhaps on the erroneous assumption that the date on the slab is reckoned according to the "Florentine style" and thus corresponds to
none
days
monograph on the
none
into
donatelu
opvs
DOCUMENTS
or later
1428-1430)
earlier,
March
1426, according
75
1,
1427, of the
modem
The Sculpture
followed the "Pisan
style,"
which
and perspective
may
and the
inside surface
is
decorated with
its
con-
it
Two
is
Tomb
is
cross-section,
However
end
Pecci
tricks
of Donatello
scription,
which
is
but on a bulging
somewhat
mind
scroll
held by
jyutti.
Herod
panel.
The
basic ingredi-
think not.
in-
The
the
in-
grounds.
its
narrow one.
1426-1427, it must
have been produced between 1427 and 1430. Its formal
aflBnities are all with Donatello's works of- the later
1420's, rather than of the following decade. There is,
first of all, the intense effort to create an illusion of
space and volume an illusion still extraordinarily
effective today, even though the more prominent
parts of the relief have been worn off despite the
extreme shallowness of modeling required for a slab
whose surface was meant to be level with the church
floor. The character of the entire work is in fact that
its
that
deed, presuppose
made
only on
stylistic
fairly
eflSgy
Tomb. Now,
effigies
reveals
significant
than
its
prototype.
differences
The drapery
in
was designed
style
sug-
several years
of the Coscia
from Ghiberti's slightly earlier and far more traditional bronze slab for the tomb of Leonardo Dati in
S. Maria Novella.^ While schiacciato effects also occur
Herod
quality.
is
this method
was the only way to make a virtue of the
peculiar limitations imposed on him by the task at
hand. It is almost as if the very flatness and compactness of the floor slab had challenged him to introduce
because
it
is
fragile as against
Much
bronze panels, they are confined to the background; the Pecci slab is unique in that here the
mode
as well as in Donatello's
later
schiacciato
The
small, delicate
its
the
1 The slab was done between 1423, the year of Dati's death,
and 1427, when it is mentioned in the Catasto Declaration of
Tomb.
76
Critical Catalogue
at
We
have only
Crivelli
letter
and espe-
letters,
on the
is
Tomb and
And why
TiNi.
the
funerary inscription.
Pecci signature
it
scroll
detailed
tures of Donatello:
(Pis. 71,
Tomb,
less
are
Thus
it
is
diflBcult to
is
an
it,
as
he did
in S.
DAVID,
PLATES 32b-35
Bronze
was chismore or
must assume,
We
that this
the "afterthought"
no longer in a position
to
of his last
and
himself.
we
are
we
when he was at
putting his name on his
ascertain.
Perhaps
two Campanile
there, too,
may
it
it
think,
Crivelli
least,
was
All of
later.^
latter
specially
as
p. 215.
statue;
c.
cm
51
(c.
1430-1432)
DOCUMENTS
None
Milanesi
1495,
October
9:
Two
entries in the
bronze statues, a David in the courtyard of the palace of Piero de'Medici and a
Judith in the garden of the same palace, are to be turned over to the operai of the Palazzo Vecchio,
pertinentiis)
them there
October 14: Marco Cappello, the macebearer of the Signoria, reports that
the operai.
SOURCES
1469 Delle nozze di Lorenzo de'Medici con Clarice Orsini nel 1469; informazione di Piero Parenti
fiorentino, Florence, 1870,
a description of the
Strozzi
MS
Alfred
v.
XXV,
wedding
festivities
De
Lardarel
edited anonymously;
now ms
ii,
iv,
324
Bartoli,
from
Reumont, Lorenzo de'Medici, Leipzig, 1874, i, pp. 276f, questions the identification of
)
"There were no pantry tables for the silverware, only tall counters
covered by tablecloths in the middle of the courtyard around the beautiful column on which stands
the bronze David,
and
in the four
basins.
."
.
The Sculpture
1495 Luca Landucci, Diario
of Donatella
"On December
1495,
9,
a David was brought from the house of Piero de'Medici to the Palazzo Vecchio and placed in the
center of the courtyard there."
1501, June 22, letter written in Lyons
by
Pier Tosinghi
in Florence;
like the
one
to the
Ten
of the Balia
"The Marechal
and that he
will
pay the
cost
."
1504 Record of the meeting, on January 25, of a commission to advise on the best location of Michelangelo's marble David,
pubhshed
Gaye,
in
n, pp. 455flF;
op.cit.,
David
it
is
awkward" (perche
1510 Albertini,
column
la
gamba
for the
an imperfect
is
figure,
di drieto e schiocha).
p. 17:
on the ringhiera
is
a bronze David on a
of varicolored marble."
November
1511 Landucci,
op.cit., p.
1511,
4,
of the
(Before 1530)
Billi,
now
is
in the courtyard of
He
the Ancients;
(c.
1550) Gelli,
p.
77 "[By Donatello]
were more
p. 59:
lifelike
"Donatello
made
is
[than
.
now
in the
it is], it
David
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
is
so natural in
(morbidezza) that
figure."
is
this."
has cut off the head of Goliath and places his raised foot on
This figure
bronze
it
it
its lifelike
seems incredible
it;
its
is
David who
hand he holds a sword.
a life-size bronze
in his right
flesh
to artists that
it
made
ii,
is
in the
m,
p.
harpies,
and some
vine-tendrils of
"And
with Goliath
at his feet.
that
78
is
to
be seen
Critical Catalogue
Palazzo Vecchio
is
work
the
by Michelangelo except
so that they looked
for
live
up
when viewed
to their reputation
at close range."
vi,
made
(trans. Albert
not so
much
in imitation of as in competition
with the one by Donatello in the Palazzo Vecchio, which he admired and
commended
greatly."
1568 Vasari-Milanesi, p. 406 (addition to the description of the bronze David from the 1550 text):
it
he
is
planning to
and had
make
it
taken away,
where the
lions
used to be kept."
Vasari-Milanesi,
vi,
".
Rome
very fine model of a nude David cutting off the head of Goliath, which he planned to do in marble
it was taken to the Palazzo Vecchio when the Medici Palace was sacked.
On his return
pleaded
Rome,
Baccio
with
the
Pope,
through
Cardinal
Giulio de'Medici, that friend of men
to
of talent, to commission him to do some statue for the courtyard of the Medici Palace in Florence.
Hence he went to Florence and carved a marble Orpheus
[which] Cardinal Giuho placed
in the courtyard of the Palace ... on a carved pedestal by the sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano.
But Baccio never gave thought to architecture, nor did he consider the genius of Donatello, who
had put his David on a simple column upon which he had placed an open-work base, so that
before
passers-by might look from the street entrance right through to the entrance of the second courtyard; Baccio, without such understanding, put his statue on a
the view covering the aperture of the second entrance, so that the passer-by cannot see whether
it
continues beyond."
vi, p. 604 {s.v. "Giovanni Francesco Rustici"): "Not long after [1515] Rustici
same Cardinal [Giulio de'Medici] a model for a bronze David similar to that of
Donatello, made for Cosimo the Elder, as we have mentioned before; it was to be placed in the
first courtyard, whence Donatello's had been removed. This model received much praise but was
never cast in bronze, because of Rustici's procrastination. Thus Bandinelli's marble Orpheus was
placed there, and the clay David of Rustici, which was a very fine work, unfortunately fell into
Vasari-Milanesi,
made
for the
neglect."
1591 Bocchi, p. 37 (Cinelli, p. 87; his additions are placed in brackets here):
putto ...
by Andrea Verrocchio
bronze David,
tello that is
who
and
by Vincenzo Rossi of
Fiesole.
tal,
is
bronze
another
Aby Warburg
in
is
now
a Hercules
who
made by
the young
tion of the
way
i,
in the center a
proved by
.]
1444, as
has cut off the head of Goliath, a noble and marvelously expert statue by Dona-
".
Mitteilungen
79
The Sculpture
of Donatella
cf Alfredo
and
it
after
i.e.
that
it
its
first
courtyard,
it
never
re-
to the
its
new
commentary on the
Lanzi. As a
was made
it
Judith with
both the
for our
statue and the harpy-pedestal might, after all, have
come to the Nfedici Palace together from another
location, or the pedestal might have been originally
statue or for this specific setting;
Benvenuto
Cellini
we
not in a position to
know about
when both
of
them had
topped by Verrocchio's
178; Francesco
del Tadda and others were working on the fountain
from 1555 on). Soon after, the David was put in the
niche to the left of the doorway near the stairs, where
Donatello's Judith had stood between 1504 and 1506
(see below, pp. 198ff). Bocchi saw it still in the same
position, but in 1592 the niche was empty once more,
and the Samson and the Philistines by Pierino da Vinci
was installed in it on the advice of Ammanati ( Lensi,
new occupant
Had
it
new
appeared (a
by Vincenzo
floor."^
it
as
"is
Florence, 1728,
being "in
Filippo Baldinucci, on
preserved
,
m,
pietre dure
that
may
be,
it is
difficult to
a knob or
numerous
According to Wilhelm Bode, Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunst1901, p. 38, n. 1, the base of Donatello's Judith was
designed for the bronze David and mistakenly combined with
the Judith in the course of the removal of both statues in 1495;
Giacomo de Nicola has shown, however, that the Judith base
could not very well have belonged to any other figure; cf.
Rassegna d'arte, xvii, 1917, p. 154 and below, pp. 200f.
del Bargello
is
un-
crest of
His
text,
the pedestal
2 Raccolta di lettere
m, Rome, 1759, p. 234, n. 2, in
connection with a letter of August 17, 1549, from Antonio
Francesco Doni to Alberto Lollio, which refers to "a column in
the center of the courtyard [of the Palazzo Vecchio], on wliich
there is a most worthy David of Donatello."
.
Museo
faults
pi.
11
slgn., XXII,
Filippo Rossi,
However
Milan, 1952, ad
s.v.
his
had a conspicuous place in the sala dei bronzi moderni, where it was probably put by Antonio Cocchi,
custode antiquario since 1738, who rearranged and
location of our
to the
it
much
op.cit., p. 252). Shortly before, Buontalenti had remodeled the rear part of the Palazzo, and the David
had been placed in the center of the courtyard ( Lensi,
loc.cit.). How long it remained there is uncertain;
as
Lensi, op.cit., p.
(cf.
even though
owes
indexed edition of
to
Dolphin-Putto
tello,
8o
Critical Catalogue
have come
was
produce
in
new
it
to
la storia
the assumption
suggested by Milanesi,
made
loc.cit.
for a fountain,
that
is
he further conjectured
statue
Museo Nazionale;
(ibid.,
2d
ed.,
for a
tello
later on,
and
have placed
around 1430, usually on the
David
basis of
its
in the years
Pastor's dating of
Rome. The
proposed by Milanesi
to place
piles
Had
up
the
why Dona-
to
late date
loc.cit.
he then
would force us
our
correct,
first
villa
if
Kauffmaim never
Medici
On
and that
spout
Palazzo, which,
after 1453.
pp. 296f, no. 208), but this notion has been rightly
disregarded by all later scholars. Equally unfounded
is
Documenti per
it
from the purely methodological point of view. Kauffmann starts with the assumption that the statue was
commissioned by the Medici for the courtyard of their
to reject
vocated by Tschudi. Yet Kauffmann's is the most ambitious attempt so far to solve the riddle of the bronze
David. A detailed review of his arguments thus promises to clarify our own thinking about the figure and
its many problems. It also has considerable interest
was
to
Kauffmann,
is
that
its
by Verrocchio; KaufiFmann
p.
8i
The Sculpture
masters cannot be
we
ponderated stance
find the
in the
of Donatello
literal
he
work
of Castagno,
sense,
i.e.
Goz-
was ever
Jerome
nude on
of our
zoli,
tion,
its
all
perhaps
we have
me
to rely
it
upon
entirely.
Kauffmann's argument
It
may,
post for
lesser artists.
Or
its
dedication,
absorbed by
is
after
list,
angular contour,
is
his
The correspondence
grounds
And on what
it
sig-
ideal of
berti
in
were preoccupied with artistic problems akin to that of the David, Kauffmann ought to
have tackled the far more crucial question of whether
David to the Alberti canon could be established beyond all doubt ( it is always difficult to be sure in such
matters), its evidential value would be small indeed;
after all, as Kauffmann is well aware, Donatello and
Alberti must have known each other ever since the
1430's, and the latter may have formulated his canon
long before the completion of De statua. Kauffmann
seems to assume that a concern with canons of proportion was "in the air" in the 1450's and 1460's, but
the dated monuments of those decades fail to bear him
out. If our David shows the influence of the canon
defined in De statua, it is, so far as I have been able to
discover, the only figure to do so before the High
of the century
He
does
248 and
p.
PI.
Jerome
in
quite
apart
from being a highly problematic attribution, looks altogether "wooden" when compared to our figure.
Among the undoubted statues of Donatello's late years
the Venice St. John, the Mary Magdalene, the Siena
St. John
we not only fail to detect any concern with
ponderation and physical balance but they evirce an
approach to the human body diametrically opposed
to what we see in the David. Kauffmann circumvents
this diflBculty
figures which,
by
he
if
Renaissance.
insists,
Adam
St.
is
not
The
usual,
good deal
fuller
may
82
Critical Catalogue
of this
master.
Siena
to
St.
fit
them
all
executed
methods
it
to-
takes
Enmeshed
of Middeldorf loc.cit.
emotional and physical violence seems utterly incompatible with the calm lyricism of the David. On the
downward
had
Kauffmann resembles
that of the St. Francis in Padua and brings to mind
Savonarola's description of the humble one ("he is to
bend his head modestly ... he smiles in silence"). In
a final biu"st of Sinngebung at any price, he even proclaims the bronze David Donatello's last statue so
that he can close the circle of the master's ceuvre by
pointing out his "return" to the theme of the marble
David of 1408-1409, the earliest monumental figure of
of
late
which
glance,
to
The "Medici
however, can-
of the
to
so
much
Why
all
this
strenuous
it
David must
lecture
statues,
he
asserts,
were meant
as repre-
is
certainly true,
and
for all
we know
Our
our
is
who
program
S.
Lorenzo
of
some
Pulpits,
Museo
which do indeed
He
fixe
created
through association with the Judith, without necessarily having been intended for it at the time of its
cryptomediaeval
with leaves
Here Kauffmann
fruit,
to demonstrate in a public
David has led us to reaffirm some of the older arguments in favor of dating the figure in the years around
1430. To these several more are to be added. According to Kauffmann (D., p. 243, n. 507), the ornament
on David's boots and on the helmet of GoHath confirms the late origin of the statue; he refers in this con-
we assume
creation?
the
was able
eyes of
of Donatello as a
do not
The key
of humilitas
at
Both
be post-Paduan because
whose
circumventing of
to rehabilitate, p.
tries
on
wreaths.
The medalHons
mann
cycle,"
relationship.
nunciation.
83
The Sculpture
fill
schneidekunst in der Italienischen Renaissance, Vienna, 1929, p. 22; also Aldo Foratti, "I tondi nel
David's sword
(see Pis.
33b, 34a);
Our
modeled that we can
no longer be certain whose triumph this is, especially
the scroll-and-
Palazzo Riccardi
may be found on
and the
of Donatella
version, however,
is
,"
so sketchily
ornamental compartments on
(below the visor) and on David's
boots (below the knee and on the instep) are almost
identical with those on the brackets and the background paneling of the tabernacle. We also encounter
the short vertical flutings from the curved base of the
tabernacle on the neckguard of Goliath's helmet and
in laurel.
Kauffmann
shape of
this
tendrils within
Goliath's helmet
we
to
be seen
as
actual, "Hve"
is
as
and
of GoHath, the
PI. 35a,
which shows
London
upon these
Lanyi,
compound
material,
find the
as a
late
we
and
armor of the
''
is
(cf.
ace
of
St.
fanciful addition,
that occurs often enough on both the North and East Doors of
the Baptistery but cannot be easily matched anywhere else, so
far as I have been able to determine; cf. the discussion of the
84
Critical Catalogue
symbolism pure and simple, neverseems plain enough. Yet one may wonder
whether orthodox iconographic methods can really do
in that of religious
theless
justice to the
is
suggested by
its
strong
but in content
pervasive classical
air,
had run
but
met with
v,
little
Bronze-David und
f.
man
latter started to
altogether
blame Vasari
for
is
such that
we
to a
Judith!
but of Salome
le
own
least of all
The
in
liability,
Dona-
sensuous beauty.
to regard
on colloquialisms and
is no longer clear.
them
that matters.
And
of
xxxif,
op.cit.,
Dona-
written in Siena
his
ditus, extolling
among
other things
the
delights of
tol-
comments
on the reputation of
pp.
Quattrocento Florence as a "modern Sodom"). Since
the stories were recorded within a dozen years after
the artist's death, we can hardly dismiss them as pure
fiction. In all likelihood, they were based on memories
of actual incidents, however embroidered. Does not
our David, too, fit the image of the artist conveyed by
these tales? He is not a classical ephebos but the "beautiful apprentice"; not an ideal but an object of desire,
strangely androgynous in its combination of sinewy
angularity with feminine softness and fullness. For an
understanding of the emotional background of the
work, it may be useful to recall that its creation coinWesselski,
who
rests
it
depend
is
tello,
since
translation,
It is their
met
Nor do we have
artists
let
Many
artist
but
but he also
cannot
letter
him the
permission to
quite unclassical;
is
stressed,
was going
kill
Kunstw.,
off to Ferrara.
long
debght
in having beautiful apprentices. Once someone brought him a boy that had been praised as par-
offensive in real
Roman
liter-
and the
humanists defended them on the ground that what is
ticularly beautiful.
85
life is
satirists,
The Sculpture
realm (see the account in George Voigt, Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alterthums
Berlin,
1881, I, pp. 480ff ). Yet the Hermaphroditus is symptomatic of a cultural and moral climate in which the
praise of voluptas, physical or spiritual, was not merely
an intellectual exercise. Viewed in this light, the ambiguous content of our statue is perhaps not wholly
.
has
ture
if
oviTi Giotto,
Apelles
if
were
of the
to
or
show
law-giving
on
Its
Praxiteles
to
little
our
of Donatella
"my
beautiful
or not such
the
first
36
Marble
relief;
cm
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The panel was acquired by
it
in
none
Museum in
Adams Shaw,
the Boston
is
1589.
may
in the
176),
concerning
Museum
small as the
Shaw Madonna
rehef (20.5 x 9
cm
cm
for
tabernacle, Vasari
iv, p.
observations
Bulletin of the
in
interesting
to
The framing
reliefs as
p.
1942, pp. 64ff). The identification is indeed a tempting one; as Swarzenski has pointed out, schiacciato
He
reHef to
meo
their
where
Medici Inventory of
which they were attached
to the
greater detail
The Donatello
florins in the
of
be traced back
44).
it,
said to have
nonc
history can
1425-1428)
(c.
make them
had been
fit
is
for
Shaw
much less
the
86
it
Critical Catalogue
considerable
inflict
damage on
in the circle of
to
in the
Cione
apparently by
com-
Child often
acter; the
sits
hand
therefore, that
cm)
di
Madonna
by the
be covered by a more
ornate
Nardo
Our
panel, inter-
as
Madonna
in
al-
unusually
81
panels
tion of the
sion of
the wings
much
The
garity:
Ma-
seems
to
original but
to give a
owned by
Kauffmann
it
Shaw Madonna
is
was the
background
of
Colasanti, etc.
In
my
view,
Shaw Madonna
is
to explore the
among
KdW,
first
(loc.cit) also
alto-
it
sufficient,
hand." Colasanti,
more than
own
execu-
criticizes the
who
as
whole
p. 135),
somewhat coarse and the expresthe Child and the angels as verging on vul"The heads are ill-modeled, and there is a
are very
Hu-
tional proportions.
of
lished pattern:
matches these specifications almost exactly; their vertical dimension cannot be reconstructed with the same
Madonna
low that
iconographic
"Madonnas
of Humility" of
our rehef
of sketchiness
the
painting.
version" of the
Madonna
investigated further
of
Humihty has
by Millard Meiss
since
been
in the context
and the depth of the carving so shalmust be measured in fractions of millimeters, the sheer problem of controlling the action
of his tools may well have overtaxed the patience of
of thumbnails,
"celestial
whole,
Shaw Madonna
al-
(Art
tain roughness, or
Bulletin, xviii, 1936, pp. 447f, and Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death, Princeton, 1951,
p.
139).
the
the Trecento
earliest
it
all
St.
we
87
cer-
witlife
of
The Sculpture
is
is
uppermost
the relief
mind, rather
in his
of Donatello
the
technique
of the
of
of the
Shaw Madonna
is
suggested by
Roman
it
(i.e.,
its
during Donatello's
it
places
sumption
schiacciato carving.
The date
(the
mann
really
city
124 ) dates
p.
fore, to assign
himself
Donatello
said to
is
same argument
still
37-38
Marble
relief;
H. 53.5 cm;
1427-1428
W. 78 cm
DOCUMENTS
An
lists,
among
commissions on which Donatello and Michelozzo were working at that time (they had become partners
"about two years ago"). The text was
inedito
i,
first
v.
Bartolommeo," Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunstslgn., xxv, 1904, Beiheft, pp. 61fiF). A second, independent
transcription agrees with Fabriczy 's rendering in all matters of substance (Rufus Graves Mather, "New
di
Documents on Michelozzo," Art Bulletin, xxiv, 1942, p. 228). Gaye, loc.cit., also published a reference
to the tomb from the 1427 Catasto Declaration of Cosimo and Lorenzo di Giovanni de'Medici.
and month are missing, but it seems plausible to assume that Michelozzo
Declaration at the same time that he wrote Donatello's, which carries the above date;
made
out his
and Rufus Graves Mather, Rivista d'arte, xix, 1937, p. 186): Donatello
and Michelozzo have done about one quarter of the work on the tomb of Cardinal Rainaldo Brancacci
of Naples, which they are doing in Pisa; they expect to receive a total of 850 fllorins for this com-
see Fabriczy,
loc.cit.,
note
1,
florins,
monument
to
all
month not given): Michelozzo and Donatello are listed among the debtors
of Cosimo and Lorenzo di Giovanni de'Medici, to whom they owe 188 florins, 1 (soldo), and 11
(grossi) on account of the Brancacci Tomb {per una sculptura del Chardinale de hranchacci).
(Gaye,
p.
SOURCES
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
p.
53
Milanesi, p. 409, slightly shortened; the omitted words are placed in brackets
a marble
is
in S.
tomb
Angelo
for
di Seggio di Nido;
it
88
it
itself
Critical Catalogue
1560 Pietro de Stefano, Descrittione de i luoghi sacri dellu cittd di Napoli, Naples, 1560, fol. 33r:
Rainaldo Brancacci, Cardinal of SS. Vitus
"Sant'Angelo nel seggio di Nido is a church built by
.
he wanted to suggest that most of the 300 florins received on account had gone for materials and wages,
in order to reduce his tax Habihty). The monument
though
this
earliest
source for
it
cannot be documented.
al-
The
He
text,
inscription
was
in-
since
plausible,
identified
with the
monument seems
entirely
Opera
gust 3 a
Bologna in 1410
receives 16 florins.
and
the hospitahty of
See p.
of the
^ I
am
indebted
for
all
this
which Semper,
Elder de Roover. Dr.
information,
me
on
fols.
in the State
above, p. 60.
loc.cit.,
barcha )
entries,
for a
Duomo],
Our
XXIII),
[del
Tomb must
have been fairly well advanced by then; as executor,
he would have paid the two masters after Brancacci's
death, and he probably did so before, too, since the
Cardinal was his client. In any event, he and his
brother Lorenzo hsted themselves as creditors for 188
florins (out of 300) disbiursed to Michelozzo and
Donatello by mid-1427 for the monument. It is possible, of course, that these 188 florins were paid out
between March 27 and July of 1427, in which case
thev would be, properly speaking, a debt owed by
our two masters to the Cardinal's estate. On the other
hand, the payments made to Donatello by the Medici
in 1426, of which Semper, D. '75, pp. 280 (No. 54),
310, has published a fragmentary record, probably
concern the early labors on the Brancacci Tomb, at
least in part. They are recorded in the fragment of a
ledger for the years 1424 to 1426 of the Pisa branch of
the banking firm of Averardo di Francesco de'Medici,
with whom Donatello had an account. The ledger Hsts
two deposits to his credit from "the Medici of Florence," presumably Cosimo and Lorenzo, who had no
branch of their own in Pisa and thus made use of their
cousin's firm to do business there.^ The first deposit,
of 30 florins, dates from April 6, 1426; the second, of
80 florins, from August 6. There are 21 withdrawals
covering the same four months, mostly of small sums
from one to six florins paid to Donatello in cash, for a
total of slightly more than 69 florins. ^ Only a few of
the entries record the purpose of the expenditure:
on April 16, Donatello pays 10 florins for marble; on
April 30 he withdraws 2 florins for a piece of marble;
on June 20 6 florins are paid for him to one Andrea
estimate of the
said to
who
to
who
is
the relevant
89
The Sculpture
of Donatella
December
trips,
office" referred to in
tion of 1427
its
later
we may
raison d'etre,
than
suppose,
final
even
of the
date for
sign that
following year.
Modern
in regarding the
Tomb, with
contribution to
is
far closer to
Tomb by
Alberto di
Amoldo
Novella.
Tomb in
fine
and roughing
find myself in
I shall
con-
in
published in Cornel
a considerable
in procuring, measuring,
to Donatello,
been spent
Maria
St.
or the
the only one to assign the effigy and perhaps also the
logical
(S.
recall a Florentine
com-
scholars have
free-standing caryatids,
of their other
Florentine Trecento
its
as quickly as possible,
some
won
monument
tried to
calendars.
Florence near
know from
90
Critical Catalogue
the Cardinal or suggested
by the
Christ
the
imago
pietatis
or
a decisive
artists, it is
Dead
the Resurrection on
Still,
the front of the sarcophagus.^ In replacing the devotional reference to the Passion
which
monument
reflects
attitude towards
The
may be
woman
the
in
next
format of our
of
relief as against
ment
many ways
in
in fact,
of earlier Assumptions.
ample precedent
tion in
more akin
the
years,
There
exist,
however,
Croce
and the Orcagna Assump-
they are
slightly
wider than
S.
derives
Tomb
relief,
of
is,
characterization
advanced
from Orcagna's
furniture
of
anticipates
both in her
physiognomy and her matronly costume. Kauffmann,
loc.cit., thought it necessary to postulate that Donatello had been influenced by Fra Guglielmo's Ascension in Pistoia, in order to account for the horizontal
death
piece
also
Virgin as a
new
the
of
concrete
Queen
tello's
Croce
fresco, interestingly
relief.
The number
much
as
of angels supporting
may be as few as four, or as many as twenty. Yet Kauffmann may well be correct in attaching symbolic im-
we may
be able to explain why our panel represents the Assumption of the Virgin, rather than the Ascension;
perhaps the symbolic analogy between Christ and an
Brancacci
is
found
in
Nanni
seven seraphim.
life of
The
was intended
by Donatello's characterization
of the Virgin as a humble old woman who shrinks in
fright from this overwhelming new manifestation of
Divine favor, just as she once shrank from the Angel
of the Annunciation. It
is
Queen
of
is
on which the
The Death
relief
St.
of the Siena
The
angels of the
of the Virgin
in which her soul rather than her
seen being carried heavenward
does occur on some
Trecento tombs, e.g. that of Francesco Dandolo in the Frari,
Venice.
is
tello's
sits on a
bank of clouds (as in the Giottesque fresco in S. Croce)
or, more frequently, on an arc within the mandorla;
Orcagna, in his Or San Michele tabernacle, places her
on a thj-one backed by a canopy of stars, thus sug
Many
body
with the
quality.
Even such
Virgin
moving
our
style of
surrounded by
strongly suggested
is
is
The
since he
Tomb;
91
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Assumption, in contrast, with their interwoven movements of plunging and soaring, are joined together into
by chance
first
It is surely
not
Pulpit.
39-40
Marble
relief;
H. 41 cm;
W.
DOCUMENTS
(1428-1430)
cm
114.5
none
SOURCES
1492 Inventory of the collections of Lorenzo de'Medici (Eugene Miintz, Les collections des Medicis au
quinzieme
1591 Bocchi,
mezzo
representing Christ
its
who
St. Peter,
by
."
rilievo
is]
expression of
"A marble
63):
and design.
Much
praise has
held in
by Donatello,
high regard by artists for
work
is
of venerable
is
and
devout aspect."
unknown.
and Albert Museum in 1860 from the GigliCampana Collection (Eric Maclagan and Margaret H.
display.
least plausible
Sculpture
tello,
Museum,
that this
The
is
Bielefeld-Leipzig,
Donatello's
Meyer ( Dona-
on the
not ordinarily
Salviati instead).
is
portrait of
Italian
house of the
included in Ascension scenes. Meyer explains her presence here as a special reference to perhaps even a
long,
Its
Victoria
here
St.
Peter in
the inventory.
zionale)
Berichte d. kunsthist.
Geselbchaft, Berlin,
1904, pp.
is
threefold:
difficulty
c.
4ff,
92
is
the
Critical Catalogue
p. 17),
third theory
who thought
it
was
graph No.
1,
project
more
and because of its kinship with the Entombment on the St. Peter's tabernacle. Domenico Gnoli
("Le opere di Donatello in Roma," Archivio storico
dell'arte, i, 1888, p. 25) went a step further and pro-
The Ascension,
subject
atmospheric of
style of our
its
mere
panel
is
fact that
how
it
is
at
some
distance.
of Donatello's schiacciati;
its
physi-
subdued
to carry for
loc.cit., fittingly
more
characterizes
as "un bas-rehef de lointain," with the entire foreground omitted). Here if anywhere Donatello has
worked for inspection at close range.^
If his Or San Michele thesis seems unsatisfactory,
Kauffmann has nevertheless added greatly to our imderstanding of the iconographic background of the
it
be
represents the
it
all
If,
when viewed
in contrast,
not incompatible
far
While the
is
cal
George rehef
St.
Hkely
we would be
collection of
London
A number
i.e.
it
Orcagna
p. 59;
Reymond,
Maclagan,
Sc. Ft.,
loc.cit.;
'87,
Colasanti,
D.,
55;
p.
Planiscig,
work
it
His proof
Or San Michele,
in
St.
Carmine
analogy with
George, since
was never
decided to abandon
its
He
Hennessy,
and
it
al-
some
in a
contrast.
Those reproduced
del
fully, in translation,
by Pope-
op.cit.,
easily
relief
Origini
Peter to his
d'Ancona,
though
more
i,
Abraham
concedes, how-
installed there,
(from Alessandro
the measurements of the two panels (and niche openings) are approximately the same.
is
was
in S.
of representing the
Maria Novella and a parchment drawing of c. 1400 attributed to Lorenzo di Bicci in the
Uffizi, which show St. Peter receiving the keys from a
Clirist in Majesty enthroned in the sky within a mandorla of seraphim.^ Moreover, Kauffmann shows that
the unique combination of the DeHvery of the Keys
with the Ascension in our rehef is Hkewise based on a
method
Herod and
the Naples Assumption than the Rome Entombment,
erally place
panel. Donatello's
op.cit., p. 6.
detail.
93
The Sculpture
This clue has special weight in view of the fact, frequently acknowledged by previous scholars, that the
Ascension reflects the style of Masaccio to a greater
extent than does any other
work
of Donatello.
into account
and heavy
Among the
very few identifiable works which Vasari attributes
to "Simone, the brother of Donatello," there is a Bap-
The
show the
draperies,
fact,
as
Peter in the
is
own
by Cornel
style
Ferrucci,"
1908, Beiheft, p.
ters (see
above,
p. 89),
refrains
2);
extreme
formal and
its
it
col-
may
also
The "Brancacci
thesis"
Kunstslgn.,
xxex,
Schottmiiller,
who
London panel
on the
is
St. Peter's
who
is difficult
is
loc.cit.
to discuss
as the
it
have rightly
stressed,
still
36).
Besides,
Paatz, Kirchen,
The
failed
to
since there
c.
1440
no indica-
is
may
this
circuitous
method
of refuting Planiscig's
has
any
latest.
But
reject his
Planiscig
And
skeptic.
than that.
in part reflects,
the
we should have to
later
Rome Entombment
between the
center panel and its companions ( presumably all three
reliefs were ordered simultaneously, though from two
different masters ) we can be reasonably sure that the
Baptism of Christ, too, must have been done before
the middle of the century. The London relief, which
Entombment
which he regards
tion of
same
in contrast to his earlier monohis reason clearly enough
the
tabernacle,
far closer to
but hardly
arrives at the
actually have
view
as a
his
tree
may
i.e.
Baptism"
left
much
so
Preuss.
and Frida
Pope-Hennessy wisely
cf.
v.
Jahrbuch Kgl.
1434.
the
edition).
the Ascension
work
first
left half of
lish
of Donatello
For the
chronological
difficulties.
end of the
ment, which is
at the
take
overexplicit
been
that
94
to
com-
be placed
compared
parts of
demands
all
1420's
to the
rest
of the relief.
It
may have
some
Ascension presents no
to think
Critical Catalogue
in the Tribute Money the horizon is placed
eye level of the figures, producing an isocephalic
line of heads, Donatello employs a di sotto in su perspective, with the horizon slightly below the bottom
by a variety
of devices, such as
Whereas
Donatello suggests
at the
edge of the
relief.
Schottmiiller,
it
loc.cit.,
now
Warburg
The ante-
and Courtauld
explicitly.
as well
By
upward
forcing us to glance
like the
apostles
the
Lorenzo.
S.
41a, 42
W.
DOCUMENTS
ST. PETER'S,
120
ROME
(1432-1433)
cm
none
SOURCES
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
55 (Milanesi,
p.
made
Vasari-Ricci,
384,
for the
iv, p.
new
p.
s.v.
Vaga" (Milanesi,
"Pierino del
it
in the
left
erected for
Company
v,
St. Peter's
[of the
which today
is
Rome
and
in St. Peter's."
middle of the old church. This chapel was built by Antonio da Sangallo,
partly from left-over ancient marble columns, with additional decorations of marble, bronze,
and
by Donatello, as a further adornment. [Pierino] made
with many small Old Testament scenes alluding to the Sacrament."
a very beautiful
The
canopy above
tradition reported
in
Donatello
is
mentioned
it
The
St.
and reintroduced
it
is
no reason
to
is
httle
della Febbre,
1
this
i.e.
the
for S.
Roman mausoleum
Vite,
111,
since the
that at
purpose of the
original
some
later
Madonna
date
it
came
to
Febbre hardly
permits us to conclude that the two works must have
shared the same location in earlier times. The grating
serve as the frame of the
made
conviction,
The circumstance
in St.
imply that
it
doubt that
now
into
was made
new
in descriptions of the
when Schmarsow
the literature.^
it
it,
della
Lanz
Maria
states that
repeats the
of Vasari's
I,
95
certainly
was not
the
Collection,
adjoining
It
The Sculpture
well
75
X 43.2
opening
for the
cm
for the
but
Lanz
the subject
relief,
is
83 x 49
cm
of Donatella
including one detailed drawing on
loc.cit.),
iconographically
of the
Album
(Cerrati, op.cit.,
We may assume,
even
was demohshed
earlier,
many
that
when
it
St.
suggests
between the
from several
it
fifth
(
Old
and
sixth
number
is
IV on the southern
flank of the
had
been transferred
well be correct; if the authorities, upon completion of the Cappella del Sagramento in the 1620's, were faced with a
choice between the Donatello and the Peruzzi tabernacles, they would certainly have preferred the latter,
there.
known
On
also
may
monuments"
1914, p. 64, n.
588ff,
La
its
I:
prior to
23f,
cf.
still
columns on
44),
St. Peter's
tello, in
bears the
is
even though
loc.cit.,
actually was a tabernacle in the Cappella del Sagramento before Bernini's); he knew from Vasari, whom
he cites in both instances, that there had been two
insuflScient
undoubtedly reflects
the religious compagnia that insisted on building a
special chapel for the Sacrament in the nave as soon
as the surviving portion of the old church (i.e. the
eastern half) had been walled oF from the new construction and "re-activated" for religious services under Paul III in 1538.^ We are tempted to think, therefore, that our tabernacle may have been associated
with certain Eucharistic observances before 1506, and
that the new chapel was conceived as an appropriate
setting for this hallowed object, which could hardly
have been a mere "further adornment" as claimed by
at this time,
in the space
honor
the point of view of
The appearance
(c.
St. Peter's,
Vasari.
by Kauffmann,
new
"rump church"
Old
late in
the
it rests on
pure conjecture. It is, in fact, directly contradicted by
Bonanni, who states that the Bernini tabernacle took
the place of an older one designed by Baldassare
Peruzzi in 1524 (op.cit., p. 110; the same statement,
without reference to Bonanni, in Gnoli, loc.cit. ) Now
Bonanni may possibly have mistaken the Donatello
cited
as
demoH-
Peter's
tabernacle of Bernini
was regarded
when
it
after the
of Old
was finally torn down. At this point, our
tabernacle became "lost," for even such experts on the
history and topography of St. Peter's as Giovanni
Ciampini ( De sacris aedificiis
Rome, 1693, chap.
4, no. 44) and Filippo Bonanni {Templi vaticani historia, Rome, 1696, p. 41 ) are silent on its whereabouts.
Bottari, loc.cit., writing half a century later, assumed
that it had been transferred to the Cappella del Sagramento, where it was eventually replaced by the bronze
(Cerrati, loc.cit.),
accuracy in detail
its
was made
it
in the
altar,
St. Peter's,
4). This
paintings
fig.
26
is
fol.
96
1.
Critical Catalogue
Madonna
Juhus
rotimda of
S.
the sacristy of
The
turies
as
Rome,
number
of years the
image seems
loc.cit.),
and
good reason
1570,
the
altar
to
comple-
its
Roma
1794 edition, n,
p.
istruttivo
di
that
of
to
Rome,
Madonna had an
1816, p. 137)
who
circumstances.
The
Sangallo Chapel,
it
Madonna
in the
fits all
all
the failure
St. Peter's to
identify
eventual placement in
may have
of
recalled,
be
new
history of the
as the
i.e.,
the 1540's,
tion of the
The
1696,
will
sacristy. It is
two dates
number
crown by the Chapter of St. Peter's (see [Raffaele Sidone and Antonio Martinetti] Delia Sacrosancta
Basilica di S. Fietro
Rome, 1750, n, p. 219). In
.
under
indication, then,
-with a
Madonna
this function?
some
is
for a
della Febbre
was given a third home to the right of the confessio
beneath the main altar (Bonanni, op.cit., p. 154, no.
to
If,
location.
to
Still,
we may
p. 47).
grotte
bined before; without some previous connection between them, such an installation would be difficult to
hasilicis
Febbre
after 1784,
place in the "old sacristy" at the southeast corner of the church (cf. Onofrio Panvinio, De
Romae
della
della Febbre,
praecipuis urbis
Madonna
peregrinations of the
tabernacle.
new
assigned a
(quoted in Hildburgh,
is
di cristallo"
op.cit., p. 16).^
munita
istoriato, e
is
concerned, the
provided the
marble.
97
The Sculpture
new
of Donatella
hundred
years.
Since
seem
not of conception,
to
rather than
the tabernacle
because of the cheap material ("Donatello als Archi," Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunstslgn., xxn, 1901,
tekt
p. 30). Semper must have thought of it in similar terms,
and for the same reason, since he regarded it as part
of the decor for the coronation of Emperor Sigismund
(which Donatello had helped to prepare, according
to Vasari; see below, p. 232). This curious notion, too,
.
Donatello in
panel
it
architectural
it
dry
of
is
is
is
London
we must
leave
(Pis.
beyond dispute through the testimony of Vasari, although Tschudi ( D., p. 17 ) and Bode ( loc.cit. ) found
the execution of some parts "hasty" and not entirely
by the master's own hand. Planiscig (D., pp. 53f)
with the
must have
Roman
goes
much
Padua
of the
tributes
Pisa. It
it
is
Altar;
see
PI.
88)
elsewhere,
is
far
from absolute.
He
here as
that this
our reconstruction of
is
its
history
is
correct
are a secondary
sol-
if
women"
likely
(Schmarsow,
If,
loc.cit.;
for the
Rome Entombment
f.
hild. Kunst.,
challenged assumptions.
98
Critical Catalogue
KaufiFmann, D., pp. 66f). The wailing women in Simone Martini's small Entombment in the Berlin Mu-
we
positions.
Trecento can be
felt in several of
Rome Entombment
(cf.
new
context a
sance in
the Siena
style,
it
as
re-use in a
its
later.
Donatello's reliefs of
Madonna and
few years
Semper,
S.
Croce taber-
loc.cit.), while the Masacciesque aspects of our relief immediately recall the London DeHvery of the
ful
St. Peter's
decade.
to
The very
is
so far as
this
followed
in
his
wake
the
seem
the younger
exacting
have been
to
impact of the
men who
technique
tendency."
Settignano.
It is difficult to
imagine, therefore,
of
c.
how
in imitation of
Dona-
God
tello
the
1403-1404.
St.
denied
He
is
experiences
in
Rome
it
Dona-
together about
this trip or
left,
meant to be just
of the panel), and it has a symbolic value as well
it reveals what would ordinarily remain veiled as too
sacred, too precious for everyday viewing. As KaufiFmann, loc.cit., has pointed out, the arrangement is
derived from tomb sculpture, where angels pulling
back a curtain to reveal the eflBgy of the deceased had
horizon
man on
Roman
of the master's
"every old-fashioned
influence (of
how
efiFect
oflF
Rome Entombment
such as the
tello's style
c.
slough
Reymond and
of
at all popular,
contrast
a schiacciato relief
true acroteria (D., pp. 82, 98f). To Middeldorf, who agrees with this analysis (AB, p. 573), the
no panels of
S.
become
closely linked
still
taken place about 1400, because of the classical influences in Brunelleschi's competition rehef for the North
S.
Heckscher, "Domauszieher," in Reallexikon z. Dtsch. Kunstrv, Stuttgart, 1955, cols. 289flF, and the literature
geschichte,
cited there.
99
The Sculpture
of Donatello
trast
with
the well-established
presence
of
Donatello
in
Rome
during
1432-1433
doing so, are we not superimposing the conditions of a later time upon the early
Quattrocento? When Vasari wrote of Donatello's visits
to Rome, he thought of the city as it was then
the
world capital of art, famous not only for its ruins of
Imperial Roman architecture but for its magnificent
upon the
artist's style.
important had
less
it
ing to imitate as
much
went
to
as possible the
Rome
"seek-
works of the
many
great
and the great monuments of Raphael and Michelangelo. These three attractions had made Rome a pilgrimage goal for every
artist of ambition, and their impact upon the visitor
could be overwhelming, especially if he came from a
distant region. But does the same hold true for the
Rome of 1403 or 1433, still under the shadow of exile
and schism? Did Brunelleschi and Donatello reaUy
think of the city as "la fonte perenne dell'arte" (Venturi, loc.cit. ) ? For the architect, to be sure, there were
collections of ancient sculpture
individual
is
well attested by
And
was
easily accessible to
him Donatello's
game
of influence hunting":
tion
rowings.
tello's
is
What we need
from
classical sources,
is
more
How much
loc.cit.).
of a revelation
Donadrawing
in order to understand
inspiration
Krautheimer,
(cf.
were these
monuments, which must have been familiar to him
beforehand, in one way or another, as part of his
cultural and artistic heritage? Whatever the answer
to this question, it seems clear that a Roman sojourn
could not have meant for Donatello what it did for
so many later artists. Perhaps it was a rather casual
experience to him. In any event, we have no right to
assume a priori that its effect must be traceable, directly and immediately, in the master's work. Why,
moreover, should his Roman experiences have been
concentrated in one or perhaps two trips? Is it not
hkely that he went several times, without his absence
being recorded and for reasons not necessarily conof his trips?
(loc.cit.)
to
Romae
at that time
Little
in
Rome
We
all
tend,
it
precise
from Florence
trip
in Donatello's day.'^^
attached to an-
to
We
presence
sojourns of Brunelleschi
di
San Lorenzo,
p. 320.
100
by Piero Sanpaolesi, La
cf
sacristia vecchia
Critical Catalogue
in
from
Bracciolini
it
tively or negatively. If
mond
[to Florence].
it
was
bring back
and given
a recent one, in
Rome
Lucca
which
soon after
in the spring of
St.
tabernacle
Peter's
illustration of Donatello's
we have
Roman
is
less
is
noted
it
also
trast
it
it
has claimed,
seems to Kauffmann and Middeldorf. Does the conbetween it and the S. Croce tabernacle really
demonstrate an overcoming of "old-fashioned tendencies"? Or are the two works too different in character
to permit a straightforward comparison? It certainly
seems so to me. After all, in designing a wall receptacle
for the Sacrament our artist had to take the wellestablished Gothic type of tabernacle as his point of
departure (for examples see Casagrande, ap.cit.),
while in the case of the S. Croce Annunciation he
was not hampered by such precedents. Thus we can
hardly be surprised to find that the St. Peter's tabernacle retains certain Gothic qualities. What is surprising since this, so far as we know, is the earliest
Renaissance tabernacle of its kind is that the Gothic
mentions
which he expects to
"I have something here,
home
In a letter written
traits are
supplying
maso
me
with the
Tonnelli,
i,
full text
Florence, 1832,
lib. rv,
ep.
xii,
pp. 322ff.
DOCUMENTS
The present
monument
(Domenico Gnoh,
"Le opere di Donatello in Roma," Archivio storico
delTarte, i, 1888, p. 26). Before then, the slab had
been set in the floor of the church at the entrance to
the Chapel of the Ascension (cf. Vincenzo Forcello,
Iscrizioni delle chiese
490) but
it
di
Roma, Rome,
1869,
its
fragmentary condition
61f).
i,
made
He
mention
larium, 1566,
rv,
ii,
in
of Donatello's signature.
1736.
broken
none
earliest written reference to the slab, in the Padre
Francesco Casimiro's Memorie istoriche delta Chiesa
di Santa Maria in Aracoeli (p. 203), dates from
p. 132, no.
nonc
SOURCES
1432-1433
pp.
time
101
The Sculpture
of Donatella
now become
Semrau, D.,
niche
Maria
as an
Maria
moval
Maria
S.
slab
tekt
installation. It has
tions,
by Casimiro,
loc.cit.,
Rom,
Alfred
v.
Berlin, 1868,
greater.
GnoH
by
The
is
actually
somewhat
hard to
is
the
one
is
judge from
esti-
unfortu-
drapery style
this
may
well
varia-
(loc.cit.),
brackets:
Archi-
als
,"
Louis Tabernacle, as
St.
Bode ( "Donatello
v.
a reflection of the
at
in Aracoeli
was intended
is
S.
tombs
itself,
the arch,
a straight-
vir
further.
lo.
Museo
The
less
Crivelli
Tomb must
The
dated
.
pressure of time
May
i,
may
An
Tomb
mentum
fol.
in the Lateran,
is
wooden
of a canon
S.
them
named
Maria
loc.cit.,
f.
hild.
160,
as
1454 by Laurentius
Italiae
and
as 1452
libri
Schrader,
Monu-
by Forcella
(op.cit.,
on the basis
31
Flor-
help
as
it
can be judged
carver
tomb
recorded
of these, the
One
speaks
Semrau,
loc.cit.,
of
slab
statue of St.
two decades
loc.cit.;
102
at present,
is
may be
earlier.
also
reproduced
in
Schubring, KdK,
p. 182.
Critical Catalogue
ANNUNCIATION TABERNACLE,
PLATES 43-46
CROCE, FLORENCE
S.
gilt
(c.
1428-1433)
TABERNACLE
H. 420 cm;
W.
W.
(top) 274
cm
NICHE
H. 218 cm;
W.
cm
168 cm; D. 33
STANDING PUTTI
H. 76
cm
(without base)
DOCUMENTS
none
SOURCES
1510 Albertini,
church of
S.
Croce, Donatello]
made
its
p. 77:
p. 98: "[In S.
S.
its
(c.
church of
in the
S.
Croce
S.
is,
S.
figures."
DonateUo's request."
Francis in
beautiful ornaments
this at
de Cavalcanti
St.
by Donatello; he did
Altar
Jerome and a
beautiful ornaments."
"In
made
St.
St.
Jerome and a
St.
.)."
S.
and
its
ornaments of macigno."
1550 Vasari-Ricci, pp. 46f (Milanesi, pp. 397f, slightly rephrased): "In his youth [Donatello] made
many things, which were not higlily valued because they were so many. But the work that estab-
hshed
his reputation
the altar
and
in
with
six putti
ance. But he
holding garlands
showed even
who seem
and cling
to
as
if
flee,
yet at the
same time turns towards him who salutes her, with beautiful grace and modesty, so that her face
displays the humble gratitude due the bestower of the unexpected gift, especially a gift as great
as this. Here Donatello also showed, in the masterfully draped garments of the Madonna and the
Angel, his awareness of the nude bodies underneath, thus demonstrating a desire to rediscover
the beauty of the ancients, which had remained hidden for so long. He gave evidence in this
work of such facifity and assurance, that one marvels no less at the ease of execution than at the
ingenuity and knowledge that enabled him to carry it out."
Vasari-Ricci, n, p. 121
103
and a
St.
The Sculpture
Vasari-Ricci, n, p. 130 (Milanesi,
m,
p.
of Donatella
life
small figures,
S.
of St. Nicholas."
p.
S.
siderably shortened).
p.
saints
in
and
"[In
angels,
S.
Croce Alessandro del Barbiere painted] the fresco decoration, with the canopy
1591 Bocchi, pp. 153f (CineUi, pp. 316-318): "In the Cavalcanti Chapel [of S. Croce] there is the
very beautiful Annunciation of macigno by Donatello, a stupendous achievement. Words cannot
convey the marvelous beauty of the Madonna, the divine, rather than human, quality of her
and her noble devotion and reverence. At the sudden sight of the Angel the Virgin
shrinks back with a most graceful gesture; the head is wonderfully done, and the shy expression
of her face conveys her thoughts at this memorable instant, as described in the Gospels. This
figure is clothed so masterfully that her nobility and majesty can be felt in the costume as much
as in every other aspect of her. The Angel next to her, gracefully bending his knee, has all the
bearing of a heavenly creature. Even though he does not speak, his face and gesture suggests
that he is about to utter the words that will give voice to his thoughts. The Madonna and the
carriage,
in design
however
is
of art,
and so exquisitely fashioned that they can hold their own against
but their lifelike quality is unrivaled. Very beautiful, too,
great;
beauty,
who
gaze
downward
as
it
beauty of
this
supreme
falling. It is incredible
how
artist's
has long been admired by every knowledgeable person, the experts continue to give
it
the most
extravagant praise." (CineUi adds: "The fresco decoration of the canopy and angels above the
by Alessandro del Barbiere.") "The two figures in fresco, a St. John the Baptist
and a St. Francis, are by Andrea del Castagno. One can see that they are beautiful in color.
Because they were so highly valued, the section of the wall on which they are painted was pre-
Annunciation
is
It
The present
was then
location
all
installed in
its
removed
of the Annunciation
much
was attached
taber-
care
and expense."
to the wall
Santa
sertion,
641,
fresco
true, are
The
taber-
mentioned
as be-
site.
strangely contradictory. Bocchi's astwenty-five years after the event, that the
monks' choir
it is
is
and cannot
and the fresco
be disregarded.^ But
information.
Some
if
Bocchi
is
right,
104
Critical Catalogue
of the monks'
itself
tabernacle as well?
Why
choir,
fresco with
its
Would
of mention?
And
is
it
who
remodehng
relocation of the Cavalcanti Chapel in the second edition of the Vite, issued
two years
canti
(who died
in 1371),
which
is
form the
had
back of the niche, we must assume
to be excavated to a depth of at least 40 cm before
the tabernacle could be installed. It seems highly unHkely to me that the walls of the monks' choir, whose
function was essentially that of screens, should have
been heavy enough to accommodate so deep a niche.
According to Paatz's estimate (op.cit., p. 593) these
walls were mannshoch, or a little less than 2 m tall;
thus our tabernacle, which is more than 4 m high,
would have had to be installed as a free-standing
monument on top of the choir wall, like certain painted
panels that were displayed in this fashion. The physical difficulties arising from its height, depth, and
weight, it seems to me, make such a solution most
unHkely. But if the tabernacle is still in its original
location, how can we reconcile Bocchi's testimony
concerning the transfer of the Domenico Veneziano
mural with the pre-1566 references to the mural as
being in the Cavalcanti Chapel? A possible answer to
our problem is suggested by the text of the Anonimo
Magliabechiano, which defines the location of the
mural as "at the corner next to the Cavalcanti Chapel."
Could this not mean the corner of the choir wall next
to the sixth bay of the south aisle of the church? The
fresco and the tabernacle may have faced each other
directly, so that the entire area between them could
have been referred to as the Cavalcanti Chapel, especially if, as seems Hkely (cf. Moise, op.cit., pp.
108f), there was a grating to separate this chapel
from its neighbors. The mural, in other words, could
have been transferred to its present place after the
was
previous site?
cm
to 7
stroyed in 1566.
its
it
The inventory
is
clearly incomplete;
far as
latest
back
is
is
as
the
seems far
taken of the
at present, to
seems likely,
therefore, that the inventory was compiled before the
internal remodeling of the church had advanced very
far. In any event, its author still knew the particular
chapels that were removed along with the monks'
original place.
of 1597, Mencherini,
op.cit.,
pp. 27ff). It
Ten years
Moro rediscovered the two reclining
putti, which had been removed and badly damaged
due to circumstances unknown (but not, as Paatz
it
safer,
Luigi del
original
and
The
who commissioned
the
105
The Sculpture
of Donatella
rarely
341
since
them the
angel, since in
hand
Accademia
angel's right
(
in the
stretched
is
picture, his
hand reaches
across to the right thigh in a manner reminiscent of our figure). Here Donatello seems
left
to
although
Annunciations of the later Trecento:
the kneeling Angel without attributes, his arms crossed
in a gesture of reverence. This figure may be found
its
among
in the
Cavalcanti Chapel,
who
nacle
is
it
likely to
op.cit.,
Donatello's
to the beholder?
the paneling
Raymond
of Painting,
(cf.
expected to
know
that
is
stands in front of
it?
when
della Francesca,
S.
Francesco, Arezzo),
but
it is
it is
shadow
should be
if
it
of a
is
to fulfill
domain
chamber
its
doubt
as
indeed
it
symbolic function of
p.
not only
it
seems
idea in
mind.
who
London National
introduced
it
in his
Annunciation
in the
Gallery.
An
Florence,
we
are
Croce
op.cit.,
80)
conspicuous
Robb,
How
scheme
p.
(D.,
Kauffmann
Annunciation.
conclusa;
is
latter
Donatello's intention,
from her chair and responds to the sudden entrance of the angel by drawing away from him, but
her impulse to flee has been arrested and her head
turns towards the angel. In the Accademia picture,
(Robb,
by an Orcagna
the Virgin's
Prato
S. Spirito,
The
Donatello's
risen
9,
S.
by
Virgin
earlier.
S.
3).
fig.
figs.
follower in
is
fresco
anonymous
,"
The
io6
Critical Catalogue
and
strikingly direct
is
Schmarsow
figures as
vicinity of the
artist to
first
St.
Peter's
it
in the chronological
statues,
and Tschudi
from
its
Rome
in 1433, be-
architectural elements
prompted the
reality; it
its
it
Or San Michele
has been
KdK,
pp.
79f;
had used
Herod on the Siena
305;
it
79;
eflFect;
The
cerned, a date of
St.
perhaps
(
on the basis of Semper's reference to the conquest of
Pisa in that year and to the role of Bernardo Caval8 Gerald S. Davies (Burl. Mag., xm, 1908,
pp. 2225) claims
1433 as a terminus post for the tabernacle on die rather curious
ground that its influence is not yet felt in the terracotta Annunciation of 1433 in Arezzo Cathedral, presumably the first
known work of Bernardo Rossellino, while the latter's Annunciation group of 1447 at Empoli is clearly based on Donatello's.
' Only
Semrau, D., pp. 44f, and Planiscig, loc.cit., give
Michelozzo a share in the design, but without arguing the point
op.cit.,
p.
145,
who
see above, p.
and "picturesque"
the
S.
style of
The
him
as so
strikes
Donatello
is
in detail.
Morisani,
individualistic
my own view,
Cf.
(cf.
p. 573; for
Croce tabernacle architecture, so clearly divorced from any collaboration by Michelozzo, has likewise been cited as a reason for dating the work after
the presumed cessation of the partnership in 1433.^
The style of the two figures, on the other hand, undeniably points to the late 1420's. Kauffmann, loc.cit.,
has summed up the observations of numerous earlier
scholars in this respect; he notes that the closest relatives of the Angel and the Virgin are the two Virtues
of the Siena Font (see above, p. 72), and stresses
their "Ghibertesque" qualities, which suggest the
angels in the Baptism of Christ on the Siena Font.
in Italia,
The
101).
imtil
.
Peter's tabernacle
Middeldorf, AB,
it
that
107
The Sculpture
of Donatella
same extent
to
fit
S.
Here our
answer must be that we do not know. The mere fact
own
p. 575).
S.
98).
far
more
striking
(cf.
resemblance
rather
gratiating one
design.
be-
S.
of the Cantoria
Some
of
its
(Kauffmann
is
against using
decorative elements
them
as a
then,
By spreading
years later.
the
Davies,
loc.cit.,
we
a highly in-
quality
Roman monimients
though
tecture as a
presuppose
his inter-
it
started,
Nor does
He
tween the
once.
on the basis of
St.
appear to be an afterthought
above,
exists
all at
it
Rome
since the
p.
may
certainly related to
is
127) and
cotta putti,
as
p.
Rome
it
Geymiiller,
the commission,
from the architecture of the "partnership projects" (the Coscia and Brancacci Tombs,
return from
v.
different
is
it
its
that
(for
its
47-48
1433-1438
W. 79 cm
DOCUMENTS
Two
contracts, as well as
numerous
entries
12fiF;
reprinted in Opere,
iv,
{II
pergamo
now
di Donatello pel
among
the
Duomo
loS
Critical Catalogue
Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunstslgn., xxv, 1904, pp. 71S, gives another transcription of the contracts which
differs from Guasti's only in some details of spelling and punctuation.
1428, July 14 (Guasti, pp. 12-15; Fabriczy, pp. 71-73): Contract for the pulpit
fit
in
in the
spiritelli
two braccia
On
shown
5^
tall
to
is
be a cornice on which
may be
is
to
itself,
everything
in the sacristy;
there shall be
due
part of the pulpit, starting at a height of 5^4 braccia above the ground,
sia
It stipulates
to
is
latter
The
six
shown
dentils,
ornament or whatever
foliage
be divided into
sulla quale
foliage, as
is
on
to rest
this
in the model, or
something
else if
as
shown
in the
is
to
vsdll
have
to
pilasters)
be done on the
fa9ade of the church above the floor level of the pulpit, the two masters shall provide, vdthout
July
30 November 21
total of
318
lire
has been
November 27
(Guasti, pp. 15, 23; Fabriczy, p. 74): Written confirmation of their promises
who pledge
full restitution to
them
as
Marcho, who had gone to Florence as the representative of the operai to get
15 soldi for his
1429,
money
or
Sandro di
trip.
December 8-January
a total of 220
by
lire
20,
1430 (Guasti,
p. 26,
this
period
total of
247
lire
7 soldi
total of
231
lire
3 soldi
total of
86
17-March
15,
1432 (Guasti,
loc.cit.,
1432,
109
fire
10 soldi
The Sculpture
1432, September 1-July 26, 1433 (Guasti,
Pagno
and
Ghambio
di
loc.cit.,
of Donatella
274
total of
lire
this interval.
sent to
Rome by
his partner,
di Ferro,
to
The dismantling
is
be paid 4
to
lire.
August 14-October 18 (Guasti, pp. 20, 26, summarizing thirty-five items): The two masters have
received a total of 316 lire during these two months, including the cost of 25 pounds of wax for
the
model
[of the
bronze capital].
October 18-December 19
134
total of
6 soldi
lire
December 9
"when he
[capital]."
total of
18
lire
May
27 (Guasti, pp. 17-19; Fabriczy, pp. 77f; first published, incompletely, in Fernando Baldanzi's
Descrizione della Cattedrale di Prato, Prato, 1846 ) Contractual agreement concerning the com:
named
as arbiter.
Both
manu
Guasti, p. 19;
first
is
and
relief,"
which
is
such as
this
their appreciation
is
that he
is
them
that
them good
service; they
cannot be found every day, and send him some money for the approaching hoHday
John the Baptist, June 24]. Donatello, Matteo adds, is the kind of
with any modest meal ( e huomo ch'ogni picholo pasto e allui assai, e sta con-
man who
now
Florence,
arti,
further assures the operai that Donatello has every intention to render
show
again
previous agree-
all
to
is
florins
florins.
1874, p. 240): Letter of Matteo degli Organi, from Florence, to the operai, informing
ought
25
to receive
Lorenzo Sassoli
et alios. Donatello
satisfied
St.
August 3 (Guasti,
have consumed 4
p.
who came
for this
purpose
lire's
September 2 (Guasti,
The
23):
p.
lira
15 soldi cartage
three reliefs.
Maso
loc.cit.):
di
Bartolommeo
is
work
in
October 1-March
18,
1435 (Guasti,
pounds of
lire
p. 24):
loc.cit.):
October 22 (Guasti,
p. 27,
[di
Bartolommeo]
lire
lire
amount that has been paid to three master masons for their appraisal of the pulpit.
1
lO
10
soldi,
the
Critical Catalogue
November
2-6
Guasti, loc.cit.
Maso
(Guasti, p. 25):
spent thirty-six
1435, February
is
December 14
Bartolommeo
di
(Guasti, p. 20):
di
Bartolommeo has
made by
Michelozzo."
July 18
The canopy
Guasti, p. 16):
October 2-December 24
been dismantled.
total of
30
lire
November
soldi,
the
November
6- June 3,
1436
total of
26
lire
18 soldi has
March 6-October
been paid
3,
1438
Guasti,
loc.cit.,
to Donatello
June 3
Guasti, loc.cit.
total of
this interval.
lire
in part
Donatello and Michelozzo are charged with 3 hre 6 soldi for transporting
made
in vain
to fetch Donatello,
but the
the three reliefs from Florence to Prato; this includes the cost of one trip the carters
when
[i.e.
November 17
latter
1438, July 14
Guasti, loc.cit.
August 8 (Guasti,
[capital]
on the
p.
Payment
[di
he has made
[literally:
The marble
20):
reliefs
fools of us].
for nails
used
in
making the
pulpit.
bronze
pulpit.
September 3 (Guasti,
been
Maso
(Guasti, loc.cit.):
p.
The
26):
capital
gilt.
September 17
marble
reliefs
Guasti, loc.cit.
they have
made
lire for
the seven
The
latter
florins.
The claim
While
this
Donatello and Michelozzo had received a total of 2,829 Ure 14 soldi 6 grossi
896
final
to
is
without
substance, being based on the faulty rendering of the contract of 1434 in Baldanzi's Descrizione.]
SOURCES
(c.
1450) Nabucodonosor,
Rayypresentazioni sacre
Re
.
di Babilonia, rehgious
.
v,
drama
of
unknown
authorship,
is
first
printed in
reproduced
in
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Semper, D. 75, pp. 321f [The King wants to see himself adored as a god on earth, and orders his
chamberlain to find the gieatest sculptor, who is to create a gold statue of the King. The chamberlain
:
recommends
Donatello.]
Chamberlain
Master, be
to Donatello:
it
known
to
you
must
also
Nebuchadnezzar:
art
of statuary.
may
rest assured
And with
Nebuchadnezzar: Master,
want you
to fashion
my
Bearing
features,
and
its
width
And make
Its
Go
set to
Instruct
Without
1510 Albertini,
p. 20:
glorious Virgin
is
it
defect;
command shall be
now to begin the
is
by
fulfilled
labor!
Donatello."
is
is
dis-
played."
(c.
1550) Gelli,
p. 60: "In
displayed, as well as
is
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
the Girdle
that they
is
p.
53 (Milanesi,
shov^m.
may be
On
its
sacked
who
p.
made
One
same perfection
is still
He
also
off
p. 320: "In Prato, a town ten miles from Florence, he made the marble pulpit
on which the Girdle of the Glorious Virgin is showoi; the dancing children he carved on it are so
beautiful and alive that they stun every beholder."
The
first
112
Critical Catalogue
with a marble pulpit showing the AsSt. Stephen, and two angels
(Guasti, loc.cit.), but the project was not executed
until 1357-1360. This long delay may help to explain
to replace
it
mann
model described
of the Virgin,
earlier.
Late
in
new
at
pulpit"
and the
presits
it
level
place
it
moved
so that
and wages,
(Guasti, op.cit.,
is
present ap-
its
p. 12).
pearance.
Its
we have
noted above,
i.e.
1438
tetto,
Rome
in the early
summer
mented panels
then,
of the
is
con-
come under
new pulpit
of the zone
the
of one of the classic orders was called colonna quadra or, quite
often, simply colonna, while an ordinary pier or buttress was a
pilastro.
and wdthout
fields
We may
by mid-1433 most
also
between the
bronze capital and the balustrade) was ready to be
put together. The carving of this ornate ensemble of
moldings, brackets, and panels must have taken con(i.e.
must
Their
between July 1428 and September 1432 at fairly regular intervals, an indication of continuous and substantial activity. The same may be concluded from the
entry concerning Pagno's mission to Rome on April 1,
1433, which refers to Donatello and his partner as
having failed to complete the pulpit. The fact that it
was Donatello in particular whom the operai wanted
they even enlisted the aid of
to get back on the job
Cosimo de'Medici suggests that the remaining part
of the work was largely sculptural. And surely the
old pulpit would not have been dismantled in July of
the same year unless the new one, or its architectural
framework, had been far enough advanced at that
well assume, therefore, that
cor-
orna-
of
filling
and
The
113
The Sculpture
Rome, when the sculptural part
of the project
of Donatello
was
left (PI.
at last
shown
the
result,
balustrade
in the model;
as
wide
is
clearly a fragment;
its
its
be
width of the
full
pilaster. It
meant that
the center of the balustrade would now be marked
by a relief rather than by the dividing line between
the third and fourth panels certainly a far better
arrangement aesthetically.^ The elaborate bronze capi-
wing
it
tal: this
been cut
off,
its left
where we would
cupies;
ubi
tall
figure has
is still
expect to find
tal
2 braccia
decoration,
as the front,
to the
reliefs
The
47b, c).
it
was meant
deficit,
it
now
oc-
is
was not
abandoned; the garlanded angel emerging between
the abacus and the body of the capital still has the
same function.
The bronze capital, modeled and cast in the latter
a remnant of
Thus the
left,
existing console-
we
visualize
would be
straining in the proper direction, i.e. towards the exposed corner. The console-angel that has disappeared
must have done the same: his left wing-tip is at the
same distance from the corner of the abacus as the
right wing-tip of his companion. One further bit of
evidence for our view may be found in the two recHning angels. The head of the one to the left is turned
why
capital,
ters' intention.
had planned
Nor
is it
this
diflBcult
to
indeed. Moreover,
(two-sided) corner-capital?
far
more
cally, to
That,
the
thus
model and
am
cast the
convinced,
is
the
two faces
way
as
it
game?
made
would be most
Who
then spoiled
Who
No marauding
one unit?
effective.
2 Kauffmann (D.,
pp. 72f) thinks that the number of panels
has a symbolic significance linked with the Assumption of the
Virgin, since Donatello had used seven angels in his Naples
Assumption relief ( see above, p. 91 ) this may have been
an additional consideration, even though one wonders if
KaufFmann is right in claiming that the theme of the dancing
angels is derived from the iconography of the Assumption. The
examples he cites the Assumption relief from the Trecento
pulpit at Prato, Orcagna's tabernacle at Or San Michele, the
show flying
gable relief of the Porta della Mandorla, etc.
angels who either play musical instruments or help to carry the
Virgin aloft but who can be defined as "dancing" only in the
metaphoric sense of the term.
3 De perficiendo seu de novo fiendo il capitello sotto il perbio
della Cintola ubi deficit; the term deficit would seem to refer,
not to a recently stolen piece but to something that was never
114
Critical Catalogue
In any event,
all
cast six to
the
first
balustrade panel.
The reason
Tomb (which
Aragazzi
dent
Tomb
we have
in Montepulciano.
thing of a hit-or-miss
affair.
The
of the
was
Yet there
if
loc.cit.
more
and,
recently,
1435,
lozzo,
so often proclaimed
by
interpretation
which
of
all
with
p. 36,
Cod. Magi.,
57).
,"
Giuseppe Marchini ("Di Maso di Bartolomeo e d'altri," Commentari, iii, 1952, pp. 114f).
The chief argument usually advanced against Michelozzo that the design is too imaginative and fails to
show his architectural discipline loses a good deal
of its force if we examine the capital within the con-
as
summary
last of
isolation.
than the
part,
more sharply
Its
basic shape
is
scrolls
might be described
as a frieze
we must keep
mann,
Morisani,
of 1428,
op.cit.,
com-
we
see
it
first
contract,
its
it still
main
outlines, at
seems
diflBcult to
genesis,
of the
comer
was
Why
in mind
which called for the conversion
its
pp. 27f; of. in contrast Semrau, D., pp. 49f, and more recently Middeldorf AB, p. 575 )
grammatically correct use of the
loc.cit.;
this
with a rectangular
modern successors
than in
certainly unorthodox:
their
under
of these
recent
tain strictures,
but of
artist
Among
tion
"made by Miche-
above, pp.
54ff,
Semrau
) and
loc.cit.
literal
field,
knowledge of this
those who viewed
Kauffmann
for
a certain
is
design,
some-
still
escutcheon-holding an-
by the
bad
when
six pairs of
The two
of 1428.
gels
at that
and the
pletion),
is
and
artist
why
same
115
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Tomb. Donatello,
of the Coscia
on the
braccia
tall
until 1433,
when
of
have been added by Maso di Bartolomeo, as suggested by their resemblance to similar small figures
on Maso's bronze candlestick in Pistoia Cathedral and
his part of the bronze grating around the Chapel of
the Sacred Girdle at Prato (cf. Marchini, loc.cit., and
pi. xxix).
With the
no conventional
fitted to
it;
its
width,
classical
it
consider that
capital
common
last.
of the
each master free to accept individual commisThus the fact the Michelozzo did not
figure as cosigner of the written agreement of May
1434 does not indicate that the partnership had been
but
formally dissolved
me
it
all,
if
is,
after
indirectly, as the
property of the
between the
decoration and the structural core of the capital, and
even the details of modeling, can be matched only
in the oeuvre of Michelozzo. Thus the pilaster capitals
on the facade of S. Agostino at Montepulciano show
the same basic pattern of scrolls against a flat, rectangular panel, and the Christ Child in the lunette
to
left
sions as well.
seems
pulpit
the circumstances
was
of
work on the
Casting
to
When we
show a greater
degree of animation and are thus closer to Donatello
in spirit, if not in quality of execution. They may well
know, never
center hne).
its
The
capital, then,
so far as I
to the
taken
literally;
the phrase
is
et alios
must not be
ment
Donatello alone
i.e.
fact,
of the project, even though he apparently was not expected to take part in the production of the balustrade
and
this
had
may have
to
be spelled
existed
relating
out.
to
(A
similar
document
panels.
For
all
practical purposes,
came
we may
suppose,
ii6
to
Critical Catalogue
his legal
and
for another four years, until the two masters had received the last payment and squared their accounts.
According to the agreement of 1434, the seven balustrade panels were to be Donatello's own handiwork;
they are specifically defined as
eitis
who had
it
in Florence
may be
this is
documented
were produced
and
were confined
we know
them,
an iron-
sections
checked
Michelozzo,
Michelozzo,
share in
it
makes
as
parts of
producing those
reliefs.
he had anything
Maso
is
seven
reliefs.
first
Thus Tschudi
di Bartolomeo.
(D., p.
left as
15)
all,
re-
carried
'87, p.
panels;
Pastor
(loc.cit.)
first,
labor,
Rome
in the spring
sixth,
attributed the
to
and seventh
first two to
Michelozzo, the next three to Donatello, and the remaining pair to an unknown, clumsy assistant; and
Siegfried Weber (Die Entwickelung des Putto in
help of Michelozzo in the
him
he had
been working on the pulpit.* Fabriczy ("Pagno di
Lapo," Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss. Kunstslgn., xxiv, 1903,
Beiheft, p. 120) is on equally unsafe ground when he
includes Pagno among the alios of the 1434 agreement simply because he was sent to Siena some months
later as Donatello's garzone (see above, p. 66). In a
way, the very lack of any reference to Pagno among
the Prato records concerning the work on the pulpit
might be said to increase the likelihood of his having
is no assurance that
do with the pulpit at all; the mere
to
to the carving
men
these lesser
Among
out
name
the
by unknown
less detailed
concerned
difi^erentiate
among
can be said in this respect with any degree of assurance is that the three reliefs farthest to the right are
distinctly inferior to the others, both in composition
and workmanship. They also show greater aflSnity
as-
with the
left
the Cantoria.
The Prato
and the
rehefs, then,
lateral panels of
seem
to fall into
nor was he in Prato at the time, since the operai had to send
another man to Florence in order to arrange Pagno's mission.
culty of the
He may
of Donatello scholars,
sistants reflecting the manner of Desiderio da Settignano and Luca della Robbia, respectively). These
varied opinions hardly deserve to be analyzed in detail; they are, for the most part, set forth without
tangible evidence of any kind, and the measure of
of Donatello's
is
(op.cit.,
fifth
own
style
their
we
to solve.
On
the
the
of his association
117
The Sculpture
of Donatello
apart from the first group stylistically. External evidence, then, does not help us to decide which of the
two panels under consideration is the one mentioned
were
ous positions
church).
(i.e.
Among
we may
for
me
from
is
left as
a temperamental genius
must have been a close personal friend of
our artist. Did he not perhaps exaggerate the response
of the experts to the panel, the better to plead Dona-
himself,^
not
panel (although
tello's
two
but shghtly
superior to the second, which it otherwise resembles
in many ways, I find myself wavering between the
third and fourth. They have been nominated for this
less decisively)
by Marchini
as
by Cruttwell
However
cause?
reliefs in
own
master's
may
that
question seems to
is
me
entirely
by the
particularly diflBcult
who argued
builder,
first
as deserving a place
are Hkely
at least,
it
to the letter
we
expect one to
which according
earliest,
(We
of
to
in Matteo's letter.
it
the fourth
it
(loc.cit.),
that
The
central position
had been
installed
it
is
self-contained,
later, after
time
of
some
inter-
For at the
1433-1434, Donatello had not
it
was produced,
in
it
the
p.
would be
two years
all in
below,
number
p.
127).
None
first
small-scale
it is
and the
Uke.
London, 1905,
it
Hill {Pisanello,
among
c,
in spirit
not implausible to
42b,
so that
less frantic,
does not show the entire fourth relief but only one figure from it.
8 Cf. his troubles with the operai of Florence Cathedral, recounted in Poggi, Duomo, pp. cxxxff.
of
George F.
iiS
Critical Catalogue
49-53
1433-1439
RECONSTRUCTED ENSEMBLE
Square
fields
ANGEL FRIEZE
H. 98 cm; L. 522 cm (front), 132
Columns, H. 108 cm
cm
(sides)
framework of the balustrade (see below). For the two bronze heads
between the brackets, see below, pp. 123ff.
originally attached
field
[The two bronze putti holding candelabra in the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, claimed as part of Donatello's Cantoria by
Berlin, 1909,
Paul Schubring (Luca della Robbia, Leipzig, 1905, p. 19) and Robert Corwegh {Donatello's Sdngerkanzel
pp. 23f), have been convincingly eliminated from the master's oeuvre by Lanyi (Pragm., p. 129, and Mitteilungen d. Kunsthist.
Inst. Florenz, v, 1939, p. 213),, who attributed them to Luca della Robbia and pointed out that they had belonged to Luca's Cantoria,
where they were seen by Vasari (Milanesi, ii, p. 170) and later authors. There is no testimony linking such figures with Donatello's
.
Cantoria.]
DOCUMENTS
A
Duomo,
pp.
257flF,
The operai
Donatello a marble pulpit, to be placed above the door of the second, "new" sacristy; and to decide
upon the
and delivery
November 14 {1287): Donatello is to be paid 40 florins for each piece [= panel] of his pulpit that
is equivalent to those of Luca della Robbia, provided the workmanship is at least as good as Luca's;
if it should be better, he may receive up to 50 florins per panel. Donatello must finish each piece
within three months after receiving the block, which will be furnished by the opera but for which
he must give security through a reliable bondsman.
at
work on the
payment
for
it.
window
it.
Lotto di Giovanni di messer Forese Salveti receives 15 florins for a block that has been purchased
December 15 {1291
60
lire for
pieces,
payment
he
is
working on.
cartage charge of 11 soldi has been incurred for the above-mentioned block.
payment
is
working on
and
he
is
for
is
working
be paid
two other
to
December 30 {1293): Donatello receives 11 florins in part payment for the work he is doing on
the marble pulpit. {1252): The operai have commissioned Francesco d'Andrea Fraschetta of Settignano to quarry at Carrara and to bring to Florence a block larger than those used for tombs,
119
The Sculpture
of Donatella
be specified by Filippo Brunelleschi and Battista d' Andrea, the masterin-charge of the opera, for the pulpit being made by Donatello, as well as two pieces of marble
and
of a size
and shape
to
1434,
Luca
March 18 {1294):
della Robbia.
Donatello,
who
is
The opera has bought from Francesco d' Andrea Fraschetta and his helpers,
two marble blocks which they had procured for Donatello's pulpit but which the
had refused
April 11 (Cavallucci,
opera
is
is
Semper,
florins for
loc.cit.,
fit
is
advanced 10
loc.cit.;
size.
receives 4 florins
The master-in-charge of
block that had been procured for
dome
a certain
is
florins in
part
payment
May
florins in
part
marble pulpit he
is
doing.
is
doing.
marble pulpit he
is
doing.
for the
payment
payment
for the
payment
for the
marble pulpit he
is
doing.
payment
for the
marble pulpit he
is
doing.
tomb
"December 30,
the same pulpit.
s.v.
1433"] for the cornice of the pulpit; also with another marble block for the sides of
doing.
is
block [lapidem marmoris sepwZ^ttre apparently a standard size then in use; see
the
the requirements.
1436, February 17 (1298): Donatello receives 4 florins on account of the marble pulpit he
the
June 20 {1305): Gualterotto de'Riccialbani, provisor [of materials for the opera], is directed to
furnish Donatello with enough marble of the kind necessary for completing the pulpit. Donatello
receives 50 florins in part
payment
for the
marble pulpit he
florins in part
is
is
to
is
doing.
payment
florins in part
for the
payment
marble pulpit he
is
doing.
he
is
doing.
to finish
almost completed.
the pulpit, will be needed in the Cathedral workshop for eight days; he
is
to
be designated by the
payment
is
reimbursed 7
to
florins
is
doing.
has made.
made
for
is
to
made and
to be
has
is
payment
he
1446, February 23/26 {1315, 1316): After consultation with experts, the operai have set the price of
120
Critical Catalogue
and
tello
all
is
down
to cover,
and
made and
has
due Donatello
still
for
installed.
amount
work
the two heads Dona-
months
his associates to
of the
pay the
residual
will
have
1456,
and
to the heirs of
the goldbeater Piero for the gilding of the foUage of a "crown" above the small organ on the pulpit
of Donatello.
August 9 {1318): The heirs of the goldbeater Piero are to be paid 20 lire 13 soldi for 600 pieces
of goldleaf they have suppHed for gilding the two bronze heads that wer6 beneath the pulpit of
Donatello.
SOURCES
(c.
1475) Vita di Brunellesco, attributed to Antonio Manetti (ed. Elena Toesca, Florence, 1927, p. 66):
"[Donatello]
knew
del Fiore
one [organ]
(Before 1530)
is
by Donatello.
Billi, p.
[S.
similar
"[Donatello]
made
p.
p. 58:
Maria
figures,
S.
architectural design."
sacristies
is
1550) Gelli,
."
work involving
effective
is
of the
della Robbia,
less
[in S.
even though only roughed out, look marvelous from the ground
level."
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
i,
s.v.
conductor on the shoulders [of those in front of him]. In the same panels he imitated both sounds
finishing
it
very
all
much more
more
forceful
Among
skill
outstanding
artists
vividness,
which
and vivid than the finished works. The heat of inspiration lets the artist express his
and this can never be done by the diligent labor demanded for highly finished
idea in an instant,
works."
Vasari-Ricci, p. 49 (Milanesi, p. 401, slightly rephrased): "[Donatello] did the decoration of the
S.
which, viewed from the ground, seem truly to be alive and in motion; whence
of
him
judgment
as
much
as his
hands
it
figures
might be said
in his work."
1568 Vasari-Milanesi, n, pp. 170f, s.v. "Luca della Robbia," addition to the comparison between Luca and
Donatello cited above: "Above the cornice of this ornament Luca made two nude angels of gilt
bronze, beautifully finished as was the whole work, which was considered most rare. Donatello,
later
this one,
used
much
The Sculpture
of Donatella
more judgment and skill than Luca, as will be said in the proper place; for he left almost all of
the work in the rough, instead of finishing it neatly, so that from a distance it looks much better
than Luca's does. Despite all its good design and diUgence, the smooth, high finish of Luca's work
causes the eye to lose it at a distance and not to see it clearly, while this is not true of the sketchy
carving of Donatello. Artists ought to pay much attention to this, because experience shows that
things seen at a distance, whether paintings, sculpture or anything else of like sort, look bolder
all
they are a
if
expresses the
artist's
who
sketch than
in
much
effort
never
know when
poems composed
diligence,
men who
to leave well
when
are also
that
by
little
first as
men
to
when
always attain perfect realization with great ease. Yet since the minds of
know
and persistence.
and
toil
bom
who
insight of those
as the
if
will
skillful
it
with
little
he should will
are not
of the
all
some, though not many, who do not do well unless they proceed
slowly."
their
and they seem the very opposite of what they were before. Thus Donatello
such a
way
that in his
many
of his works look beautiful as long as they remain in the places for
appearance changes
made
his figures in
The
original
emerge
toria"
clearly
is
of purely
both
modem
'
..
1,1
T-
/^
..
that
89)
fig.
Was
there
room
for
as
by proving
that
it
(p.
had
^^^^.
weddmg of the Grand Duke Ferdi-
,,
^^^^ *^^
^0^^"
entire
'^^'^^' ^"
larger
were used
The
Dona-
singers
shows them
occasion ot the
wooden
is."
^xxviii, n.
to
Only
decorations."
"organ
as
coinage,
housing (Poggi,
a&
6 V
simply
pulpits
Bocchi-Cinelli (pp. 59f ) suggests a difference of functions, referring to Luca's Cantoria as "the figures of
reliefs
choir. ^
the beholder
Cf.
nozze
Segni
122
Critical Catalogue
temporary, and after the wedding the Cantoria reliefs
lustrated in
conform
architectural
much
of
parts
were used
it
marble (Marrai,
pp. llf).
op.cit.,
played to
Duomo;
in
(Marrai,
loc.cit.:
Poggi,
1845;
1844-1846) the
p. 377:
Paatz,
loc.cit.:
1841;
wooden
balconies of
to the
op.cit., p.
framing of the
6)
it
reliefs
op.cit.,
Corwegh,
on the balustrade
of the Prato Pulpit but would also be in accord with
the original installation of the Cantoria high above
the church floor. Heinrich Brockhaus {Zeitschrift f.
bild. Kst., XIX, 1908, pp. 160f) further postulated an
inscription on our pulpit, analogous to that on Luca's
Cantoria but chosen from Psalms 148 and 149, which
he proclaimed as the theme of Donatello's frieze (this
had already been suggested previously in Balcarres,
D., p. 113). However, the words of these Psalms have
no specific bearing on oui reliefs, since they contain
only one passing reference to the dance ( Filii sion
laudent nomen eius in choro), while in Luca's Cantoria the correlation of text and image is precise and
extensive. Nor would an inscribed band fit the style
of our pulpit.
Corwegh
(op.cit.,
p.
28),
again for
way
the entire process are hardly worth recounting in dethe bibhographical data in Paatz, op.cit., p.
loc.cit. ) The reconstruction had been
tail
(cf.
599,
and Poggi,
Duomo
Opera del
the
who encountered
httle
difficulty
(Marrai,
loc.cit.).
columns
as
in the courtyard of
was
by means
of a concave strip
same mosaic
above the
inlay.
frieze,
Reymond
deco-
{Sc. Fl.,
Moro
123
The Sculpture
we
otherwise
of Donatello
one time regarded as antique. Yet upon more carestudy we become aware of subtle differences between the two heads: the one on the left (in the
at
them
to
in the
ful
13,
dated in the
cxxviif
present installation;
identified
first
and D.
Hadeln (Repertorium
immediately rejected
f.
Kw., xxxn,
this proposal,
on the ground that the heads did not fit the tondi of
the Cantoria and were certainly not the work of Donatello. Later authors have expressed the same opinion
sive
artistic level is
less,
Museo
and mounted on
the tondi
Duomo
new
(set in
Today they
PI.
In
view, the
The
tip of the
win
Corwegh proposal
size of the
beard to
be mounted against a vertical surface above the eyelevel of the beholder, while the
same
is
emphatically
if
detail.^
Perhaps
this difference in
if
we keep
all,
is
added
PI. 23c, or
glance, both
seem
models that
we
At
came
may
be
Corwegh,
to
this is true,
marble hke the rest of the pulpit? In the shadowy recesses between the brackets, the dark bronze must
have been almost impossible to see, and the gilding of
the heads in 1456 may be regarded as an attempt to
how
loc.cit.,
of sec-
hand corner
in
of the
it
superior
my
so
would
is
in the 1930's
and
f)
document of 1439:
we learn from it, not that Donatello had to make two
heads but that he was to provide one head, which had
to match another that was already there. A later entry,
to be sure (February 23/26, 1446), refers to "the two
[bronze] heads Donatello has made and installed";
but this might either be a shp on the part of the writer
(if our artist contributed only one head, this fact may
not have been remembered clearly seven years later),
or the reference to "making and installing" could be
interpreted as a hint that one of the heads was only
installed but not made by Donatello ( the "making and
installing" applies to the two heads alone, not to the
angels mentioned in the same sentence). However
that may be, the language of the documents certainly
does not prohibit the assumption that Donatello was
called upon to furnish only one bronze head. And if
this task meant no more than the copying of an ancient
head ( or of the replica of an ancient head ) our master
would have been more than likely to turn it over to
some lesser man; after all, he employed assistants to
are
deirOpera del
51e,
v.
see PI.
its
first
is
the Cantoria.
Corwegh
The present
state of scholarship
124
Critical Catalogue
gilt
eflFectively.
(At present,
this
meaning
is
sug-
in the
then,
here:
Christian
If
our analysis
might be
little
cloaks
clearly visible
resolved
ported by the pagan realm of classical antiquity below. In this context, the two bronze heads are no
of their style
is
such
finds, as
judge of ancient
Our
two
of the Cantoria
pagan
letters
owned some
program
by
spirit (e.g.
Eugene
in
1430), refers to
himself
altar torch).''
interpretation of the
bowl and
(fruit
art, is
own
identity, they
frieze
who visited both Donaand Ghiberti and saw "many ancient images as
well as new ones of marble and bronze made by
dancing-
tello
Cantoria as parts of a great mariological cycle culminating in the stained-glass window of the Coronation (cf.
Donatello's
tiquity."'
on the helmet of
tello Hterature, is at
Whenever we do
oeuvre.
find
them
they
would seem
to
45ff)
have a particular
in Flor-
''
Corwegh
fluid
relief
best no
The Sculpture
cally, their
performance
is
of Donatella
33,
and dynamic
encountered in Trecento
art (cf.
which had acquainted him with both ancient archiand the work of the Cosmati ( Reymond, Sc. FL,
pp. 105f; Wilhelm Bode, Jahrbuch Kgl. Preuss,
tectiu-e
n,
73f). Neither this source nor the dancing putti of ancient art, however, explain the wreaths that play such
main
shape these wreaths are the direct descendants of the wreaths on the bases of the Siena putti and
the bronze David, but their use on the Cantoria is
so extraordinary that one cannot help wondering about
the origin of this particular idea. The only antecedent
that has
come
to
my
attention
owe
it
to the kindness
vails;
of Dr. Ernst
caskets,
Vespasian or of the Temple of Concord. In the balustrade, however, an entirely different character pre-
maenads reduced
dancing
tain late
with
in ancient
art, so
frieze.
The
still
caskets themselves
valued in mediaeval
Italy; a
much
the same
way
could easily have seen them in various church treasuries (in which case they may well have had the
form soHd
surfaces,
It
has a symbolic
we
are willing to
Roman
had
set himself,
while the
Cf.
is
"ancient,"
it
is
of tesserae that
it
How-
may
composed
while above
Rome are the columns, for which cerRoman and Early Christian sarcophagi have
connection with
style of the
nacle, the S.
sojourn of 1432/
Ivrea, Cathedral.
126
Critical Catalogue
The documents
relating to
relief
fee for
fixes
reliefs of
too,
all
the
is
these panels
is
The number
is
of
liefs as
It
right.
in question
tells
us only that a
it
called for
mann's identification of
as
is
into a Christian
(as distinjust
is
Our previous
frieze rests
Now,
it
under
likely
to
progress.
all
probability,
possibility that
months
say haste
is
this
document
of
undue promptness
commis-
not
to
is,
assumption:
November
Kauffmann
14,
interprets
the
1433, as an agreement
his
original
Cantoria
without
sculptural
"key"
to
14 and 24 florins
its
significance.
*"
stnicture.
is
for
first
why
Donatello, in February
for the pulpit as not
being of the right size; see above, Poggi, doc. 1295.
set
1-^
This
127
The Sculpture
florins early in 1437.
The next
him 340
in the winter of
Pulpit).
and
by
this tight
inconclusive;
is
better explained
claim
it
artist's
to ac-
is
work
to the
too,
gave the
left
half
side;
clear.
some
left half of
to
the point.
The
distinct
we
set,
find
among
tion,
executed the
assistants
left half of
may
delivery,
is
model
were distorted
if it
work
of the balustrade
sug-
show such a
the
might have been carved by Maso di Bartolomeo {Commentari, m, 1952, p. 117, n. 10; cf.
above, p. 117, for Maso's connection with the Prato
modem
much
concentrated in two
are
Pulpit,
The
exposed of the
was
am tempted
correlation.
However
that
may
be,
it is
frieze
large
seventh of
Buggiano executed
most of the left half, as well as the lateral panel on
the right, and Michelozzo did the lateral panel on the
left. More recent authors have been silent on this subject, except for Lanyi, who once claimed the entire
left half for Michelozzo (Pragm., p. 129) but did not
gested that one of the figures on the
with
Cantoria angels;
carv-
who
left half
right half;
The
drapery.
According to
the figures
the Prato
in
to
^* Still cited,
ground
superior
Corwegh
much
is
(loc.cit.),
general agreement,
is
and the
fact that the actual carving was done largely by assistants, has long been acknowledged. The documents
do not mention these lesser men by name, and to discover their identities on the basis of style alone is as
diflBcult here as in the Prato panels. Leaving aside the
lateral panels of the balustrade and the two reliefs
between the brackets, scholars have noted important
differences between the two halves of the main frieze.
Wilhelm Bode (Denkmdler der Renaissance-Skidptiir
Toscanas, Munich, 1892-1905, p. 30) attributed the
execution of the left side to Buggiano and that of the
right to an unknown but superior assistant of Dona-
Weber
left,
compositionally as well.
tello.
remain
Montepulciano again
are thus left with the
i.e.
to
at
We
we beHeve
sheer fancy. If
monument
recalls
Donatello's
as
and
to
giudizio deU'occhio,
doomed
by the
however weak
trolled
their
Billi,
Any attempt
of Donatello
compound
of architecture
In Burl. Mag. lxxv, 1939, p. 151, n. 11, he confines himstatement that only the right side is Donatello's own
work.
15
scholars
self to the
128
Critical Catalogue
unimpaired. Here alone, where the dancers form a
though meant
continuous
circle,
resultant "transparency,"
have
its full
mode
effect in creat-
up the
left,
contrast
sides.
54-55
Marble
relief;
H. of slab 50 cm;
W.
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The
is
unknown.
It
none
(c.
nonc
prob-
morali
collections of
The
was attached
to
why we
no
That,
it.
first
that year in
Jean" which
panel (Giulio
^
that
is
on
May
petit bas-relief
The date
of the
work
is
not easy to
Lille, le
fix
with precision.
Musee Wicar,
Lille-
he
St.
Romano
is
21 of
de
the reason
is
assume,
had willed
we may
explicit
"fine arts
its
The inventory
1936, p. 491
Classe di scienze
Rome,
that the
Lincei,
Since the relief had at that time not yet been recog-
1433-1435)
W. 65 cm
carres, D., p.
nounced the
placed
it
in the
129
The Sculpture
sculpture of the
of Donatella
St. Peter's
Roman
ruins,
which
fied a
view followed
Venturi, Storia,
vi,
tello, Paris,
Paduan
1885, p. 92
berti's,
in the master's
(KdK, pp.
even placed
art,
years,
of
(since he
new
tello,
body
to the artists
p. 104,
p. 114; his
relief; Alberti, he believes, only codiknowledge that must have been available
around Brunelleschi for at least a decade
124, 199f)
Vecchia. This,
conclusion
them, which
point
my
opinion
common
basic features
all
relief,
he
to
details
its
stresses
is
in the ratio
7.25 cm. It
the
dramatic tension.
less invidious;
is
is
three units from the left edge and from the top of the
if
in
is
based on a module, or unit of measurement, representing one braccio, or one-third the height of a man
is
to
be marked
off in
base
them ) and the vanpoint must be on a Hne three units above the
ishing
as well
line,
Our panel
follows
details,
still
recall the
earlier
man who
all
numerous
as
these
men
next
loc.cit.)
had
whom Bode
{Jahrbuch,
to
isocephaly of
all
Lorenzo
1435, also
show
three of those.
not definable in
cause Ghiberti wanted
is
on
3 E.g. the reclining nudes in the pediment, apparently inspired bv Etruscan models (cf. the small stone pediments from
Vulci exhibited in the Museo Nazionale di Villa GiuHa, Rome);
the woman on the bench in the left foreground; the Salome; the
sleeping putto and the bystander on the stairs; Kaufi^mann,
The vanishing
stairs,
Ghiberti, Princeton, 1956, pp. 245ff) point out that the Joseph
and Jacob panels of the East Doors, which they date c. 1434-
the
D., p. 217, n. 197, cites ancient prototypes for the Salome and
the woman on the bench, whom he wrongly identifies as
Herodias.
130
Critical Catalogue
the
St.
Peter's Tabernacle.
Thus a date
ahen
of 1433-1435,
to his
between Donatello's return from Rome and the completion of De pictura, becomes a practical certainty
to this rigorous
he had learned
we
follow
and
to
development? That Donatello has sacrificed much of the dramatic cohesion and expressive
force of the Siena relief is plain enough, but he has
also gained something very important: a spatial setting
that no longer depends on the figures. In all his previous reliefs, including the Siena Feast of Herod, the
effectiveness of the spatial illusion would be irreparably damaged if the figures were to disappear; the
pictorial space is truly a "framework," incapable of
surviving without them. In the Lille panel, on the
contrary, the actors could walk off the stage, as it
were, or redistribute themselves in the scene, without
of the master's
is
and
only
method only
tional
ruins;
it is,
in the
happy phrase
common
with
Roman
of Balcarres, "full of
hidden things, reminding one of the mysterious etchings of Piranesi." This strange, dreamlike quality
is
but
its full
thus opens
intelligibility of their
now
module and grid was suflBcient for him. Its fruits may be seen in all of the
master's subsequent reliefs, and especially in the tondi
of the Old Sacristy: the figures, unburdened of their
space-creating responsibihty, achieve a new freedom
in the process of
through
it,
up a new area
we
The
Lille relief
of aesthetic experience;
Viewed
if it
be the
lesser
work
of art.^
he used to twit
took pride in perspective projections of mazzocchi and similar multifaceted bodies, by saying that "such
things are useful only in marquetry."
5 Another relief composition with elaborate background architecture, the bronze plaquette in the Louvre showing Christ
healing the Woman Possessed, has recently been claimed as
is
According
his friend,
pis.
who
leschi
131
earlier.
The Sculpture
of Donatello
LORENZO, FLORENCE
S.
(1434-1443)
56-65
(1434-1437)
PLATES 56b-57
SS.
two
PLATES
58-59
PLATES
60-61
reliefs
c.
215 cm;
dome; diameter
PLATES
SS.
62-65
Two
H. 235 cm;
W.
109
cm
for
c.
(1437-1443)
bronze doors
PLATES
62-63
"MARTYRS' DOOR"
PLATES
64-65
"APOSTLES' DOOR"
DOCUMENTS
p.
138
nonc
SOURCES
(1460-1464) Filarete, Trattato dell'architettura, book
Wolfgang
(ed.
xxiii
p.
cit.,
p.
made by
like fencers, as
Lorenzo
S.
v.
in Florence]
is
decorated to the
1475) Vita di Brunellesco, attributed to Antonio Manetti (Ed. Elena Toesca, Florence, 1927, pp. 65f ):
"The small doorways flanking the chapel of the sacristy were left to be finished later, since it had
not yet been decided whether the doors were to be
made
of
wood
or of
there were then only the openings in the wall, with arches above for stability.
who
He did
doorways.
knew
When
Donatello realized
this,
to design the
and
and any
on
[pulpits]
he did
latter's
this
had
Brunelleschi, presuming
little
also
figures, as
similar
work involving
is
architectural design.
What
at Brunelleschi
and detracted
as
much
as
1485) Vespasiano da
still
in his
Bisticci,
Vite di uomini
illustri
del secolo
XV,
s.v.
own
not responsible
pilasters."
by William George and Emily Waters, London, 1926, p. 224): "He took
great delight in his deahngs with painters and sculptors, and had some work by each master in his
house. He had a particular imderstanding for sculpture, being a generous patron of sculptors and
D. 75,
of
all
p. 313; translation,
worthy
artists.
He was
all
painters
and
sculptors;
and
because in his time the sculptors found scanty employment, Cosimo, in order not to have Donatello
be
idle,
S.
in
Critical Catalogue
He
the sacristy.
and
assistants,
1510 Albertini,
in this
way supported
(Before 1530)
is
by the hand
which
and other
December
7,
Lorenzo
of bronze in S.
Cosimo
for
is
(c.
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
ii,
of the sacristy
all,
S.
Lorenzo
(Semper, D.
i,
'75, p.
and
"When he
il
when he was
still
and although
finish;
their
ii,
pp. 369f ),
s.v.
and other
"Brunelleschi":
this
who pursued
two bronze
."
as
is
weU
his four
saints in half-rehef, as
the bronze doors, even though they are not very graceful.
1547,
and
of Donatello."
Billi,
him."
p.
money
roofing-in
son Cosimo
he kept at
it
almost continuously.
[reliefs],
the
tello]
57 (Milanesi, pp. 415f), s.v. "Donatello": "After his return [to Florence from Siena, DonaS. Lorenzo in stucco for Cosimo de'Medici, i.e. four roundels at the base
of the vault with the stories of the four evangelists in perspective, partly painted
He
made
and partly
in
bas-relief.
also
there
1591 Bocchi, p. 256 (CineUi, p. 514): "At the base of the vault [in the Old Sacristy of
S.
Lorenzo]
by Donatello four roundels with four figures of stucco representing the evangelists in low
But the two small bronze doors, also in low relief, and likewise by Donatello, are most highly
there are
relief.
prized
by every
artist.
apostles, martyrs,
and confessors
in the
human mind could envisage. In design and vividness they equal the finest works.
the most famous artists imitate them, thereby attesting
are so much admired that
their own works. In some niches are SS. Lawrence, Stephen, Cosmas and Damian,
The
draperies
their merit in
who
later restorations,
all his
place enjoy
they appreciate
endeavors."
may
appearance
Remnants
much do
197).
may
(cf.
also
The
be seen
in the reliefs
above
helm Bode, Denkmdler der Renaissance-Skulptur Toscanas, Munich, 1892-1905, pp. 31F; Balcarres, D., p.
133; and Planiscig, D., pp. 70flE, 143, who unaccountably
who
calls
any chasing"). Their cleaning in 1946-1947 under the supervision of Bruno Bearzi
has revealed an extraordinarily well controlled and
finely modulated surface.
While the sculptural decor of the Old Sacristy in
cast without
The Sculpture
stucco and bronze
is
tello
of
tantamount to proof positive.^ The dating of the ensemble, on the other hand, has proved to be a thorny
problem. Here the sources contradict each other, and
the search for an indisputable terminus ante has so far
proved disappointing (see below). As for a terminus
post, the only secure one is the completion, in 1428,
of the architectural structure
of Donatello
has done and
of
reason at
still
we
all to link
San
work was
all
vecchia di
In either event,
in
sacristia
is
entire
vi,
dated the
p. 16).
between the
to 1444,
Planiscig
to
much
the
Bisticci,
he
held
Vespasiano da
velopment, and as a consequence every possible alternative has been proposed at one time or another.
Semper (D. 75, pp. 286, 313), relying on Vespasiano
fit
in 1440 (a
Bisticci
reliefs
and on
this basis
itself,
sacristy
finished
left for
not the
when
who
he
that Vespasiano
Donatello
more
taching too
(D.,
much importance
p.
A.B., p. 579)
stylistic,
is
(concurred in by Middeldorf,
scholars
Many
the ensemble.
members
of
nich,
the artist's return, about 1434. This alternative, disregarded by other scholars, has recently found a cham-
pion in Sanpaolesi
IX,
Cornel
v.
poem
of
c.
who
maintains
was
of the sacristy
terms of Donatello's
fails
artistic
Cosimo and
"what [Cosimo]
bronze doors
19ff),
scheme
{op.cit., pp.
represent
The
a special
mistakenly avers
merely
the passage
in question (Milanesi, n, p.
370)
basin in the shape of a classical vase, and the terracotta medalcf. Paatz, op.cit., pp. 497f,
lions of angels' heads on the frieze
563ff, nn. 199, 202, 203, 204; the sarcophagus is not ascribed
to Donatello by Vasari, in the Vita of Brunelleschi, as Paatz
close
134
enough
to
compel us
Critical Catalogue
picious
father.
be
paolesi, loc.cit.,
then,
and parcel
of Brunelleschi's
style, to
from
design. It
all
argues
were part
seems more
suggested by what
those years
we know
and by the
pair
motifs,
St.
is
of Donatello's career in
Roman
considerations of their
spirit to
form and
reliefs,
we
our
by his
would seem to
of
just
of 1434-1435
start of Donatello's
of color
The character
dral
to
work
Fall of
Man
Madonna, with
its
on the stuccoes until the following year (some allowance must be made for the finishing of the interior
wall surfaces). Yet at that time he may have visited
Poggio in Rome (see above, p. 101), and in 1430 he,
together with Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Michelozzo,
took part in the siege of Lucca (Semper, D. 75, p.
281). Two years later, we find him working in Rome,
where he may well have gone in 1431 (see above,
pp. 102, 108) and whence he did not return until the
while SS. Lawrence and Cosmas appear on the same level above
the bronze doors, indicating that both Lorenzo and Cosimo
were still alive. This argument does not strike me as compelling.
* Not
by A. M. Friend, Art Studies, v, 1927, pp. 115ff, as
claimed by Paatz, op.cit., p. 563, n. 198.
rest of St.
On
135
Roman costumes
of SS.
Cosmas
The Sculpture
and Damian^ are
evangelists. These
garb of the
effect
way depends on
stage
stable
moving
"pictorial
is
To
will
(book
ix;
and the
figure
London
panel.
new
a bold
setting
example to illustrate such lack of concern with decorum, and the Donatello doors must have struck him
as the most widely known work that would fit his
purpose. That he nevertheless thought highly of the
doors is suggested not only by his second mention
of them, in book xxv, but by an earlier, indirect refer-
trees,
The Raising
God
who
vivacity will
front
cf.
movement and
of
St.
in the
as these.
John roundels
ways: the
in
various
the
Lille
panel
beyond
also go
framework,
their
spatial
figures, no longer cowed by
have regained their freedom of action and expression,
so that the narrative once more has the dramatic intensity which is missing at Lille. Another new device
is
reliefs or
true character. It
tello's
analysis above, p.
its
panels.
its
artifices of a
not in the
Anthony
on a wide and
freely
of height.^
space here in no
of Donatello
by
Ghiberti, one
by Donatello,
been given
similar to those
by that
buildings.
tello's spatial
phantasy
is
feat of
Dona-
to the
5
See Kauffmann,
Cosmas
*
is
tom edge
doors about 1434 is provided by the cherubs' heads in the spandrels (see Pi. 57), which resemble those in the stained glass
of the
136
of the roundel;
cf.
the analysis
Critical Catalogue
this efi^ect.
technically,
we
One
is
the background
St.
putti panels
the
doors,
produced several statues ( see below, pp. 192, 193, 198 ) and that he
may have been in Siena part of the time, it seems
If
also
we may
all
As a piece
Filarete's Flor-
this
is
More impor-
of external evidence
however,
argument
and the
ited sense,
reliefs
to
me
wholly convincing
dissertation
versity,
who
on Agostino
di
is
at
New
York Uni-
reliefs
St.
in the span-
little
fell
Modena
From
to the structural
Duccio
artist's earlier
God
yielded
the
among
demand
in the sacristy.
Most
seem
to
mann
otherwise unparalleled in
ogies
among
this ivory,
far
same group,
is
we
find the
same near-
more
its
are well
of at
p.
has pointed out (D., pp. 89f ),^ and the disputing
may reflect the apostles on the door
pairs of figures
Some
a further explanation.
137
The Sculpture
square proportion of the panels, the same kind of
ornamented molding, and a strikingly similar relationship of the figures to the frame and the background
of the relief. That Donatello should have drawn inspiration from these precious small-scale works on
the threshold of antiquity and the Middle Ages, constitutes a further link between the sacristy doors and
the Cantoria, which also shows the influence of By-
of Donatella
is
fourth evangehst,
mann
tion, for
has represented
over, the
two
etc.
all
of the
same
ment
two
(i.e.,
we
St.
quill)
is
at the
recall that
Door" as a
somewhat earlier in date than the "Martyrs'
Door," which in its lower half contains the boldest
and most dynamic of all the panels.
The iconography of the two doors carries on the
two main themes of the stucco reliefs. The topmost
pairs of figures on the "Martyrs' Door" are the special
Medici saints Stephen and Lawrence, Cosmas and
Damian followed by sixteen other martyrs identified
only by their books and palm fronds. On the "Apostles'
Door," the program is more complex; the four figures
four fathers of the
we might
is
five,
whole
other
St.
this point
it
evangelists,
frames,
John the Evangehst twice. Moreof the four top rows would be
St.
program
by
eight saints
we find ourselves in a difficult situawe would then have to assume that Donatello
The
St.
ever,
to
is
whom
the sacristy
is
St.
two
Baptist
(first
and
St.
John the
row).i^
and James Major, who carry their appropriate attributes, and on the extreme right St. Bartholomew,
who
row we
find,
left
on the
left,
SS.
By
Andrew
far the
most
difficult
in the sacristy of
10
is
138
Critical Catalogue
masters.
The
of the two
have been doubted
friendship
long-standing
the
ruptured
and
AB,
tions of Middeldorf,
content
Donatello
575) but
p.
its
has
basic factual
(S.
S.
be
of our porticoes, to
sure,
157).
seem un-
by the
be diametrically opposed
we may
site. If
trust
the Vita, the wall openings for the doors had been left
porticoes an alien
The proportions
S.
the objec-
in
Morisani,
that
i.e.
to the visual
cf.
in the en-
by
unfinished
Brunelleschi;
it is
the door frames and porticoes were built only after the
and somewhat inarticulate classicism is utterly different from Donatello's architectural taste as we know
it from the S. Croce Annunciation and the Cantoria.
There is, needless to say, no reason to question the
bona
On
was not
is
to take every
word
of
(The
until
we
time.
Nor
see
PI. 57.)
favors
too,
this
life-
be
reaction did not depend on
man
unfinished. Brunelleschi,
we may
all,
evidence,
Padua. At
is it
at that
Michelozzo as
the author of the porticoes. The bronze doors, as we
have suggested earlier, were probably not finished
our general
selves
uncomfortably tight
is
fit
Circumstantial
adapt
to
had
the
fitted
our hypothesis
if
it
correct
on faith. LiVe
other stories from the same Vita or from Vasari (see
above, pp. lOf, 19f, 40f ) it is likely to be a compound:
part fact, part conjecture, and part parable. Let us
then examine the various elements in it, matching
them against the visual evidence of the porticoes, and
warns us not
eflFect.
We may
Now,
us
let
been rejected?
when he saw
upon
is it
porticoes,
so august a territory
witty
The author
of the Vita,
death.
He
an
interval
amply
sufficient,
little
we
dence in any
tion for
comes
all,
we must
eflFort
them.
And
here the
more persuasive
name
(Vasari
e
calls
some
him
molto arguto
naming names;
who seems
to
we
in-
rejected
this point,
shall
gram
to find a
And
displeasure in
design
under-
of the finished
eflFect
his
Billi,
suo ragionamento
nel
his
ii,
"facetissimo
every-
See
the unfortunate
he gave vent to
felt
own
assume,
had not
attribu-
that immediately
in
who
on Bnmel-
italiana,
139
an epi-
leschi as a writer
to
is
intro-
310flF),
was dubious
of its
The Sculpture
authorship for reasons of
Chiappelli linked
it
style,^^
while Alessandro
me
Who
frankly, Donato,
He who
Or he who would
porticoes at
results.
third
in peace;
and fourth
el serpentone,
lines
Cholui che in
career,
lizza
suona
Such events
tello
is
He may
well
this
And
the Cantoria,
ideas.
no hint of
dispute,
as the
lizza, in
some other
relate to
and
must
talkers
verses
took place in
The
somewhat puzzling at first glance. Chiappelli interprets them to mean that he who plays his instrument within his own proper hmits (i.e., he who does
what he is competent to do) is preferable to those
who stubbornly insist on competing in areas beyond
their capacity. This reading would fit the complaint of
it
all,
are
Vita, but
there, after
The
all;
And work
of Donatello
own
Dona-
probable
is
we
13
140
Critical Catalogue
66
Bronze; H. 42 cm;
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
Nothing
is
to the 1880's.
nonc
none
.
,"
He
1423).
medalhon
was indeed intended as the Platonic image of the
soul, is proved by a detail that escaped Wittkower's
attention:
those of the
expounded by Socrates
human
and move
in
harmony, while
The
attribution
of
the bust
to
Donatello,
once
The only
who
placed
were Milanesi
dissenters
among
it
(Cat., p.
Semrau
who claimed
apparently because of
it
'87,
it
fiction,
and deserves
The only
to
Donatello, Paris,
pp. 84f)
came
to
later scholars,
tomb
It is
who
of Antonio
indeed nothing
without discussing
and
iconographic grounds. Lanyi (Probl., pp. 16ff) subjects the bust to a detailed comparison with the St.
whose
owned by
recognized by Semper,
cliii,
it.)
an ancient cameo
its
be
is
ado.
back
1886, p. 71)
support,
14flF).
121,
The animal
p.
horses.
retained
The
himself.
no.
fication,
1938,
by the
two
The
i,
in
been showm twice outside its homeland: in the Exposition de I'art itahen au Petit Palais, Paris, 1935
(Catalogue, p. 311, no. 1032, with bibliography) and
at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1940
(Italian Masters lent by the Royal Italian Government,
as
Institute,
by Cosimo
pp.
Warburg
1,
Journal of the
by the authors
1440)
(c.
no date of acquisition,
was
regarded as belongthus indicating that the bust
ing to the old stock of the Grand-Ducal collections. I
dividual mention
Love
its
W. 42 cm
close kinship to
stylistic
loc.cit. It
a contemporary individ-
cut example of
later
Museum
141
for Baroncelli.
The Sculpture
of Donatella
features,
that there
nothing
in
by the
fashion, as indicated
known
instances of
twenty years
it
known appearance
All these
than they
mate
late
may seem
less
Witthower,
on rigorous method, unquestioningly assumes that the bust represents a contemporary individual (as had all previous scholars). But can we
really be so sure of that? Considering the classicistic
flavor of the piece, it could hardly be maintained that
the features of our Youth are too individual to admit
of any other alternative. Nor does the bust become
any less puzzling if we regard it as a portrait than if
we do not. Inherently, it seems to me, our Youth is no
tion,
pose
is
would he
much
down
to us
the
made
as our piece?
hair
be
role of
is
a portrait,
one (could
it
it
is
case
it
not dissimilar.
strikes
me
appHes
to the
far
more
decisive test
would
as
The
St.
latter are
Daniel
(PI.
traordinarily similar
semi-finished surface.
if
work
of
is
the date
for
does
is
and the
to
saints.
cer-
As
The
of our
represent the
behoved them
what
(cf.
Rossore
our bust
St.
these, fortunately,
classical
Youth as a
Quattrocento counterpart of the Brutus, even though
the identity of the classic hero he represents historiis difficult to establish. ( But
cal, mythical, or literary
then, how would we be able to prove that Michelangelo's bust is a Brutus on the basis of internal evidence alone? The classic cameo he used is a far less
specific clue than our medallion.) In any event, the
argue either way.
type.
tain details
same problem
loc.cit.
it
human-
human
could certainly be
as the
in
may be viewed
istic
all his
insistence
more
conclusive
with
said to have
perhaps the
adoption
later
its
142
Critical Catalogue
same
52f.
his superbia
and medallion has much in common with the technique of the bronze doors of the Old Sacristy and the
"finished"
High
portions of the
statues
Altar
chased)
fully
(i.e.
the
St.
fits
And
of
function as a
its
symboHc com-
in the Judith group, where Holonude from the waist up, wears a
of the bronze
"ATYS-AMORINO,"
VLATE
of this medallion,
67
cm
Bronze; H. 104
DOCUMENTS
(c.
1440)
nORC
SOURCES
1568 Vasari (Milanesi, pp. 417f): "In the house of Giovan Battista, son of Agnolo Doni, a noble Florentine, there is a metal statue of Mercury by Donatello, 1/2 braccia tall and clothed in a certain
bizarre fashion;
it is
very fine indeed, and as choice as the other things that adorn this beautiful
house."
ment.
He
legs are
is]
The
through.
He
is
coils
On
tall
show
some small vases
in the center.
[The figure]
there can be no
is
."
the figure
2 braccia
raised,
strung together.
child,
and his right gestures as if in laughing astonishshoulders, winged shoes on his feet, and a belt around his waist; the
his left
way
The
they do not
Exposition de
I'art
170) the
According
name
has also
drawn
to
KaufiFmann (D.,
of the previous
latter
owner
is in-
(Was
143
fit
The Sculpture
which
occurred in the casting process, which produced several other imperfections as well (note the large hole
break
or
just
above the
figure,
of Donatello
el-
collision could
lips.
1903, p. 78)
as the
statue).^ If the
which the arms are attached to the body fits both the
tilt of the shoulder line and the muscular structure
specimen
in the Louvre,
by those who
of the chest.^
of Perseus, recorded
in
by
The
Cinelli, rests
Venturi (Storia,
to O. Siren
suggests instead
alternative
on the same
(D.
'87, p.
free love"
p.
to
dub the
for no ap-
The
did
loc.cit.
that
it
as
it
trouble with
Tschudi (D.,
identifies
Mithra."
it
and
later
to ancient putti
and arrow
it
it
parent reason
vi,
Ludwig Goldscheider,
first
re-
truly
all
these interpretations
less arbitrarily,
is
that
on a single detail.
not only have to
Reymond
far
is
some negative
lessons.
Thus
St.
it
we may draw
at least
shoes, not
Andromeda.
144
Critical Catalogue
our "Atys" could have been meant to represent a
specific character from ancient mythology; the be-
or collectively, can
that
he
some
is
wings of the
None
figure.
down between
the
clear-cut to
sufficiently
it
time?
And
cluster of grapes or
fit
into such
tail
kanzel
of the
the bowl,
visuafized
it
as teetering
know, there
chanals,
cento art.)
and
do
common theme
The
it; it emerges
from beneath the toes of his right foot and curls over
the left, rising against the lower part of the leg, with
its head turned towards the beholder. Instead of trying to bite, it seems to be on entirely friendly terms
with our figure. As for the trousers, they resemble
those of the Roman Atys images only in their failure
other hand,
scholars
tion of the
usually overlooked
by
it is
this feature as
we would
still
hav-
be on safe
it)
later
head ornament:
own,
cento
its
Catalogue of 1782,
choose to interpret
ground, since nudity in this specific sense has a longstanding connection with drunkenness; the Quattro-
to cover the
we
ing a purpose of
bottle with a
H5
bunch
of large poppies.
The Sculpture
of Donatella
puzzling subject matter
e.g.
worn by other
this
among Etruscan
especially
sort,
What
associations ankle-
wings as such could have evoked in the minds of fifteenth century humanists is, needless to say, hard to
ascertain. On the other hand, considering the extreme
complexity of the symbolic ideas connected with the
Bacchic cult in the Renaissance,^
that our statue actually
"hermetic"
aspect.
pompos Mercury,
After
too,
it is
all,
or
better,
is
good
What was
if
"Atys"; for
to
modem
disputed in
it
is
as "in part"
late
work
figure
deity,
regard
it
been
lists
basis
Among
as antique; since
it
reasons
for
trusting
1430's.
Kauffmann, having
not incompati-
is
one
it
whom was
figure
expressive content.^
its
being classical
p. 214, n. 170).^
Kauffmann, D.,
Donatello, while
its
it
of the "Atys"
tried to fortify
it
also
not inconceivable
had a mercurial
re-
of its ov^oier? If he were suflBciently antiquarianminded, such a motivation need not be excluded; one
is reminded of Sabba da Castiglione, who complained
of the dearth of good antique pieces on the market
and listed Donatello as the next best choice (Ricordiy
Venice, 1554, No. 109, p. 51; cited in Balcarres, D.,
p. 90). The Baroque era, none too discriminating in
such matters, could hardly be expected to disavow the
the
undoubtedly
up further
specimens of
how
explain
also
Cinelli
flects)
Museum ).^ A
may
arrives at a
somewhat
To
him,
The
slightly later
the British
and a
He
ed.,
Museum,
compound image
lyre.
wings on
Giuseppe Marchini
15 and pp. 109, 118f)
who identifies the figure as the work of Antonio di Ser Cola,
executed soon after 1447. Another nude putto on the same part
of the enclosure has a "friendly" snake coiled about his left
arm.
^ Cf. the Patera Martelli of the Victoria and Albert Museum,
once ascribed to Donatello (Schubring, KdK, p. 184, reproduces it as the work of a follower) and not much later in date
than our "Atys."
* Dr. Edgar Wind has recently been kind enough to suggest
to me an alternative interpretation of the figure as an Eros
Pantheos, i.e. an Eros combined with the attributes of several
other gods (cf. Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopddie
revised
^
also has
(Commentari,
in,
1952,
13,
According
to Milanesi
among
the
who
had
this dis-
tinction
146
Critical Catalogue
frieze,
and certain
Bust of a Youth
the nude
bronze David.
Padua
due allowance is made for the
vastly different character of the two works. There is,
moreover, an iconographic argument as well for dateven after
68-69
Bronze; H.
S.
c.
bust,
moved
few
too,
is
in this rather
and only
for a
intricate allegorical
its
CRUCIFIX,
PLATES
all
The
141).
1440's,
p.
in-
Museo
it
above,
in the
(see
emblem on
agreement
Nazionale
artist's career.
ANTONIO, PADUA
W.
166
cm
1444-1447
workshop of
S.
180 cm;
c.
DOCUMENTS
A number
La
Padua, 1854,
i,
Basilica di S. Antonio di
Santo,
II
is
1447, June 19
Gloria, p. 8
The sotope
made
consists of
two pieces
January 22
to
Gloria, ibid.
)
worth 21
ibid.):
lire for
making the
crucifix.
feet,
according to
is
February 11 (Gloria,
it.
who
an unnamed lady
thorns or nimbus
vi^hite vv^ax
[of stone]
Payments
and
his partner.
for the Christ in the capella grande above the great altar of the
crucifix,
lire
charged with 4
1932, p. 284.
iv, iv,
iron for
Gloria, p. 5 )
le
S.
ed
descritta
p.
June 19
Padova
is
crown
of
crucifix.
Bartolommeo da Castegnaro
is
crucifix.
Payment
June 23 (Gloria,
for the
Donatello receives 89
p. 13):
wood used
lire as
for
the crucifix.
1487,
December 28 ( Guidaldi,
loc.cit.
crucifix;
The beauty
it
is
resolved, therefore, to
the crucifix on a marble base in the center of the entrance to the choir.
147
The Sculpture
1548
Guidaldi,
gilt
loc.cit.
The inventory
of Donatella
and
wooden
six
candlesticks in connection with "the high crucifix in the center of the church."
SOURCES
1590 Valerio Pohdoro, Le religiose memorie
Venice, 1590, cited by Boito,
op.cit., p. 29:
nelle quali
"On
si
is]
Florence."
According
cast,
documents, the
to the
first
half of 1444;
crucifix
it
which the crucifix had been attached after its removal from the old High Altar in the choir? If this
assumption is correct, the altar itself would have remained intact (the altar table as such not being tall
enough to obscure the choir stalls behind it), so that
the word altare would not have to be mentioned in
the resolution of 1487. In any event, after the demolition of the "columns" the crucifix was mounted above
the central opening of the choir screen fagade.^ It
remained there until 1651-1652, when that part of the
screen was taken down and the rest rebuilt, partly
was
by Gonzati,
to
with
scholars, from
identified
loc.cit.,
him responsible
(Schubring, KdK,
p.
199, holds
is
is
High
since at
main
op.cit., p.
Kauffmann, D.,
p.
104,
seems
new
work
of the
1449
altar
altar,
The
below,
new
setting
addition
the
To what
where are we
to
imagine
this structure,
figs.
19).
5,
present position
(as
first
is
well pre-
is
a Baroque
entirely nude,
S.
p.
like
n.
hkewise disappeared.
The
stylistic
aspects of the
analyzed by Schottmiiller
(D.,
81f),
pp.
Colasanti
and Kauffmann (D., pp. 120f). The powmodeled body structure is the culmination of
(D., p. 67),
document
erfully
"columns
belong? And
which
its
(or pilasters)
the figure
in the course of
in the
Physically,
was
difficult to visualize
it
171).
143n).
is
p.
273;
has been in
it
op.cit.,
architectural frame-
was erected
170ff),
1940, pp.
early
wooden
crucifix in S. Croce,
inter-
latter
spirit of heroic
Kauffmann,
which
Altar,
v,
crucifix
of 1487.
The
unknown.
choir screen.
The
(cf.
in the
The
Venice;
148
latter
cf.
Gloria, loc.cit.,
to
op.cit.,
Critical Catalogue
suffering.
its
screen (which
last
artist's
pre-Paduan
altar"
is fittle
to
it
choose
was made. So
among
far as I
can
see, there
if
we
city.
and the
it
he had rented
a house with a garden, an apotheca, and other build-
this
1443, for at
left
that year
is
ment published
of Filippo
ment
in
Baldinucci's Notizie
of Vasari that
it
edition
Florence,
lu,
The
state-
to
Padua
crucifix.
his successors
loc.cit.,
from the
start
li
all,
Cruttwell, D., p.
[cro-
to
ciera]);
It is
tal
for
bronze
payment
entries
as
represents
sort of
it
nave
God
across the
"for a stone
for the
Gattamelata
in
far
entries of
condfta]
more
precisely
5. serie,
186ff).
* Its shape and location had been defined by Gonzati, op.cit.,
pp. 67ff, on the basis of Polidoro's description of 1590; cf.
Prosdocimi, loc.cit.
149
The Sculpture
red Veronese stone, as per the written contract
the contract
itself
of Donatella
;"
architectural
the above passage leaves no doubt that the commission for the choir screen had been given to Bartolomeo.
As the master-in-charge, he appears very frequently
in the account books from now on, together with various stonecarvers working under him. The "Donate"
of March 30 and April 11, 1444, belongs to the latter
group. Could he be identical with Donatello? That,
it seems to me, is not only unlikely but practically impossible. First of all, Donatello is usually called "Master
Such,
there,
give the
in
to simply as
title
"Donato"
High Altar
see below,
drawn
two enwould
be most unusual. And why should he have been working on the arches of the screen as a subordinate of
Bartolomeo if, as Gloria believes, he came to Padua
in order to design the entire work? Is it not almost
grotesque to think that Donatello had been induced
to leave Florence, abandoning important commissions
him referred
tries that
of the
to find
framework
in
of Master to Bartolomeo
estimate
it
at
165,
1448")
we
can
lire.
lire
in
lire
12
1449, Donatello
"J'^ne 26,
s.v.
40
Madonna
like his
over 250
lire. It is
op.cit.,
hardly conceiva-
more important
Cathedral
in 1437.^
to
him
)
.
it
in Florence,
The reason
for Donatello's
We may,
must have been a commission, or the firm prospect of one, so large that it had
to be carried out in Padua, and more ambitious than
the sacristy doors of Florence Cathedral.^ Having
going to Padua, then, remains obscure.
it
was
so busy with other, still unfinished enpostpone this new project, which would
have made severe demands on his time and energy. There is
some reason to believe, however, that shortly before his departure for Padua he was about to start work on the Cathedral
sacristy doors; why else should he have rented a house and
workshop near the Cathedral in 1443? He did so, I suspect, in
order to enlarge his working space for an important commission
and also in order to give the operai of the Cathedral easy access
to the work in progress. It does not seem unreasonable to assume
that Donatello would have had to carry out a task such as the
Cathedral sacristy doors on his own premises, rather than in
the quarters of the Opera del Duomo, which had ample
facilities for stonecarving operations of every sort but probably
not for major bronze casting projects. (Although he presumably
would have turned the actual casting over to a bellfounder, in
accordance with his usual practice, Donatello would have
in 1437, Donatello
terprises that
loc.cit.
^ One of the two
him and transferred
made
and sent
it to Padua either by ship or overland. ( The arms seem
to have been cast separately, like those of the "Amor-
closure
sacristies,
work
was engaged
to
much
he had
to
150
Critical Catalogue
eliminated the choir screen project as chimerical and
compagno
on June
monument
Gattamelata
all
we
all. It
down
laid
the
is
certainly
before.
fits
it
and executors had offered the commission to Donawho thereupon came to Padua but found himself
confronted with various complications and delays, so
that in order to make use of his enforced leisure he
undertook to make the bronze crucifix for the Santo?
But how, one wonders, did the heirs of Gattame-
happen
is
ment
Whether
is
mann,
artists
tello
was about
to depart for
mean
that
Dona-
Padua, as suggested by
KaufiF-
183
(i.e.,
temporarily
p.
of Nicolo d'Este to
(see below, p.
through"
below,
tine sculptors
it
of the statue
it
technically "unfinished"
1447 (see below, p. 152). Or their choice of a Florentine master may be related to the fact that shortly
monument
order to "see
and erection
in
equestrian
What
artistic labors
him
of
prefer.
to
we
is
death of the
tello,
sculptor? That
possibilities
any of
the Santo projects, brought our artist to Padua. Only
on this assumption can we fully understand M'hy he
went and why he stayed as long as he did. The great
equestrian monument seems to have commanded his
primary allegiance, so that he was willing to brave all
does matter
lata
18,
And from
equally convenient. Is
is
the preparatory
in
crucifix
of
March
D., p.
103,
who
70-73
Bronze
L.
statue,
c.
modem
reliefs of putti with the arms of the Gattamelata in the upper part of the pedestal (H. c. 120 cm; W. c. 175 cm)
copies installed in 1854. The badly weathered originals are in the passageway leading from the Church of S. Antonio
to the Cloister.
DOCUMENTS
A number
of entries in an account
book
tempio di
p. 45.
S.
le altre
monument;
italiano, n.s.,
monumenti
ii,
it
1855, pp.
e sua famiglia,
Civico, Padua,
p. 7,
and reprinted
which acquired
first
Museo
in 1855; first
monument,
47fi",
151
Eroii,
suoi
The Sculpture
1447,
May
16
(fol.
at Donatello's request
May
16
16- June 2
Gloria, loc.cit.
soldi,
by him up
be paid,
to
is
to the
is
monument
sums
specific
be paid,
to
DonateUo or
to
to others
at Donatello's request,
at Donatello's request,
66
lire
in final
(pilastro).
(fols.
(For
pay
to
May
of
(fol.
payment
15
lire
Onofrio Strozzi to
6 ducats 4
all
of Donatella
no day or month
entries
this
is
is
given; they
to
be paid,
all
appear on
fol.
67 or on one
at Donatello's request,
95
by
lire
17
of the
Batista
to
is
be paid,
at Donatello's request, 1
lire
his
wages
for 20 days'
Donatello
be paid
to
is
1 lire
filling
part of the horse has been cast, and 18 oldi for cartage of this piece from the foundry to his house.
Giovanni da
di
Como
to
is
be paid 4
lire
loc.cit., refers to
another, unspecified
payment
to the
Piero.)
Giorgio da Scutari
day, carving the
Donatello
to
is
be paid,
to
is
doorway
lire in
Francesco Guadagni
is
and
to
Padua
to
be paid,
from Venice
Andrea Calderaro
is
days'
work
at
20 soldi per
of the pedestal.
be reimbursed 16
tin
at Donatello's request,
be paid 3 ducats 30
for the chest
and other
items.
lire
and body
own pocket
is
to
be paid 44 ducats 2
lire
18
soldi,
his
in
Donatello
come
to
is
for the
Donatello
is
money
to
in person,
it
is
be handed
he
is
named by
a binding settlement on Donatello, living in Padua, and Giovanni Antonio, son and heir of Gattamelata, represented by his secretaries, Michele da Foce and Valerio da Narni, concerning the
price of the horse
must
live
up
and
to the
monument. They
stipulate,
first,
terms of the settlement on penalty of 200 ducats; and that Donatello must, as
152
and
rider
Critical Catalogue
SOURCES
1443-1452 Giantonio Porcello dePandoni, Commentarii comitis lacobi Picinnini sive Diarium
Rerum
(1452), in Muratori,
98: "...
I also
epitaph for Gattamelata ... at the request of his son and of Gentile [della Lionessa]
tomb
last
with worthy
me with worthy
gifts
gifts
two
lines:
my pure
and
equestri
equestri
Their meaning might be rendered either as "The Senate [of Venice] and
me
rewarded
composed an
faithfulness earned
or, less
me
my
pure faithfulness
op.cit.,
p. 49.)
this
op.cit.,
made
equestrian statue be
as
monument
to his loyalty
and virtue
Mehemmed
in the year of
II,"
that
1929-1930, p. 197, Ciriaco was traveling in the Balkans from October 1443 until late in 1448, and
The winter
of 1448-1449 thus seems the only plausible date for the epitaph,
after 1454.
Guameriana,
in the Bibhoteca
della Lionessa
(c.
1455) Urbis
di
Padova,
xix,
".
Romae ad
n.s.,
Friuli:
loc.cit.,
from a manuscript
him by Gentile
his son."
iii,
its
modem
editor probably
by
".
Curiis Sanctis,
Quo
horse on which he
(Shortly before 1457)
"[DonateUo] also
f ugit
fled.
Bartolomeo Facio,
made
[in
De
viris
illustribus,
ed.
L.
p.
51:
traordinary work."
153
The Sculpture
of Donatella
(After 1457) Michele Savonarola, Lihellus de magnificis ornamentis Regie civitatis Padue, in Miiratori,
Rerum
italicorum scriptores, xxiv, xv, ed. A. Segarizzi, Citta di Castello, 1902, p. 32:
tamelata
he
sits
is
".
S.
Gat-
Antonio;
there with great magnificence Hke a triumphant Caesar. His bones, however, are buried
"Do
pp. 622f):
is
so inappropriate that
times,
xxiii
(ed.
Wolfgang
it
costume but in
which
in ancient
v.
memory
if
first
tells
my
head
And
iii,
a variant of the same story but substitutes Verrocchio and the Colleoni monument.
all
"On January 16
1106:
col.
He was
Rerum
up
to
chapel was prepared for him, with a raised casket and an epitaph; and the Signoria, in recognition
of his faithful service, caused
to
1520) Marcantonio Michiel, Notizia d'opere del disegno, ed. Theodor Frimmel, Vienna, 1888 (Quellenschriften
ed. Eitelberger
von Edelberg, N.
[in
Padua]
is
F. i), p. 4:
the
work
of
of Donatello."
(Before 1530) BilH, pp. 42f (repeated in Cod. Magi, p. 78): "In Padua [Donatello did] a horse, with
the Gattamelata on it, of bronze, outside the church of S. Antonio."
(c.
Padua [Donatello] did the horse and the statue, in bronze, of the captain
S. Antonio; while he was working on it, the Venetians would
not pay him the money he needed, so one morning he broke off the head of the statue, whereupon
the Venetians threatened him by saying, 'What would you say if we cut off \'Our head, too?' He
replied, 'Nothing, if you knew how to reattach it as well as I know how to do it with the Gattamelata's
head.' When they heard that, they gave him money and he finished the statue."
1550) Gelh,
p. 60: "In
1550 Vasari-Ricci, pp. 53f (Milanesi, pp. 410f, slightly rephrased): "At that time the Signoria of Venice,
having heard of his fame, sent for him in order to have him do the memorial to Gattamelata in
Padua, which was the bronze equestrian monument on the Piazza di S. Antonio. Here one sees the
chafing and snorting of the animal, as well as the boldness and pride of the rider, expressed in
most
lifelike
fashion.
it
make him
who
sees
p. 320.)
154
Critical Catalogue
s.v.
"Gattame-
"Because of his outstanding fidelity and great prowess, the Venetians decided to honor him,
by public decree, with an equestrian statue, and had it made by the finest sculptor of that time,
whose name was Donatello the Florentine. He, fittingly imitating the art of the ancients, produced
with great skill a perfectly beautiful statue of an armored knight holding the baton, which is
lata":
bration
."
St.
Anthony.
artists. It is
He was
De
libri
ires
eiusdem appendix,
De
sepulchris insignibus exterorum Patavii iacentium, Basel, 1560, p. 374: "In his time [Bellano]
was
who
cast
very famous in
all Italy;
which stands
in the
open
in the large
"An equestrian statue [of Gattamelata] in the form of an armored knight holding the
baton, was erected in the open in the vast area outside the church by public decree of the Venetian
Senate, because of his outstanding fidelity and great prowess; it is a splendid work, made by
Donatello, the finest sculptor of his day, and is admired by all even now. Inscribed on it are the
Ibid., p. 399:
German
Florence, 1584;
translation,
(first
printed edition,
'75,
paragraph of conventional praise for the Gattamelata monument, based on Vasari (Semper,
op.cit.,
p. 194).
The physical history of the monument can be deduced with considerable precision from the payment
records of 1447. In the spring
since
number
is
not
unfortunately,
de-
have included the date 1447 in his epitaph? The designing and modeling of the statue, therefore, must
have been done for the most part in 1446, and some
may go back as far as 1445. According to the arbitration agreement of 1453, the statue
preparatory work
all
when
projects
less
well informed.
Donatello
\Vas finished
much
cast in the
Caldiere, the
new
in
were
of
little
in
it
it
at
As a minor, he was
r,:
JJ
The Sculpture
of Donatella
the
whose
last will,
commanded
monument had
of the
pp. 343flF). These may be summarized as follows: Should the testator die in Padua, his tomb is
op.cit.,
be
to
in the Santo;
it
must be
of stone
if
dedicated to
St.
for
may
and "honorable,
pense does not exceed 700 ducats. Although Gattamelata himself had obviously imagined a comparatively
his
executors
may
monument
air,
was
suflBciently in
keeping
it
have been made by his guardians, surely with his approval but not at his initiative. The Barbaro epitaph,
which mentions Gentile before Giovanni Antonio, indicates that Gentile, certainly the
more conspicuous
monument. He died
in 1453,
probably before the arbitration agreement of June 29October 21, since Michele da Foce had by then become the secretary of Giovanni Antonio (who had inherited Gentile's estate;
all
we
As
41).
who were
document
of
December
18, 1442, in
Eroli, op.cit., p.
ranted inference.
that Palla Strozzi
sari's
(On
plausible assumption
is
monument
to
He was
still
a minor, so the
commission had to be
taken by his three guardians, Giacoma, Michele, and
Gentile. Of these three, only Michele was in a position to concern himself actively with the making of
step that involved
him
in the
the
In 1447 he
as-
Strozzi
claim that
it
monument which
for the
Gattame-
and Onofrio
and as one
Antonio when he issued
that Palla
Padua (Milanesi, loc.cit., Gloria, op.cit., p. xxi; approvingly cited by KauflFmann, loc.cit., and Planiscig,
D., p. 101) seems even more incautious, especially
lata
(D., p. 103)
for
AU
thus appear to
in
Was
gested by Milanesi,
fully
aware of
this.
In a lecture at the
Warburg
Insti-
mained unwritten.
Critical Catalogue
Padua on February
captain, delivered in
cember
1443,
12,
fiir
it
monument
base of the
until 1651,
when
claim
on November
15,
Giacoma applied
op.cit.,
p.
lates that
ment
last will,
made on
The
it is
at the
loc.cit.,
agreement of 1453
expUcitly describes the statue as "made because of
pro
the great fame of Gattamelata" (facti
insigni jama ipsius) and defines the pedestal as "a
column" [una columpna; the term could mean either
a column or a pilaster), nor do we find the shghtest
hint at funerary significance in any of the sources.*
Significantly enough, even the location of the statue
in the cemetery of the Santo is mentioned only once,
by Scardeone. There can be no doubt, therefore, that
it was the nonfunerary aspects of the work which impressed the contemporary beholder. We can hardly
to
fame."
arbitration
vii,
The
to
afiFord
meaning
What
by comparison
with earlier equestrian monuments. Gondottieri hke
Gattamelata had been honored in this fashion long
before the middle of the Quattrocento, both in Northern Italy and in Tuscany. The earliest example, Simone
ties
Eroli,
Her
pp. 228ff ).
it
well documented:
But
Dona-
an
in
the remains
mann
were
statue,
tello's
in the
his ashes
if
monument but
ornate
Mu-
Kunstgeschichte,
is
to
354ff;
op.cit.,
17, 1456,
who promised
Pontano
pp.
that
famous
speaks of "the grief of Venice, expressed in
funeral celebration at public expense which the Vene."). This event, Lanyi thought,
tian Senate decreed
had misled later writers into claiming that the monument, rather than merely the funeral, had been decreed by the Senate. Such a hypothesis, however, is
clearly inadequate; how can we impute so elementary
an error to Ciriaco d'Ancona, or to Porcello, who states
that he wrote his epitaph at the request of Giovanni
Antonio and Gentile della Lionessa and whose text
was actually inscribed on the Gattamelata Tomb inside the Santo? Sanudo, to be sure, was farther removed from the events in question; but since his information on the funeral has proved so accurate, why
must we disbelieve what he says about the statue?
Now, it must be admitted that if the monument is
simply a tomb there seems no reason why the Venetian
Senate should have been concerned with it. But can
we really say that the monument was conceived as
nothing but a tomb? The ground on which it stands
used to be the cemetery of the Santo, as attested by
Scardeone (see above); according to Harald Keller
("Urspriinge des Gedachtnismals in der Renaissance,"
(c.
1330)
is
the
most
a pub-
also the
extraordinary, since
lic
funerary in character
taphs
the distinction
catafalques,
is
tombs, or ceno-
)
Thus the Florentines seem to have
planned an equestrian figure above the tomb of Piero
Famese in the Cathedral as early as 1367. Thirty years
plete information
*Graevenitz, op.cit., p. 47, claims to have found one reference to the monument as "sepultura Gathamelatae," but fails
to say where;
subsequent scholars,
157
wonder
if it
been
really exists.
identified
by
The Sculpture
later,
(it
diflFer
figure
was a
panel, perhaps executed as part of the catafalque, and
the statue of Gian Tedesco, made of wood and tow,
may have served the same purpose (supposedly by
that of Giovanni d'Azzo Ubaldini
Siena;
Jacopo della Quercia; destroyed in 1506; see VasariMilanesi, n, pp. llOf, n. 2). We thus have five eques-
monuments
trian Condottieri
all
of
The wooden
may have
(soon
it
was part
we
S.
the
stone
How many
The
monument of
may be
in 1432). It
there
is
to us, the
Can Grande
I,
the
first
mem-
above
5 He,
too, was to have had a sculptured monument; the
painted equestrian figure of c. 1400 was redone in 1436 by
Paolo Uccello, who had been instructed to follow the pattern
of the older work; cf. Paatz, op.cit., pp. 491f, n. 236.
^ Scardeone, op.cit., p. 312, describes an equestrian statue
above a marble tomb in the Eremitani representing a knight
who charges with his lance, supposedly Francesco Frassalasta;
if this identification is correct, the monument would belong to
the early Trecento.
^ The Enciclopedia biografica e bibliografica "Italiana," serie
XIX, iii, "Condottieri, capitani, tribuni," ed. Corrado Argegni,
p. 145, states that Savelli is buried in Perugia; if this claim,
which I have been unable to verify, is correct, the Frari
monument would be a cenotaph.
8 Removed in 1625; cf. Giovambatista da Persico, Descrizione
di Verona.
i, 1820, p. 243, n. 4, where the text is recorded.
^ An interesting analogy to such an arrangement is the monu.
Aachen?
by the
to
tion survived
Sarego died
a cenotaph, as suggested
in GonstanTheodoric which
Cortesia Sarego in
times; in the
siu:-
Middle Ages, we
particular weight as a tradition
inherited from Imperial Rome. Who but a sovereign
would have dared to substitute his own image for
that of the Marcus AureHus (then regarded as repre-
an analogy
Siena. According to Litta
monument was
pubHc place
noble equestrian
in
m,
in
survived
of Donatella
sculpture
is
And
I",
Critical Catalogue
is what the context suggests in our case. Even Lanyi
had to admit the classical derivation of many of the
motifs, such as the winged head on the breastplate, a
first
'
monument
tamelata
phal
is
within
its
own
some
category,
at
Romae
its
Epistolion,
who
glorifying
Gattamelata
chides
the Venetian
none
as
of
it
in
The
to
its
this'
and
visible
to
terpretation of
them
winged
they
may
reality, is
or
its
also
to
be genii
this
rule,
pedestal.
the "totemic
On
emblem
failed to explain
concealed
this
symbolic weight as an
why
and
resurrection, al-
The ornamentation
practically invisible.
am
full
of pilgrimage, eternity,
though he
its
it
is
of the statue,
approach;
it is, its
pur-
is
the
Nude
by the monument
"mausoleum doors"
of
the
as a whole.
pedestal
Even
the only
do not
clear-cut
and that
not in
alFantica,
in
sarily angels;
^3
is
pommel seem
cannot pos-
pedestal.
crest of his
in-
tianity
not a Christian
is
have resisted
sibly
rein-
of Life
they are not skulls but heads, with the ears clearly
to previously,
Flame
as a "well-known ancient
we
one.^
in Filarete's
oral suggestion to
ancient costume.^*
"inappropriate"
Wind); whatever
hon-
which
sculptural details
force
^v
military
the
objections
Republic for
descended from the Victories on Roman triumarches but holding treccie, the braids that
cloth,
intention
monument which
if
the
Romans
1450, is a relief in architectural frame surmounting a sarcophagus with mourning genii, in the vestibule of S. Francesca
Romana. The inscription informs us that it was ordered by
Antonio's son, but this does not exclude a Papal authorization.
The type is analogous to that of the Bentivoglio monument of
1458 in S. Giacomo maggiore, Bologna.
^* That the armor was
consciously meant to be "all'antica"
is confirmed by the effigy on the Gattamelata
tomb, whose
armor clearly reflects that of our statue; in the contract (Lazzarini, loc.cit. ) it is defined as "armato ad antiquam."
59
The Sculpture
of Donatella
might almost say that the funerary aspect of the monuis no more than a concession to past practice, a
sort of formal excuse for a memorial whose "presumptuous" and "inappropriate" character would otherwise
have been too glaringly evident.
Given the nature of the work, it seems inconceivable
that the Venetian Senate was not in some important
way concerned with its creation. Instead of assxmiing
with Milanesi that the state merely placed its nihil
site in
ment
obstat
upon the
them
One
sus-
members of
monument to the
initiative came from
attached to
Franciscan
dead captain,
who
seems to me,
would explain the epitaph of Ciriaco d'Ancona (who
could not very well have composed it much later than
tiere
special
incomprehensible)
Porcello epitaph,
it
texts
we know
(it is
statue,
is
the
that could
wanted
all
by coupling
it
with a bequest of
received an inscription
verunt,"
it
faciundum cura-
attempt to formulate an
composed
1453).
Why
the
son
may
monument
in the Santo
is difficult
to say.
in
were
The
reaall,
tomb and/or
monument
many
He had wanted
monument never
tells
we have
be so used,
"this
Condot-
tion
it
of the
the only
since
that
that
fact
chapel,
instead,
son.^
tombs (op.cit., p. 148) is hardly an adequate explananor does it account for his refusal to acknowledge the
Gattamelata as a true Sdulenmonument. After all, the pedestal
is termed a pilastro and columpna in the documents. Could the
rounding off of the narrow sides have been meant to emphasize
this "columnar" quality? I suspect that Donatello knew, through
verbal and perhaps also pictorial sources, of the columns supporting the Regisole in Pavia and the Justinian monument in
Constantinople (an account of the latter might well have come
to him from Ciriaco d'Ancona), and that his design for the
Gattamelata base reflects this awareness. Surely the height of the
pedestal must in part be held responsible for Michele Savonarola's description of the monument as a "triumphant Caesar."
Unfortunately, the available sources, literary and pictorial, are
insufficient to provide a clear notion of what those columns in
Pavia and Constantinople really looked like. That they were
of orthodox shape is difficult to imagine, because of the size of
the statues they supported ( their diameter must have been
Scaligeri
tion,
ment
to
to
his
a considerable share.
i6o
Critical Catalogue
reaction of the Ve-
one further
advantage: it throws Donatello's achievement into
sharper focus. For if we are right in believing that the
statue decreed by the Senate was meant to be of the
same type as the Savelli and Sarego memorials, we
may also assume that the original commission to Donatello called for that kind of monument rather than for
netian
offers
other, has
we
but
its
evidential value
is
creation of the
new
/
''
new
monument
heads,
it
all,
Ferrara,^ thereby
Nor does
mask at
Nicolo d'Este
coining a
in
new
shifted
is
man
is
appear
such
his
of
op.cit., p.
December
18,
348, calls
him
1442,
He
middle age.
failed to carry
out,
The
aesthetic analysis
About the
since
latter he is
competing models for
him
in vigorous
Gattamelata
at
it
is
the
unknown
and
Roman
an "ideal
height
head
of
is
intellectuality
labors. ^^
of the Gattamelata
is
reconstruction"
Eroli,
20
reproduced in
Modena
and preparatory
a death
monument within
negotiations
had
individuality
despite
disposal.
is
ment
it
monu-
nobility.
High Altar
in the Santo.
"modem," and
likely to
strictly
it
sculptors in
pp. 69fr.
23 Cf.
the thorough survey of the available material in
Graevenitz, op.cit., pp. 47ff; the portrait ascribed to Bonsignori
in Pantheon, iv, 1929, p. 350, derives from the Donatello
statue, as pointed out by Kauffmann, loc.cit.
i6i
The Sculpture
HIGH ALTAR,
FLATES
S.
of Donatello
ANTONIO, PADUA
74-88
1446-1450
PLATES 78-83b
Bronze statues
ST.
ST.
FRANCIS; H. 147 cm
LOUIS OF TOULOUSE;
H. 164
PROSDOCIMUS; H.
ANTHONY OF PADUA;
163
ST.
DANIEL;
cm
ST.
JUSTINA; H. 154 cm
ST.
ST.
H. 153
cm
cm
cm
H. 145
PLATES
75b-77, 83c-87
Bronze
H. 159
Man
cm
in relief)
reliefs
of Rimini;
PLATE
88
Limestone
Irascible Son;
H. 58 cm;
W. 56 cm
relief
H. 138 cm;
W.
188
cm
Missing
The ewer
of St. Prosdocimus.
Venier (Boito,
op.cit., p.
The present
vessel
was made
in
1751 by a certain
33).
The crooks
of the crosiers of SS. Louis and Prosdocimus. The present crooks were
presvunably supplied by the same Venier who replaced the ewer of St. Prosdocimus.
Perhaps
oval base
if it
of the City of
Padua on top
of the
in the right
Four limestone reliefs, each containing one figure, which flanked the Entombment;
cf. below, document of April 26, 1449, and Michiel. Giuseppe Fiocco
Padova, vi,
1932, pp. 5fF; Burl. Mag., lx, 1932, pp. 198ff) thought that he had rediscovered
part of this set in two fragmentar\' panels of Paduan origin in the Fondazione Salvatore Romano, Florence, but this claim carries little conviction. See below, p. 235.
(
A God
the Father of limestone, from the topmost zone of the architectural super-
structure;
The
cf.
entire architectural
volutes similar to those of the S. Croce tabernacle, now placed above the entrance
to the library of S. Antonio. Both are corner pieces, consisting of two scrolls at right
diameter of
scrolls
30 cm). These
by
loc.cit.).^
DOCUMENTS
The majority
ed
illustrata,
Padua, 1854,
i,
S.
le
5S (reprinted
in
account
fiorentino e le sue opere mirabili nel tempio di S. Antonio di Padova, Padua, 1895, pp.
set of
Antonio di Padova
118)
S.
162
Critical Catalogue
pp.
39fiF).
Luigi Guidaldi in
in Florenz, v,
//
Santo,
iv,
the
first
two separate
same item,
it;
names are given their standard modern spelling whenever possible, since to reproduce the inconsistencies
of the records in this respect would serve no useful purpose.
new high
altar
gift of
1500
lire
from Fran-
coat of arms be placed thereon. (Another, briefer reference to this donation, on July 13, in Gloria,
p.
Donatello receives 2
He
lbs.
wax
3 oz. of white
ovm name,
for
100
modeling
lire
10 soldi
for himself
del euro
April 4 (Gloria, p. 6)
Donatello for
altar.
625
lire
is
document
to
date
lire
he has supplied
of bronze
in 1446, as
to the
p. 281,
doc. I.)
April 29 (Lazzarini, p. 165; Band, doc. 58): Contract of the oflBcials of the Area with Donatello, Nicolo
Urbano [da Cortona], Giovanni da Pisa, Antonio Chellini, and Francesco del
and disciples of Donatello," but another sentence
refers to "Donatello, Nicolo, and the aforenamed disciples." The contract concerns ten bronze angels
and four bronze evangelists, setting their price at 12 and 16 ducats, respectively. The angels have
already been cast, and the six rrmgistri are enjoined to clean them wdth the utmost dihgence, so that
there will be no spots or holes left, and goldsmiths and other experts will accept the pieces as ready
for gilding. The artists also agree to make a groove or molding around the frame of the angel panels,
if the officials should request it {unum carude vet redundinum circa cornicem
angeloruin). The
same conditions cover the evangelists, which have been modeled in wax and are ready for casting;
they have the shape of animals, "as painted" {sunt in forma animaliurn, prout pinguntur), and are 1/2
foot square. The artists must refrain from any work on other commissions until they have completed
these tasks, on pain of having to refund all the money received, plus damages and interest. Of the
price agreed upon, 30 ducats 36 soldi have already been disbursed to Nicolo (who has received almost
four ducats ) and the other four assistants ( between six and seven ducats each ) The rest will be paid
as the work proceeds. (A summary of this contract appears in the account books of the Area imder
[Pizzolo] the painter,
Valente.
The
13.
The Sculpture
May
Andrea
(Gloria, p. 7):
of Donatella
(i.e.
copper) and 38
lbs.
May
10
Gloria, p. 7;
Band, doc. 28
Andrea
p. 7;
June 23 (Lazzarini,
anchona over
member
hose,
Anthony
St.
p. 167;
de
to
la
anchona), receives 5
lire
lire
Anthony
oflBcials of
at 85 ducats apiece,
and of the
statues of SS.
Francis and Louis at 40 ducats each. Three of the rehefs, the Ass of Rimini, the Speaking Babe, and
the Irascible Son, which the master
been cast
{similiter
had modeled
in
wax {formavit
while the two statues are either ready for casting or have already
conducte sunt ex cera). The fourth panel, the Heart of the Miser, has not yet
been started {superest ad formandum) All these pieces must be cleaned and finished
.
plete the
commission
to other hands,
(A summary
Gloria, p. 6
and Donatello
will
be penalized
damages.
same
date; see
of this contract appears in the account books of the Area under the
14.
p. 7) Payments are made by Donatello to his garzon, Giovanni da Pisa, Antonio ChelUrbano da Fiorenza, and Francesco del Valente, in each case for "the angel and the evangehst."
June (Gloria,
hni,
them ready
The amounts,
August 4 (Gloria,
p. 8;
to the
4,
is
p. 8):
Payments
da
Pisa,
da Fiorenza, 158
159
lire
lire
12
de Donato receives 68
November 15
lire
lbs.
of metal
which
foundry for casting the fourth of the miracles. (For Band, doc. 20, also placed
September (Gloria,
Chellini
11
to perfection,
12
Giovanni da
Pisa,
159
lire
Antonio
soldi; to
soldi.
8 soldi.
lire
Andrea
November 21
(Gloria, p. 8)
December 19
(Gloria, p. 8,
lire
2 soldi to Polo
da Ragusa, described
d' Antonio
had been
lire
hand
of Donatello"
to clean.
sums
to
his garzon,
and
to
Francesco d'Antonio Piero, his lavorante. (A Giacomo, presumably identical with this one, appears
in the
Critical Catalogue
1,
1449, as
Giacomo da
March 4
grande per
April 5
again on
May
on September
he
28;
3,
is
per sechar
connecle
figure
This garzon
is
mentioned
as a disipolo
1448.
be erected for
to
in
pala )
la
Gloria, p. 9
doa
lire as
Anthony's Day, so as to demonstrate the design of the pala over ancona to the
St.
foreigners.
May
May
18 (Gloria,
who
Band, docs.
9, 10;
to a
lire
and JO
5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
[ined.]
):
Pay-
p. 10;
la
pala
20 (Gloria, pp.
8, 11,
carried the statues from [Donatello's shop in] the Casa del Pesce to the church for
the demonstrazion.
May
25
Band, doc. 2i
Gloria, p. 10;
1 lira
Madonna from
June 5 (Gloria,
p. 10;
receive 27 ducats.
casting, including
Gloria, p. 10
who
Band, doc. 22): Andrea dalle Caldiere has cast seven statues, for which he
(A
is
to
2770
furnished by Andrea
lbs.
and Band,
up
to
May
27, 1448,
is
lbs.
of metal provided
by
Andrea up to May 27, 1448, "for casting five statues of saints for the altar," appears in Gloria, p. 8
and Band, doc. 20, under August 4, 1447. Band, following Gloria, assumes that the date referred to
is actually May 27, 1447, and concludes that the five statues must have been cast by August 4 of
that year. It seems more plausible, however, to accept "May 27, 1448" at face value and to regard
this notice as
a later addition to the entry of August 4, 1447. Cumulative entries of this sort are not
11;
at 10 soldi
final
payment
of 101 ducats to
Andrea
dalle
June 26 (Gloria,
p. 11;
Band, doc. 2): Accounting of various sums due Donatello: for four bronze
all
lire
soldi.
July
which he
still
"adornments"
has to finish
to
is
to receive
be applied by him.
165
this
The Sculpture
of Donatello
July 1-December 7 (Gloria, pp. 11, 12; Band, docs. S5, 34, 86): Donatello receives various sums for
November 30
two
la pala.
(Gloria, p. 12; Band, doc. 46): 18 lire paid to the stonecutter Nicolo
da Firenze and
December 7
high
(Gloria, p. 12)
30
lire
paid to Donatello for stone he had brought from Nanto, for the
altar.
1449, January 1 (Gloria, p. 12; Band, doc. 49a): Nicolo da Firenze and his two helpers
February
January 8 (Gloria,
(
this.
p. 12,
second reference
to
January 29 (Gloria,
p. 12;
January 29 (Gloria,
79
p. 12):
February 12 (Gloria,
lire
this, in
p. 12;
Meo and
p. 12;
1,
lire for
4 (Gloria,
2,
{=
altipeto
April
2, 23,
p. 13;
Band, docs.
May
and 29)
flutings (a chanaleti).
for
six masters.
his
February 22 (Gloria,
in
lire,
must dehver, by
marble columns (colonete) on which work has already been started; they are
12, eight
to
his
helpers.
61, 62):
at
20 soldi
(=
Squarcione receives 5
1 lira)
lire
altar"
altar.
14 (Gloria, p. 13; Band, docs. 89, 40, 41): Donatello receives various sums for
6,
lire
soldi,
angels.
for five
April 30 (Gloria, p. 13; Guidaldi, p. 266, no. 4; Band, doc. 49c,d): 48 hre paid to the stonecutter
Meo
May
2 (Gloria,
on the
May
for
p. 13):
marble columns
colone
3 soldi paid to the mason Giovanni da Bolzano for several days' work
lire
pala.
lire to
the altar"
May
Lugano
and outside
of
):
bases."
May
lire
to
19, 28,
June 14 (Gloria,
p. 13;
be applied
to the "cornices."
May 30
make
Andrea
Meo and
altar.
Donatello
is
given 16
lire
25
dalle Caldiere receives 120 hre 18 soldi for 192 lbs. of copper
The
i66
Critical Catalogue
May, June 23 (Gloria, p. 13; Band, doc. 71): The potter Antonio Moscatello receives 8 lire 10 soldi
for making "certain flowers" (fioroni). He receives 59 lire 12 soldi for quareti {= quadrelli, tiles) and
border
high
June 23 (Gloria,
making
Nanto stone
steps of
Band, docs.
in
lire for
tlie
Band, doc. 59 )
Gloria, p. 13;
God
work on
the altar.
October
17,
1450,
He
1485 hre 6
to receive
still
is
lire,
November
18,
metal used in
lbs. of
he made
December
to supervise the
15;
January
5, 15,
also
2526
lire
6 soldi "to
soldi, also
the Father of stone above the "cupola" of the altar {de sora de
13 )
Dead
the
evangelists.
p.
(i.e.
June 26
for a
is
Donatello
altar.
altar.
for casting
for the
altar.
la
February
11,
March
1450 (Gloria,
March 10
June 11 (Gloria,
p.
14)
1 lira
is
paid
six
who
for a
column (colona).
to the altar.
June 17 (Gloria, p.
2525 lire 6 soldi.
14,
is still
Arcivescovile, Q. 8821;
,
Venice, 1801,
v, p. 187,
15
to receive
is still
soldi.
Ravenna
owed him
his authorized
figuris et
made
[Donatello]
same famous
c.
lire
and
1697
to receive
lire
in
Padua the
St.
De
S.
still
Antonio, Padua.
OURCES
Mehus, Florence, 1745, p. 51: "He
the images of certain other saints on that
Anthony
as well as
altar."
1520 ) Marcantonio Michiel, Notizia d'opere del disegno, ed. Theodor Frimmel, Vienna, 1888
schriften
ed. Eitelberger
von Edelberg, N. F.
i),
pp.
2ff:
Quellen-
high altar the four bronze figures in the round grouped around the Madonna, and the Madonna; and
below these
figures on the retable the two storiated bronze bas-reliefs in front and the two in back;
and the four evangelists at the corners, two in front and two in back, in bronze bas-relief, but
half-length figures;
altar,
beneath the retable the Dead Christ with the other figures
around him, together with the two figures on the right and the two on the
of marble; [all these]
left,
also in bas-relief
but
(Before 1530) Bilh, p. 42 (repeated in Cod. Magi., p. 78): "In Padua [Donatello]
pietd with the Marys, a
167
high
altar."
made ...
a marble
x^
I'
1.
Im
I
I
I I
2m
11
'
2.
reliefs
Reconstruction by H.
i68
W.
Janson
3.
Reconstruction by
v.
Hadeln, 1909
4.
6.
5.
i68i
bO
n3
o
u
o
bO
O
a
Critical Catalogue
Milan,
Cosimo I, December 7 ( Giovanni Bottari, Raccolta di lettere
1822-1825, I, p. 70): "Some who were with Donatello have told me that he always had eighteen or
twenty assistants (garzoni) in his workshop; otherwise he never could have completed an altar of
St.
Anthony
in
(i.e.
Gattamelata ) the Paduans sought by every means to make him a fellow citizen and to keep him there
by
St.
all sorts
Anthony
of
commissioned him
to
life
of
These
bas-reliefs have been carried out with such judgment that the outstanding masters of this art form
are struck
dumb
when
with admiration
made
the
altar,
Christ."
he
in Bor-
sumed by
documentary data, the chronology of the Altar and of its component parts can be
determined in considerable detail, even though the
exact date of the commission itself is not known to us.
The project may have been initiated by the gift of
Thanks
to the copious
nection
by Band
(op.cit., p.
318). In con-
com-
Pros-
S.
The
docimo from the sculptor Aegidius of Wiener Neustadt, then resident in Padua. The contract, published
by Erice Rigoni in Atti e memorie della R. Accademia
in Padova, xlvi, 1929-1930, pp. 401f, specifies an
ancona sive pala altaris 6/2 feet square, divided into 5
campos sive partes; the center field is to be occupied
by a Madonna and Child Enthroned, with angels,
while the others are to contain SS. Prosdocimus, Anthony, Justina, and Catherine, all of them relevate de
creda cotta vel lapidea. At the top there is to be a
God the Father with the Orb, above a St. Peter Martyr.
The contract further mentions four more saints, the
four evangelists, and six fluted columns. The project
could not have been carried very far, and seems to
have been abandoned; for Aegidius, who had received
an advance of 87 lire on July 8, 1437, fell gravely ill
the following spring and must have died soon after.
There was, however, a drawing or model for it (referred to in the contract) which the Area del Santo
could well have had in mind when, eight years later,
.
tinct
S.
is
altar.
(see Band,
altar
on
and
his
St.
loc.cit.).
two
During the
by the provisional
Anthony's
Day (June
disfirst
erection of the
assistants
and
May
of that year
were
of
permanent
temporary structure that was
to the
architectural
to
framework but
not
to the
main
assistants
lavoranti, include
est possible
dispatch. In February,
1447, Donatello
in
The
certainly in-
Madonna and
panels of
periods
phase, terminated
relief
but large
at
Lotz, loc.cit.)
terracotta.^
169
in this respect
seems
to
echo
The Sculpture
fourth
still
assistants
proceed with
and
of Donatello
mounted on the
of the angels
May
St.
evangelists.
in accordance
of
all
Anthony's Day.
As
acter
only that
it
for the
back of the
altar
served), as well as a
were made of staves, Hke elongated barrels. This ingenious and economical method of construction not
some
a cooper;
as
if,
terial for
in the
God
of
is
pre-
we
four
installation;
seems
plausible, the colonele of May 18 are identical with
the colone of April 23 ( see Band, p. 322; the two terms
could be used interchangeably in the account books
of the Area ) we may conclude that the eight columns
is
wooden ones
Meo and
of
botazaro
we
on,
as well as
(=
temporary framework,
we know
the
of
it
of lesser materials,
first
fortifies
reasonably large
but a
tural
fair
size.
We
must
also
keep
in
mind the
framework
as
Donatello visualized
it
at
St.
this
that
very close to completion by the end of June, as indicated by the general squaring of accounts at that time.
time.
To judge from
tiies,
very
little
altar
during
workmen men-
of the
June
six
still
owed him
a considerable
amount.
The
70
is
known
to us
from
Critical Catalogue
dates
it
p.
that there
shows the
as early as 1457-1477). It
altar
The
summer
when
of 1579,
it
the
replaced by a
altar,
The
by
Among
de Padoue
pp. 114f).
his statues to
work.
lished
wanted
the mensa.
Francesco
Franco,
submitted
competitive
designs.
"If
Donatello could
raise his
Boito's rather
peremptory claim,
in Archivio storico
ars
airy,
who
realized
its
in-
a late fifteenth
altar
De-
loc.cit.,
5, 15, 19,
endorses
it
Reymond,
Sc. Fl,
ii,
p.
134,
and of
1,
Kunstslgn., xxx,
171
and
Boito, pp.
llflF;
Boito,
fig.
Kgl. Preuss.
In the meantime,
41,
and Guidaldi,
figs.
The Sculpture
however, Adolf o Venturi {VArte,
and
x, 1907,
pp.
276flf,
Hadeln,
was
accepted by von
He
fully
it
them on the
factor
choir screen of
of Donatella
of very con-
siderable size.
cause of
influence of the
Donatello
altar,
i.e.,
the
altar
summary
i,
of
Kunstge-
its
own
two
Fig. 4 )
plan of
S.
Uffizi
mensa
p.
no more than
by
He
of the
c.
4.25
made short shrift of the cavaletti, having surmised the correct reading independently of Guidaldi.
After this promising start Kauffmann, unfortunately,
succumbs once again to his idee fixe of Donatello as
an artist of basically mediaeval temper; his further
deductions are designed to prove that the statues of
the altar were housed, not in a columned hall but in
a simple, old-fashioned shrine shaped like a shallow
box, so that the effect of the whole must have been
comparable to a large relief panel such as the Pizzolo
also
Kauffmann
altar
is
documents the
Dead
(it
cile
space behind
it,
as suggested
by Kauffmann,
architectural structure.
Even the
early demolition of
D., p.
it
not suggest
empha-
turbed by the
June
reconstruction
is
von Hadeln's
angel
sity
reliefs.
17:
of explaining
why
relief
Critical Catalogue
detailed analysis
as colone.
imputed
domed
or vaulted
canopy
colonette
needed
fill
mann
to
Entombment
is, if
it
calculations. Finally,
is
as architectural
Entombment
i.e.,
to the
n.
altar,
and
in vertical
anything, even
pilasters,
is
more
satisfactory
by
to the area
p. 223,
378).
result
far than
location Kauff-
The
number he
the
Hadeln
c.
space
the basis
the rein-
On
this
altar.
Band advocates
mounted
The
utterly base-
in fifteenth century
1579,
obviously the
assigns to the
is
also proves,
Band
Still,
why
were a good
by means
of several previously unpublished excerpts from the
places, in vertical
this fashion, or
is
colone
strips of three,
sequence.
altar,
distribution other-
and
same
colone, colonelle,
all
wise.
them by Kauffmann:
may
rest-
to
to
173
Band
The Sculpture
of Donatello
Thus Band
On
Madonna
St.
St.
St.
postulates a distance of no
He
c.
1.5
St.
Anthony
Justina
Daniel
St.
Prosdocimus
Louis
St.
by
Fig. 6 )
Planiscig
visuaHzes the
mx
Francis
Band
rejects
m and
though
the
have
noted
how
Michiel
could
explain
he fails to
ignoring
the
two
while
symbols of the evangelists
were
rather
five,
statues directly
is
lower
Band draws
attention
among
Band
despite
is
defined by
forgetting the
Madonna
Dead
Christ
command. Band
at his
also
blessing
(i.e.,
to
be understood, not
all
it
looks
awkward
as
Ma-
latter is
the
six saints,
174
St.
Justina change
Critical Catalogue
places wdth
St.
and
we can
prove the same deficiencies to be a general characteristic of the author's work. If we give Michiel the benefit of the doubt in this respect ( which he well deserves,
considering the quality of his notes as a whole), there
are three other possible reasons why he omitted some
of the components of the altar from his account: he
may not have thought them important or conspicuous
enough to mention; he may have beheved them to be
the work of an artist other than Donatello; or perhaps
they were no longer part of the ensemble at the time
he saw it. So far as his omission of some of the bronze
panels is concerned (i.e., of the twelve angels and the
Dead Christ), only the first of these explanations need
be considered. The rehefs could have been removed
a curiously
is
The
way
upsets
than doubtful. Perhaps the most obvious difficulty concerns the angel panels;
one wonders
correct,
if
how
is
it
so clearly
(cf.
the
demands
too
is
awkward
of the front
Also, his
among
the
meant
to
contain a pair
of
any
when
names
teenth century,
the reliefs,
among
why should
be 58 cm tall,
and 60 cm for
still
belonged
to
overlooked.
as against
57
the symbols
cm
of
in
been
however, that Michiel excluded them from the work of Donatello on the basis
of what he was told on the spot. As Guidaldi has
pointed out (p. 263), a local tradition to this effect
while
It is possible,
can be traced
Paduan guidebooks
and
time were physically di-
it
work
altar as the
and he
shares the general assumption that Michiel must have
overlooked two of the statues. His attempt to explain
this omission seems far more plausible than that of
Planiscig, but the proposed grouping of the figures
of the
all
admittedly
in 1-5-1
cally
sequence
is
altars of the
period.
It is
(let
Band nor
Planiscig
observation.
them accepted it
The description
of the altar
is
of
175
The Sculpture
Michiel's statement about the
Our assumption
face value.^
number
two
that
altar before c.
may seem
1520
shows
of statues at
statues
had been
it
perhaps
is
and two
less
at first sight.
i.e.,
The
list
also
replacing the
Louis,
St.
as
attributes of St.
The testimony
competition of 1579
it
Campagna-Franco contract
of exactitude.
altar to
six,
Dead
new figures, unless we are wilHng to charge our unknown draughtsman with a truly unconscionable lack
thesis. It
the
reliefs of
pristine state in every respect until Girolamo Campagna and Cesare Franco replaced it with their own
design. In fact, the contract between these two masters
and the Area del Santo (excerpted in Boito, L'altare,
)
is
its
p. 13
all
Inasmuch
as the authorities of the Santo were willing to have
the entire structure demolished in 1579, there is no
particular reason to believe that they regarded Donatello's work as sacrosanct before that time. Nor do
we have any positive assurance that the altar retained
revolutionary than
of Donatella
yields another
source for
indirect
argument
in favor of Michiel. It
we
The Madonna
of their identity.
is
shows seven
little
resem-
cannot be sure
the high
St.
Anthony,
of the
who
Madonna
Now
all.
it is
least a century
turns towards
the
same
of the
it still
occupied
memorie
above,
liberty to
do
p.
(see
entirely at
so,
to
altar at
to
life-size
later
authority
(Por-
Or did he plan
earlier sculptures.
from the Donatello Altar as the core of a greatly enlarged program? Significantly enough, his drawing
^
We
might note
in this
is
no
clerical
error here.
ob-
possibility
The manuscript text, carefully transcribed by Frimmel, shows the word quattro (in the phrase,
"the four statues
around the Madonna") written over a
crossed-out cinq, indicating that Michiel had originally inof a
it
about
176
it.
Critical Catalogue
from a
light of present-day
monumental
program
expected Donatello,
who had
more than awkward in Band's system of intercolumniations. The 2-3-2 sequence proposed by Cordenons and
von Hadeln, and the 1-2-1-2-1 scheme of Planiscig,
are equally unsatisfactory. There
possible arrangement that
quence of
is,
much
one
in fact, only
diflBculty (in
to a
se-
grouping
order to close
sculptural
participated in the
3-1-3,
fits
statues
work
on either
side,
we need
own
pose,
bronze
reliefs of
reconstruction (Figs.
by Michiel. We thus restore their true purwhich only von Hadeln and Kauffmann had
been wilfing
to recognize before,
The
i.e.,
to embellish the
miracles of
St.
Anthony,
text,
fill
the
Dead
its
to that of the
may
Un-
two stucco figures by Francesco Segalla. In that event, they would have become
available for relocation when the screen was demolBaroque altarone of 1651 (Guidaldi,
like the other five
figs. 5,
15).
bases of the eight supports in some fashion, this function was not theirs alone; Michiel clearly suggests that
We
beyond doubt. Yet the balance of the argument would seem to favor our acceptance of Michiel's testimony as prima facie evidence.
At the very least, it provides us with a new working
hypothesis whose implications demand to be explored.
These implications are of considerable importance for
the problem of reconstruction: If the SS. Louis and
Prosdocimus could be detached from the ensemble,
the design of the altar must have permitted such a
manded
damage
specified
Bellano (1484-1488)
ished. This
7)
2,
pieces,
to the
/ /
The Sculpture
of Donatella
1449),
and
for the
so far. Schubring
1903, p. 63,
is,
down
of tracking
is confirmed by the unusual measurements of the Dead Christ. Donatello would in all
probabiKty have preferred to make it a square of the
size of the evangehst panels, but was unable to do so
because he had to fit it into a space no more than 56
cm wide. Under the circumstances, we might expect
him to have chosen a height of either 56 cm ( to match
This relationship
cm (to match the height of the evanor 57 cm (to match that of the miracles).
he made it 58 cm, the exact height of the
width), 60
its
gelists),
Instead,
L'altare, p. 21
Dead
is
Christ
distinctly
mean
Among
accompany
we
Christ.
Now
it is
winged musicians
so solemn a theme.
find only
be
at all suited to
by
the latecomers
wonder
we
at this point
why
for.
Donatello found
must be
One might
it
necessary
The
latter
Dead
so
that
Christ
was intended
to
fill
panels in order to
mark the
Dead
Christ in the
we
have,
by an
our previous thesis that the statues were arranged in 3-1-3 sequence. We have also completed the
fortified
While some of these compartments might conmore than a single panel apiece,
there is, for the present at least, no need to speculate
on this possibility. The distribution here proposed is
not only the most harmonious but has the further virture.
i.e.
task
now
is
to find appropriate
Dead
Critical Catalogue
self-sufficient entity?
is
on a series of false analogies between the instruments mentioned in the Vulgate and those chosen by
Donatello: a tuba cannot be represented as a flute, a
psalterium is not identical with a harp, nor a cithara
with a lute. For the organum even Schubring could
not find a counterpart among our reliefs, and the
tympanum he was able to locate only by mistaking one
of the two tambourines for a drum. If we take the
Cantoria of Luca della Robbia, which is inscribed with
the words of the same Psalm, as our standard of comrests
parison,
by Luca
in
text:
chorda
rines
like to
them the lute, the rebec, and the two flutes are
"modern" and "consonant," i.e., they are instruments of
mediaeval origin designed for the playing of tunes and
harmonies. The rest cymbals, tambourine, and diaulos
are "ancient" and "dissonant"; they were invented
long before the others, and their purpose, at least in
the eyes of Donatello, was to produce dancing rhythms
rather than musical sound patterns. Significantly
enough, all three of them are to be found among the
instruments that accompany the wild "Bacchanahan"
dance of the angels on Donatello's Cantoria, while the
of
Our
That
this
two
c,
d,
There
planned
definite categories.
The two
flutists,
fiddler.
lutenist
common
metry: one
is
show a
lesser
as early as
of
and the
is,
manner
mount eight
this
so obviously
51d).
size,
in the account
it
degree of sym-
intended to face towards each other, with the cymbaleer and the tambourine player between them. The
fixed throughout. It
is
two angels with plastic garlands were originally earmarked for the positions later assigned to the singing
angels, and that their purpose was to flank the coat of
arms of Francesco Tergola, which had to be placed
on the altar according to the terms of the donation
The decision to prepare a niche
( doc. April 13, 1446 )
for the Sacrament in the back of the predella does
.
179
The Sculpture
not seem to have been
made
back of the
some
altar
conspicuous spot
less
to
(e.g.,
how
to explain
the altar
The
Man
About
on
this time,
we may
doc. April
upon the impHcations of his own reconstruction, regarded the Padua Altar as a descendant of the imified
As a consequence,
became
help to clarify
may
it
26).
of Donatello
in-
Madonna-and-Saints panels introduced into the Florentine Quattrocento tradition by Fra Angehco and
it
desira-
He
by Andrea
Altar,
retardataire type,
issue
because
artis-
della Robbia.
patrons,
astical
Pietatis
this
significance
of
to
understand
Imago
the
we
The angel
it
new
many
leaves a great
if its
area
is
tailored to
fit
Kauffmann's "medi-
(loc.cit.)
is
salient
The
Zeno
we
Von Hadeln
behind the
lot.
S.
it
all
Pietatis;
the source of
conversazioni.
244).
later,
reflected in the
possibility of a
own
more balanced
perspective.
The group-
Mantegna
alone.
Even
attempting to
io
Critical Catalogue
either reading,
The composition
the
of
conversazione panels
much more
closely,
but
it
can
Madonna
is
The
unified
Ma-
little
lem, after
when he had
fect
perspective space.
sacrificing
the unity of
the central
is
of art.
we
it
sky.
Could
this
itself,
The
tude.
was the
case, but
it,
strik-
structure. It
altar.
S.
is
in no way incompatible with the earlier observaPudelko {Mitteilungen Kunsthist. Inst. Florenz, iv,
1934, pp. 45ff) that the Miracle of St. Zenobius in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, one of the predella panels of
the S. Lucia altarpiece, shows the influence of Ghiberti's Area
^
tion
This
rest assured,
greatness as a
work
documents permit us
to
date the
The
earliest pieces to
be
cast,
somewhat
surpris-
sioned
available
may
an even
we may
loggia
its
open
daring and imaginative scheme have
The
importance,
commensurate with
THE SCULPTURE
fully
safely
is
di
of
subject
151
The Sculpture
of Donatello
series;
had received 68
Pizzolo
lire
soldi,
stated,
miracles, a task
mid-1449
put. Bandinelli
states that
is
assistants.
It
is
On
should expect
show
five
the basis
five of
the
distinct individual
we
styles,
all this
or exactly 12
tello
when he
much
this
perhaps under-
himself.
angel panels
standable,
that
therefore,
older
Donatello
scholars
tinctive than
in the
own hand
their
apparently
haps even
shop.
to
apiece
tello
was 12
Now, the
price
amount
them are
own hand
his in
concep-
He must
have sketched out every panel, in accordance with his plan for the whole altar, and then
members
of his shop.
left
The
we
suspect,
does not indicate a basic difference in working procedure; it merely reflects the higher standing of the
full
sure, variations in
tion.
received the
else are
from
How
we
tried to reconstruct in a
1903 )
two
in the
be
be
had
Pisa,
among
on
hand" but chased by Antonio Chellini (cf. the payment of December 19, 1447). The remaining five
angels were modeled and chased by Donatello's four
"disciples" and Nicolo Pizzolo, as evidenced by the
accounting of September 1447: at that time Giovanni
da Pisa, Antonio Chellini, Urbano da Cortona, and
garzoni.
six,
"disciples"
then,
by
his
own hand,
"associate")
What
is
splendid creatures
where Donatello had developed the concept of the symbols as "animated lecSacristy (see above, p. 135),
12
Critical Catalogue
teras."^
The
among
without partisans
later scholars.
temporary altar
hand, attributed
name
that the
sway
Madonna
who
Even Schu-
who bore
St. Justina,
creative talent
among
and attributed
to
in the
More
statues,
ues as Donatello's
present setting than any of the rehefs, have until recent times fared worst of
The
all at
spect.
contradictory estimates
fully
of them.
the
Madonna
8 Hence I find
Kauffmann (D.,
L'altare, p.
it
p.
difficult to
20 )
it
1447;
seven
stat-
are not
echoes
(Ludwig
still
to
all
is
comphed with
in
own work
wisely emphasizes
124)
June 1447.^
apologetic about
in
ready to be cast
not-
mentioned
is
meant
this curious
as
by BaroncelU,
Louis
us to assume,
documents
recent scholars
St.
out.
The seven
(Sc. Fl, n, p.
Schottmiiller,
be pointed
to overly elab-
Reymond
1448.
"empty expression"
his
its
May
iri
tion
by claiming
78b) and by
bits of
misinforma-
(cf.
ment
183
figure should
be shown
in the
vestments of a deacon.
The Sculpture
of Donatello
all
oflBcially
architectural
fully controlled,
was
altar
practically
protests,
surface
framework of the
statues. ^
which looks curiously expressionless in the frontal view because of the rather mechanical smoothing and polishing; only the profile reveals
the impressive qualities of human character we would
face of the
St.
Louis,
now recognized
all
technically "unfinished" to
some
extent,
al-
years ago,
The St. Anthony, of the same broad-featured, somewhat rustic type we encounter in the four miracle
is
panels,
he entrusted the
St.
Louis,
it
it
we would
elsewhere
I
among
know,
this
own
func-
each
and (ex-
is
as deriving
whom
is
Her
on penalizing
insisted
finish
Platonic
with
its
184
is
too fanciful to
Critical Catalogue
D., p. 235, n. 291; others are in the Glyptothek,
cf.
281). Donatello
fig.
Copen-
had used
Old
Sacristy in
S.
Even
made
use of his
Semrau
(D., pp.
102f) thought the Irascible Son markedly inferior to
tondi of the
later.
so,
he
St.
mann,
KauflF-
was known
motifs on the
is
For
all
this
written at
all,
Antonio del Pollaiuolo, a proposal immediately rejected by Schottmiiller (D., p. 27, n. 4) and passed
if
veils
is
linked even
since
it
Eva secunda;
loc.cit.),
mysteries of
tically,
neither
to explain
how
felt it
necessary
members of
Padua without ever being
mentioned in the account books of the Area, which
bristle with the names of men of far lesser importance.
Semrau's chronology of the miracles had been worked
out before the publication, by Lazzarini, of the conentrusted with such important tasks as
Donatello's workshop in
tract of
June
subsequent
Thus Cruttwell (D., pp. 109f) places the Ass of Rimini first and
the Speaking Babe last, while Schubring (KdK, pp.
scholars, however, are equally arbitrary.
it
HB,
xlvii,
Entombment
relief.^^
the very
start,
as suggested
by
their
high price
85
and 40
of the answer,
60 for the
much
53flF)
we may be
Each
each contains so
many
is
work
of such individuality,
one hesitates to regard them as a continuous series, conceived and executed within the brief
span of a few months. Still, we must be careful not to
on the exact share to be assigned to the master's assistants and on the chronological sequence of the
panels. The latter question would seem to be of small
importance in view of the fact that three of the miracles were modeled in the spring of 1447 and the
fourth, the
pp.
others, that
until recently,
109ff;
his career.
St.
John
among themselves
in the
Innocents in
S.
Agostino, Siena.
Schottmiiller (D., p. 88) assumes that Donatello was influenced by Jacopo della Quercia's Fall of Man panel at S.
13
Petronio. So far as
185
is
no connection be-
The Sculpture
Raising of Drusiana and the Apotheosis of
any
less
St.
of Donatello
the same subjects,
John
The
Irascible
of each scene
is
by
St.
Anthony.^*
rehef.
What
all
ever,
is
versity,
morse
who
woman
has cut
own
off his
foot in re-
by Schubring, KdK,
agitated pose.^ It
is
xlviii),
p.
concern.
own
of figures
is
unprece-
about
35 in the Speaking Babe, about 45 in the Ass of Rimini,
in the other
master has, of course, drawn upon his previous experience with similar subjects; the spectators fleeing
is
of a specifically
Paduan genius
loci, as
various authors
he
may
also
and Avanzo
common, how-
di S. Giorgio.
of
1*
is
move
Iconography of
Kaftal,
The
figures
George
cf.
Behind
149)
gested )
Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft f. Psychologie in Hamburg, ed. Gustav Kafka, Jena, 1932, p. 20); Donatello has
15
Semrau,
loc.cit.,
Squarcione, from
the same device
whom Mantegna
cf.
i86
is
re-attaching
Critical Catalogue
and
it is
that gives
new
them
the Miracles of
detail,
panels.
What
in the Borgo.
early in 1449,
is
own
tello's
dorus,
St.
Mass
tors of the
Roman Meleager
of
ence
m,
No. 275, pp. 334ff, with particular referspecimen formerly in the Palazzo Montalvo,
2,
to the
Florence) and
tures of the
that
is
we
Cannot
Mary
Virgin
women. Four
raging grief
their
yond the ordinary scope of the Quattrocento, so prophetic of the High Renaissance, that it can be described only as a "mutation," no less mysterious in
origin than the St. Mark at Or San Michele or the St.
George relief and equally incalculable in its conse-
influence
(cf.
1904,
Anthony
The
is
tell
of
which one
is
meant
to
be the
an incredible
as suggested by Bertaux, D., p. 161
though not altogether impossible thought). The classical source, however, does not account for the rhythmic interweaving of the figures, which is very different
from the Entombment of the St. Peter's Tabernacle.
Here again we encounter the new compositional principle of the miracle panels, and again we think of the
High Renaissance. How much would Raphael's labor
have been eased had he known this composition when
he designed the Borghese Entombment!
ST.
PLATE
89
S.
DOCUMENTS
(at
nonc
elbow
(
level)
but see
42 cm; D. 27
(1452-1453)
cm
belovv^
SOURCES
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
and donated
p.
55 (Milanesi,
itself is
5.
undocumented, Donatello
be used
serie,
vi,
1929, pp.
They
memento
of
left
John the Baptist of wood, which he had carved with the greatest of care."
(A shortened paraphrase
While the statue
p.
133ff,
Nos.
ix-xi,
February
n.
452) which
by Kauffmann,
D., p. 238,
in Venice. Donatello
had
finished the
it
it,
and the artist was now suing for the 25 ducats he had
been promised, supported by the testimony of two of
his assistants who had been present at the meeting
with Petruzzo. Rigoni (op.cit., p. 127) infers from the
9,
tello in
in
187
The Sculpture
(according to Kauffmann, D., p. 150, it was
bay of the north aisle, next to the fa9ade),
but the thread of evidence here is a slender one inFrari
the
first
of Donatello
of the legs
right
exiled
ice, is
From
quite unHkely.
(KdK,
who
denies
this, fails to
and the
had
in
And
came
scheme
Regardless
above, there
of
is
was known
Compagnia
Giovanni Batista de'Fiorentini ) Apparently the statue remained there until about
a century ago, when it had to make way for the Titian
as the
di S.
monument
(Milanesi,
loc.cit.;
monument was
the
de-
then stood
It
it
Fabriczy
v.
Its
present location
Rocco
The
is
it
as part of the
naturalistic
certainly
is
in the first
was exhibited
Mostra delle
tre Scuole.
no longer the
original
chapel to
in the Scuola di S.
of the statue
S.
The
his
November
ship to the
end
"Paduan decade,"
of Donatello's
Vasari
may
in
St.
John
1452-1453.
when he
after
he had
pedestal;
Gattamelata was negotiated in Venice, and the fomarbiters appointed by Donatello were Venetian masters. This, then,
for
him
to receive and carry out a commission from the Compagnia di S. Giovanni Batista, as against 1450-1452,
when he was preoccupied with projects in Mantua,
Modena, and Ferrara. By 1453, all of these had been
abandoned.^
Archivio storico lombardo, 2. serie, in, 1886, p. 667; for the
equestrian monument of Borso d'Este in Modena, see G. Camnegli Stati Estensi, Modena, 1855,
pori, Gli artisti italiani
.
Critical Catalogue
How much
work Donatello
ments
tell
us of
the Frari
is diflScult
all
sive":*
to say.
dued
its
flesh.
in
statues of the
in
St.
Even the
Yet
this
or Italo-Byzantinemodel
Padua High
"mediaeval" quality
is
is
The source
St.
Some
Madonna
for the
of the
two cases are far from analogous; the Virgin and Child has been completely
Rome
(Vasari-
many
among
that there
St.
its
John retains
prototype, so
is
we
face value,
at
early 1450's"?
new
the
be
of
attitude revealed
felt in all of
here as well as
later,
own
vocabulary remains
individual self-awareness
of
and
his
and power
rates these
John has
no such precedents; it belongs with the post-Paduan
phase of Donatello as exemplified by the Magdalen,
the Giovannino Martelli, and the St. John in Siena.^
Judged by the standard of the artist's previous statues,
St.
Frari
the
St.
first
is
realistic,
undiminished. Instead of
is
personal, one
The
his
of Donatello's
suspects,
a span of time.
past;
The bronze
Museum,
189
The Sculpture
ST.
PLATES
of Donatello
90-91
DOCUMENTS
(1454-1455)
none
SOURCES
1510 Albertini,
is
St.
Mary Magdalen by
the
hand
of Donatello.
."
.
(Before 1530) BilH, pp. 32f, s.v. "Bninelleschi": "He did a St. Mary Magdalen for the church of S. Spirito,
which was destroyed by fire, ... a most excellent work, beyond comparison with those of Donatello in the Baptistery."
pp. 40f,
which
(c.
s.v.
The
sentence
is
"He did
now
is
the figure of
St.
Mary Magdalen
in the Baptistery."
St.
is
in the Baptistery, a
marvelous
work."
1550 Vasari-Ricci, pp. 48f (Milanesi, p. 400, with additions, here indicated by italics): "In the Baptistery,
opposite the tomb of Pope Giovanni Coscia, there is a St. Mary Magdalen in Penitence, of wood,
is
consumed by
fasting
and abstinence,
A shortened paraphrase
and'
in Borghini,
Riposo, p. 318.
carved in
earliest
is
St.
wood by
Donatello, and
is
alive."
among
is
a notice
v,
Florence,
n.
and Cruttwell,
it
records a
illustrata,
Florence, 1684,
urgently desired.
p.
he
tried to
buy
it
at a high price,
considered presenting
^
it
to
him
The
Donatello's
original
shop
by
as a gift.
disciples
to the
Tomb
of Donatello;
of
S. Spirito
in 1688.
."
loc.cit.
3 The previous installation is shown in Schubring, KdK, p.
137; the bronze halo by Jacopo Sogliani, visible in photographs
taken prior to 1912, has since been removed.
refers
known
Giorgio Vasari,
not
is
190
Critical Catalogue
of the Libro of Antonio Billi; cf. our discussion of the
opposition to
the
latter
Frari
artists
is
assert his
wooden Magdalen by an
like a
way
The
by such
the Empoli Magdalen
artistic
and pubHc
influence
its
later
it is
by somewhat
St.
given for
St.
(see above, p.
panel of the same subject in the Accademia (as observed by Middeldorf, AB, p. 574; Kauffmann, D., pp.
The
first
previous works
artist's
is
and
D.,
throughout the
it
later
p.
The date
Nor has
evidence.
stylistic
own hand
ever been
Only Donatello
work
of such shocking
the
damned
well established by
questioned.^
opinions cited in
Reymond,
and marvels
grants
*
at
its
Here
v.
all
piece
came
to the Collegiata of
ST.
PLATES
narola.
of the
the qualities
Fabriczy
Donatello's
mood
cf.
Magdalen
is
strangely prophetic
de
siecle.
Croce in Vinci.
Lanyi {Probl., p. 23) lists it among the canonic works but
adds that its state of preservation does not permit a definitive
judgment.
Jahrbuch
climax was to
Its
expressive power).
its
Giovannino Martelli
Kauffmann, D., pp. 144f ).
come forty years later, under Savo-
cf the negative
ness"
(cf.
its
impact;
is
Quattrocento
S.
who
the
92-93
Marble
statue;
H. 173 cm;
W. 47 cm;
DOCUMENTS
D. 39
cm
(c.
1455)
nOHC
SOURCES
(Before 1530)
heirs of
Billi,
St.
John which
is
now
in the
house of the
Ruberto Martelli."
is
a marble statue of
St.
John which
is
now
in the
seems
to
be made of real
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
are
many
p.
flesh.
St.
John of marble
in the
."
.
53 (Milanesi, pp. 408f, shghtly replirased): "In the houses of the Martelli there
among them
191
tall,
as well as a great
The Sculpture
many
braccia
ceived
trust,
tall,
it
many
towards
felt
and
this family;
in the
by Donatello
to betoken
who had
re-
as a present (Vasari-Milanesi omits the last clause). This figure the heirs received in
it
favors."
of Donatella
1568 Vasari-Milanesi,
pp. 90f,
vi,
s.v.
Don
was charged with the decoration of S. Giovanni in Florence for the christening.
dome] he made a large octagonal wooden vessel
also ... a wooden
pedestal in its center
surmounted by the marble St. John the Baptist of Donatello, three braccia
tall, from the house of Gismondo MartelH."
son, Tribolo
Under the
p.
famous
for
its
who
is
is
young
St.
John of
it
has
become
artists.
especially note-
worthy through the circumstance that Ruberto MarteUi, who understood the talent of Donatello
and the exceptional beauty of the St. John better than anyone else, obliged his heirs not to give
it
away,
sell
it,
or pledge
The
it,
in the
when
it
was acquired
for the
work
his family."
of gilt in some areas. This agrees with the curiously
mottled appearance of the marble, indicating that the
Museo
entire figure
tomb
p.
is
of
and Cruttwell
61).
The upper
lost;
there
According
to Balcarres
(D., p. 56)
is
surely
mistaken (as observed by Giacomo de Nicola, Bolletino d'arte, vu, 1913, pp. 277ff) since the marble surface is far too well preserved to have been exposed
ing
or,
they gave
full
close relations
(the passage,
cross
is
first
cola )
43ff ), the
2 I
am
192
my
Critical Catalogue
Old
same
is
true of a
who had
near
it
the
beginning
of
known
Desiderio's
oeuvre
of Desiderio, directly
Giovannino alone).
Since then, the Giovannino has been placed in
grave jeopardy. According to Lanyi ( Pragm., pp. 129f,
note), it is the work of Desiderio da Settignano, re-
all,
work
finishing process.
for the
either the
we
is
attribution to an artist
inspired
statues
loc.cit.,
which excludes
of lesser rank,
Giovannino
Sacristy of S. Lorenzo.
The obvious
dating; Bertaux,
of the statue,
as Planiscig has
its
num-
figures of Donatello
on
this task,
it
on the
may be
other. Before
we embark
times. Stylistically,
in
based on
we do
not happen to know of any documented marble pieces
by the master after the 1430's hardly a valid reason
for such a generalization. Why indeed should Donatello have refused to handle marble in his later years?
Surely not because of the physical labor involved (he
The
Florence (the
after his
marble
latter
did, after
Museo Nazionale
all,
Entombment
of pietra
ago.
This
is
di
The
tional view.
That the Giovannino is a work of the midseems to me beyond question; nor can there
be any doubt of its close relationship to the post-
to Donatello, although
1450's
difficult.
Paduan
how
we know
of
for our
purpose
Tomb
are
no
Johns
Donatello while there are several in Desiderio's (see
below, pp. 228ff, for the so-called "St. John" from the
St.
would be useful
more
De-
statues of
so different
it
we have no marble
was
But then
is
it
Magdalen
193
in the Baptistery. If
The Sculpture
But does he? So far as I can see, the opposite
is, to be sure, a certain general resemblance between the Desiderio Magdalen and our
in Siena.
is
out, the
common
similarities of
are missing.
body
On
when
it is
Of
particular interest
is
St.
John
after his
life
young
Penitence, he
authorship
expression, etc.
details, facial
of Donatello
some
be explained only on
basis
of his
Magdalen
or of the Arconati-Visconti
has taken over the device of the half -open mouth, but
certainly
unknown
hand and
left
St.
to Desiderio.
scroll
Whoever carved
of our statue
John
(cf. PI.
the
two
cloaks,
its
with their
straight ridges
but
St.
is
entirely
of delire prophetique.
different
now:
it
gives the
The
it
meaning
of nose
much
a similarly tense,
"abnormal" expression.
tiating
below the
left
we must
Finally,
sources.
The
visual criteria
between Desiderio
factor in themselves,
aged
ascetics, their
hmbs and
Yet his
is
faces
show a degree
has httle
of
number
by ova master. Yet, except in matters of chronology, Vasari is far more often right than
he is wrong concerning Donatello, so that if we want
to convict him of a mistake we should at least try to
youthful Giovannino.
still
the suppression of
arm and
sticks,
leg muscles
and
makes the
bones are beginning to show through the skin. Desiderio's Magdalen, although clearly characterized as
an aging woman, lacks this rigid, angular quality. In
pp. lOf,
youth
is
The
loc.cit.,
This
the family,
is
medium
and
cf.
above,
He was
as conscien-
sifting information as
it
him
was
is
so
trol,
tious in gathering
19ff,
who
state
in a trance.
is
194
fully
Critical Catalogue
tradition concerning the authorship of the figure,
it
becoming garbled or
home
own
of S.
right),
bility in
find
difficult to
it
heirloom
regard as completely
to postulate that
it
fictitious,
unless
we
also
have
in the
was gradually
to
explain
how
the statue
had acquired
now
additions
terri-
are willing
in Donatello's
The remaining
tory.
as a family
to
fanciful
its
In
special status.
it
diflSculties
work
than
it
to
Desiderio
resolves, espe-
all
(cf.
Lavin, op.cit.).
is
shown
as
have come
to
is
known between
when
vannino MartelH
may
The Gio-
the
young
St.
many more
entails
is
lost
immedi-
An
been accepted
so far as
thirty
on the
basis of style; a few are lost or unidentifiable; and in
only five instances can we convict the Libro of being
wrong. Two of these the horse's head in Naples and
concern monuments in
cities far
can
see. If
we
assign
it
to Donatello,
falls into
on the
place logically
enough
in direct
Padua
195
The Sculpture
of Donatello
feeling, especially
are as yet
PLATES
of religious
op.cit.,
life
ST.
directness
pp.
Lavin,
of.
92fiF.
94-95
W.
51
1457
cm
DOCUMENTS
Two
del
entries in the records of the chamberlain of the Cathedral workshop, in the archives of the
Duomo,
Siena, published
Opera
1854, p. 297:
1457, September 28: 5
(mezza
lire
14 soldi have been paid to Florence as duty {per chahella) on a "half -figure"
by Donatello.
weighing 221
lbs.;
St.
it
consists of three
head [and upper body], weighing 224 lbs.; the middle part, dovra
and the base with the legs up to the knees, weighing 143 lbs.
to the knees,
SOURCES
repeated in Cod. Magi, p. 78): "Donatello did a bronze figure
John the Baptist in the portal of Siena Cathedral, a beautiful work but with the right arm
(Before 1530)
of St.
Bilfi, p.
42 (Cod.
Strozz.;
He
it
And when he left Siena he said that if they wanted him to finish the statue they would
have to pay him as much as they had paid for the rest of the figure. Thus he left it incomplete."
(The Cod. Petrei has a much shorter version of this passage, without reference to the doubling
of his pay.
Cod. Strozz.
is
we
choose to regard
it
as the residue of a
reference to the Siena Cathedral Doors in the text from which both codices were derived.
(c.
1550)
Duomo
[i.e.,
to his liking
like the
ruined
he
St.
left it
wax forms
workshop of Siena Cathedral a St. John the Baptist of bronze, whose right arm
[Donatello] left incomplete from the elbow dowoi; since he had not been paid in full, he said,
he would not finish the figure unless he were to be paid twice the amount he already had received."
mained
in the
by Donatello's hand
arm from the elbow down; Donatello is
1568, Vasari-Milanesi, p. 415: "All that remained in the Siena Cathedral workshop
was a bronze St. John the Baptist, which lacks the right
said to have left it that way because he had not been paid
The
location for
Berhn, 1907,
is
.
in full."
p. 85, n. 1)
196
suggests that
it
may have
Cap-
Critical Catalogue
pella S. Giovanni in the Cathedral,
is
at present,
was not
we know when
play; in 1467
it
the figure
was
The story of
GugHelmo della
still
was
first
in storage, apparently
1791, p.
Donatello
because
had
but noted
that
resembles
"it
arm
list
Valle (Vasari,
savage
it
is
as part
referred to as missing in
that Donatello
been
fitted to
he failed
skill
to
from the
latter
circumstance that
Its style,
shows some
was
still
in the
Opera del
Duomo
during the
John
St.
is
left,
of the statue,
all likelihood,
not
it
technical reasons
done, or
arm
half
first
aflBnity to
wax form
for the
from the
he did the
that
is
it
settled
arm was
still
missing,
acrimonious
mind
if
spirit of Donatello's
worn by the
usually
which
meaning
we keep in
but once he
were so completely
fusal to
same
down
is
its
Magdalen,
length
i.e.,
figiu-e
but quite
be translated, not as a
literally as "half of
St.
carving.
Frari
half-
the
wood-
it
reflects
as against
a statue"
John. These,
St.
On
wax
St.
for each
John
pp. 51f)
his
is
"madness," as Cruttwell
as great,
calls
piece.
197
it
(D.,
as that
The Sculpture
of Donatella
96-100
(1456-1457;
1460)
c.
DOCUMENTS
None
two
relating to the commission or original location of the group (but see below).
The following
entries in the record of dehberations of the Signoria, in the State Archives of Florence,
scribed
were
.
tranParis,
1888, p. 103:
1495, October 9:
Two
bronze statues, a David in the courtyard of the palace of Piero de'Medici and a
Judith in the garden of the same palace, are to be turned over to the aperai of the Palazzo Vecchio,
together with their pedestals
there in whatever places they
October
14:
pertinentiis)
all
them
(which included several other items beside the two bronze statues) have been duly consigned
to
the operai.
SOURCES
1464-1495 Bartolommeo della Fonte (Fontio), Zibaldone, Riccardiana Library, Florence, God. Rice.
907,
fols. 141fiF,
to Piero
passage
il
(
fall
letter of
Gottoso by one F.
fol.
down from
copy of a
143r )
that pinnacle of
through luxury,
1464,
cities rise
5,
through virtues;
we
humihty {Regna cadunt luxu surgent virtutibus urbes caesa vides humili colla superba manu)"
On the margin opposite the latter phrase Fontio has noted: "On the column below the Judith in
the Medici Palace (In columna sub iudith in aula medicea)."
mann
when
it
my
The
inscription
(Florence, 1845,
i,
was
to the
cited
by Kauff-
second edition of
p. 758,
S.
and on the other Salus Publica. Petrus Medices Cos. Fi. libertati simul et fortitudini hanc
quo cives invicto constantique animo ad rem pub. redderent dedicavit." (Piero
Son of Gosimo Medici has dedicated the statue of this woman to that liberty and fortitude bestowed
on the republic by the invincible and constant spirit of the citizens. ) This codex, which is our only
cadunt
mulieris statuam
source for the second inscription and for the alleged location of the Judith in the Medici Gardens,
has either disappeared or remains untraceable. The passage from the Zibaldone quoted above was
no way of
is
it
telling
to
in
did not do so until the 1470's, since he was only nineteen years old at the time of Gosimo's death.
ed.
was
p. 121:
"On December
21, 1495,
1504 Record of the meeting, on January 25, of a commission to advise on the best location of Michel198
Critical Catalogue
angelo's marble David, published in Giovanni Gaye, Carteggio
ii,
455flF;
Francesco di Lorenzo Filarete, the herald of the Signoria, proposes to substitute the David for
the Judith [on the ringhiera] because "the Judith
moreover, the
is
nor
lily,
is it
good
have a
to
woman
a man;
kill
did not favor the erection of the Judith, for ever since then things have been
stars
going from bad to worse." Cosimo Rosselli prefers to have the David placed on the steps in front
of the Cathedral, to the right,
268
op.cit., p.
which had
of the Judith,
1506 Landucci,
to
276
op.cit., p.
it
".
Albertini, p. 17:
(cf.
in place
was placed
in the
"On May
first
8, [the
(cf.
301
op.cit., p.
(cf. also
"On June
is
it
."
in the Loggia."
(Before 1530) Bilh, pp. 38f: "[Donatello made] the bronze Judith which
is
now
in the
is
now
in the
(c.
1550)
"Donatello
Gelli, p. 59:
now
in the
is
which
."
made
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
p.
51
metal cast which was placed in an arch of their loggia on the piazza;
head
is
of Holofernes
and
is
work
outward simplicity
it
of great excellence
to
off
the
anyone who
spirit of that
lady and the aid of God, while the appearance of the Holofernes exhibits the effect of wine and
sleep,
and
with death in his cold and drooping limbs. This cast Donatello did with such delicacy, patience,
love,
with
this
work
he wanted
to
that
it
seemed
to
is
it
so well, that
demand
it,
it
is
above
all
to the eye.
He was
so delighted
in his other
it,
Donatelli opus."
to
his
German
translation,
in
'75,
first
printed Florence,
Milan, 1822-1825,
iv,
pp.
pp. 175ff, 249ff): "However, our artist
St.
George but
Thus
women do not ordinarily accomplish such deeds; she is frightened neither by what she has done nor by the savage head in her hand, but on the contrary dis-
plays the joyous confidence of youth." (Bottari-Ticozzi, pp. 287f; Semper, pp. 193f.
1582 Lapini,
op.cit., p.
217:
"[On August 4
new
.]
there,
maybe, she
as related before."
will
remain
The Sculpture
1584 Borghini, Riposo^
it is
to
be seen
p. 319:
day
to this
of Donatella
who
has cut
S.
wanted
it
durability.
we
also
For
first
knew
this
Uffizi."
own
his
am
180): "I
p.
founded on
off
whose arm
With
his
away from
stretches
this
... he
Loggia we see three beautiful statues there, the Judith, the Perseus, and the Sabines.
statues of the Piazza make this memorable beyond all others because of their beauty and
.
The Judith
artist.
And
of Donatello
like
.]
The
artifice;
made
rest, at
the later masters so admired her very great beauty that their
of
The
earliest
known
is
of civic virtue.
Piero to
had
Marco
S.
in question?
demand no such
The two
is
Duke
believed
to
presumably
it
when he was
i.e.
would
between
This
of
of
Pitti; to
turn a per-
of Athens.
this,
years later).
is
Duke
of the
know
what prompted
Could it have
Passerini, loc.cit.,
he
them
this
inscriptions
therefore,
inscription.
One wonders,
been a particular
ment
certainly have
may
been a clever
to liberty
odd notion
and fortitude
political gesture.
of a public
in the
monu-
garden of what
1 The
"post-revolutionary" inscription of 1495 that appears
on the present pedestal of the Judith was surely composed with
reference to Piero's dedication, of which it is a sort of ironic
echo:
all,
the cives
salus publica.
200
a private residence.
now
erect a
monument
of their
own
to
the
Critical Catalogue
categorically,
The
yielded
David
p. 105,
May
in
had
it
its
claims
1504,
it
was a
brief
one (Lensi,
casts. If
op.cit.,
left of
the
again had to
make way
for the
work
It
it
had occupied
in front of the
is
of
stylization"
difficulty of find-
the problem of
how
to pose the
model
by the
shown
is
then
difficult
(cf.
is
sitting
Palazzo Vecchio
task complicated
shape, there
is
without
for the plaster cast so that the legs will "look right"
of a living
"realism
we
in the latter
1582,
the
cast separately;
Its
which are
The date of the Judith used to be regarded as prePaduan by older scholars, largely because of its connection with the Palazzo Medici, which was then still
believed to be a work of the 1430's (Semper, D. '87,
p. 69, thought it a monument to commemorate Cosimo's
Bearzi,
New
York,
wax
cally, since in
had
to
wax.
done
is
with the
late
shown by
its
character of the
it
work was
who
cloth support
of the St.
(see
Lorenzo
style
same
Rassegna
buch Kgl.
in
and techni-
consume the
How
artistically
it
Pulpits. His
and De Nicola,
loc.cit.,
to
be
Crutt-
Aby War-
basin
*
the
is
lost.
ringhiera, fully
it
to
201
The Sculpture
burg had proved that the Medici Palace was not
started until 1444, which meant that the Judith must
have been commissioned after, rather than before,
surd claim concerning the scarcity of sculptural commissions in general. Yet the image of the poor and
Planiscig,
132ff;
D.,
110,
Colasanti
145);
of Donatello
modern
scholarly literature (e.g. Kauffmann, D., p. 143; PlanisD., p. 110). Donatello's Catasto Declaration of
cig,
1457,
(D.,
pp.
pp. 80f) prefers the immediate vicinity of the Siena
Baptist of 1457, and Venturi (Storia, vi, pp. 343f)
speaks of the Judith as one of Donatello's very last
it
is
true, Hsts
cf.
pp.
as
the statue of
of the work.^
One
of
Pulpit of
S.
is
example
it
is
of
an explanation
was destined
We
this list
be regarded
as
the
is
The only
needed
other explanation
would
if
inscription
Nor can
incorrect, since
ISlflF,
hand,
all,
is
not to be dismissed
of the master
is
Florentine
or Padua, but
at
felt
it
only
if
we
the story
Cosimo
of
tello to
is
tells
make
who
of
S.
might not be
idle,
because
suspect,
197).
in
signature
know
Cosimo's time
p.
Bisticci,
the
St.
in his Life
Vespasiano da
De
was
art;
to
The only
emphasize
of
ered: in
among
202
Pisa.
Critical Catalogue
Fonte degU Ebrei? The symbolic imadmit a great variety of pospurposes. Certainly there is nothing about the
or perhaps the
sible
statue
itself
origin.
What Kauffmann
for the
mezza
figura,
it
does not
mean
particular piece to
be
documents relating
p. 197).
In other words,
for the
same term
cites the
in
we
was ready
to
VI,
is
equally important
symbolic meaning of the statue, has been
who weakens
Devil,
be
Lib.
is
cut
is
ojff
the lascives
because
it
repre-
The Fountains
of Florentine Sculptors
proper names.
incapable of exact
Dr. Kennedy's
nesi
^I
And
(
seems
it
to lulecta
Guliatte
have
me
as entirely possible,
but
the stress
of the
t,
proof or disproof.
With
is
this caution,
of the putti
it disposes of two problems at once: the florENTiNus of the Judith signature and the "Goliath"
document, which had been a thorn in the flesh of
heritage
since
its
The degree
pubhcation a hundred
no clue
to
to the
reflects a
mediaeval
we
may
p. 83).
years ago.
tains
the
worth
one
of the
i.e.
Medicean
specifically
a half-length
that indicates
loc.cit.)
saw
it
is
first
about
203
>5-
The Sculpture
to do. Schottmiiller (D>, p. 53), in contrast,
full progress;
of Donatella
thought
mean
rightly
volta sentiamo
who
torious Judith
does
where
not account for this; had Donabeen given the same task twenty years earlier,
he would surely have found a different, and more
to
this
interpretation,
naturalistic
with the
left
hand
it
is
of Judith)
tello
may have
decided not to close the gap here because he thought it could not be seen, or because he
tello
view could be defended. But the question as Schottmiiller posed it is an idle one; Donatello did not conceive the statue in terms of a specific phase of action.
Judith is not glancing at her victim, and the sword
is not aimed at Holofernes' neck but raised in a kind
much
him
lock"
The
Reymond
(Sc. Fl,
been
main charm
"faite
the
way
To
loc.cit.,
seemed
"surprisingly unskillful," an
virtues:
"
The dictum
Max Dvorak,
it
seems
to
me,
is
highly
to
the
upon the
awesome solemnity
statue,
qualities than
The
we
are.
scheme,
sixteenth century,
Schott-
is
The
it
all that.
and
be judged on its own terms rather than
those of Giambologna. Compared to the ideal of the
figura serpentinata (of which the spiral twist of the
Abraham and Isaac group is curiously prophetic) it
appears rigid and static, but it also has its own unique
demands
miiller,
without sacrificing
strained, but
rational, geometric
ii,
is
serts,
may be
tutes the
it
as closely as possible
an extraordinary and
triangle of the base
has become an integral part of the design; on it he
superimposes the rectangular cushion as a kind of
secondary base, and another, inverted, triangle formed
tion
them
criticized.
in a single "column," as
is
The
Cf. also
latter
is
fully discussed
1927, p. 121.
204
Critical Catalogue
beginning of 1457
was ready
we may assume
is
be
to
it
came
to a halt before
causing an amount of
ill
The
(D.,
them
and
en-
is
was enticed
abandon
to
however,
Area
offers
(Braghirolli, loc.cit.).
is
comes
case,
exact
meaning
closest to
personality conveyed
Organi
in
by
his friend
authorities ("a
connected with
enough advanced
in 1461 for
by
this
event.
The Medici
Palace, too,
may
Dona-
Matteo degli
are modest
and
far
was
mind. In any
in
of the church
of intricato
di S.
it is
his firm
The
Likely that
to
it is
life.
me
Mantua
during
doors. Yet
no hint of Donatello's having had any connection with the Opera del Duomo or any of the other
there
in Siena
in Florence of greater
of
his
Sienese projects
fact, that
in
attractive to
matter of
do
"some labors
already started by Donatello") must have seemed less
to
tirely possible,
in Vasari
if
and
to the simple-
start,
was not
modeled
1460
hence
205
actually
and
S.
same
or closely
Lorenzo
Pulpits.
The Sculpture
of Donatello
101
Bronze
relief;
DOCUMENTS
H. 33.5 cm;
nonc
SOURCES
The
relief
history
is
W.
41.5
(1458-1459)
none
Milanesi,
unknown
cm
Documenti per
received 22 pounds of
The
peculiar
porta,"
of
sil-
relief.
oflF
model one
panel for
relief
this
to
op.cit., p.
by Middeldorf, AB, p.
579); apparently the cast, otherwise of good quality,
turned out too thin, so that some of the more deeply
recessed areas, as well as the entire background, were
full of holes,
he was about
(as observed
start
On December 10 Donatello
wax "per fare la storia de la
on March
from the
i.e.
sum
in the process.
who
Since
pi.
p.
its
it
Maclagan-Longhurst place
it
is little
What we know
fall
John.
St.
where he wanted
stay was defined
"to live
as the
and
was
him
settle in Siena,
die," the
St.
gradually
also cites
Siena,
{Duo quadri
ciera^
became corrupted
an inventory of August
to "Danielle").
1,
He
purpose of his
size"
probably
since the
cierata et
name
at
When
una
dral
originated in the
"after 1450,"
rather suddenly.
loc.cit.,
is
cxcix).
1461 (Milanesi,
Enabout
relation to the
loc.cit.;
Schubring, KdK,
santi,
in
its first
2o6
Un pezzo
di
[sic;
Apparently
porte?] del
this
Duomo,
di
Critical Catalogue
it
was a
all,
relic of the
have been
Nor can we be
Donatello doors
the project.
Donatello, then,
(as suspected
cial
late
figure types,
it
was remembered
for a
hundred
he
also
years.
Tabernacle
the fluid
St.
me
as closer to the S.
Lorenzo
of
movement
of the Judith,
show similarities
Even the conspicuous use
torso
Sienese,
Monna
strikes
hke that
and drapery
hair
The Anonimo
Magliabechiano (ed. Frey, p. 78) records it as follows: "He also undertook to do a bronze door for the
certain Benedetto di
had one or
more of the reliefs cast in bronze. What led him to
abandon the commission and to retiu-n to Florence reunlikely that during this period
tine goldsmith
to visit
S. Lorenzo
Thus the Lamentation can be assigned to the
end of the 1450's without any diflBculty. Its dimensions
/2 braccio by % braccio
fit the bronze panel mentioned in the inventory of 1639, as Kauffmann has
pointed out (D., p. 254, n. 635; presumably the "three
this
possible, in pictorial
Pulpits.
and knew how to sway him so comon a certain hohday, when the apprentices
were away, he and Donatello undid and spoiled everything and left for Florence. The apprentices then returned to find the entire work ruined and Donatello
gone, nor did they receive word from him until he
worthy a
as
project,
pletely that
And
away
the cutting
of the background,
we assume
that the Lamentawas made as a trial panel for the Siena Cathedral
doors. In view of the fact that Donatello was engaged
in work on the doors for at least a year and a half
and probably longer, it would be strange indeed if his
labors had been confined entirely to modeling in wax.
Surely the Cathedral authorities were anxious to see
a sample of the reliefs actually cast in bronze, and the
artist himself must have wanted to explore the local
first
tion
maUgn
spirit,
craftsman, as he
know
that
in its "plot,"
that,
it
to utilize
we may
safely
assume
we may be
it
sure, that
The
presumably he intended
and Donatello's willingness to carry out the task inevitably placed him in the position of competing with
Ghiberti's masterpiece, which had been unveiled during his absence and could not have failed to impress
him when he first saw it in situ upon his retiu^n to
Florence. His sense of rivalry with Ghiberti, of which
abandon the commission and to return to Florence may well have been a
sudden one; it could have involved an emissary from
Florence, someone whose role was no more sinister
than that of Pagno di Lapo in 1433 (see above, p.
110) but who in the course of time became the villain
of the piece; and the circumstances of the whole event
seem to have been such that the Sienese, whose pride
was deeply hurt, could put the blame on the jealousy
truth.
master's decision to
we
138),
may
well have
made him
207
The Sculpture
of Florence Cathedral (see above, p. 150), so that
he
matter of
of Donatella
It is
not impossible, as a
panel,
fact, that
arriving at
to
And
as
if
is
likely
the
left
to
artist,
of wax. In
of an explicit spatial
St.
trouble of cutting
Anthony
this
is
be
full
a demonstration object.
less true of
figures against a
Lorenzo Pulpits, they, too, like their predecessors, have clearly defined exterior or interior settings.
In the Lamentation, on the contrary, the background
must have been blank; the composition consists entirely of the compact group of figures in the plane
nearest the beholder. This treatment of bronze relief
By
of the proper
S.
size,
he could
still
he used for
this
purpose.)^
On
of speculation.
it
Donatello's
Lorenzo Pulpits;
am
is
The
must
own
hand.
regarding here the Berlin Flagellation and the Medici Cruciwhich see below, pp. 240, 242.
3 The
original appearance of the Lamentation, before the
faulty casting, is approximated by a stucco replica of uncertain
date in which the background has been added ( Florence, Museo
Leonardo Benvoglienti,
fixion, for
that the
prior to the S.
not unworthy
we know,
it is
for the
so far as
(Perhaps
to
surely have
would
been discarded as useless, since without a solid background it could not be mounted in the place for which
it was intended. The fact that Donatello went to the
modsetting. The
the
figures so fully
were.
Pulpits,
of the Virgin.
eling
if it
Donatello
our hypothesis
as
in
cycle.
should be at a loss to
cutting
their
it
we
treated
illusionistic
made as a door
explain why Donatello
dis-
2o8
Critical Catalogue
LORENZO, FLORENCE
S.
PLATES 102-120
(c.
1460-1470)
NORTH PULPIT
PLATES 102-110
cm
SOUTH PULPIT
PLATES 111-120
cm
DOCUMENTS
None
of
S.
and reprinted
1515
in
Semrau, D.,
p. 5, n.
315):
'75, p.
It
has cost 4
lire
Pergamo minore), wliich was in separate pieces; and 4 florins to fetch the large bronze pulpit,
it in order (assettarlo) and place it on a wooden platform (palco). Also 2 lire 4 soldi for
making three sets of holes in the pilasters to support (fermare) the pulpits, and 14 lire for cleaning
(el
to
put
de'cantori), as well as a
modo
on
A wooden
pulpits.
wooden railing or screen (spagliere), so that it will hold the singers {in
The lesser pulpit, too, has been given a wooden support it is resting
wood and
pillars of
support has been built for the pulpit of the singers {Pergamo
stairs
have been
built for
SOURCES
(c.
1485) Vespasiano da
D. 75,
Bisticci, Vite di
p. 313; translation,
uomini
illustri
del secolo
XV,
s.v.
He was
all
painters
and
sculptors;
and because
the sculptors found scanty employment, Cosimo, in order not to have Donatello be
S.
way supported
this
1510 Albertini,
p. 11:
money
for the
worthy
all
in his
idle,
time
commis-
in the sacristy.
assistants,
He
and in
him."
"[In
S.
Lorenzo Donatello] made the two bronze pulpits for the Gospels and
Epistles."
(Before 1530) BiUi, pp. 40f (repeated in Cod. Magi., p. 76): "[In
pulpits,
December
S.
finish."
and
Stefano Ticozzi, Raccolta di lettere
i, Milan, 1822, pp. 71f):
"When he did the pulpits and
doors of bronze in S. Lorenzo for Cosimo il Vecchio, Donatello was so old that his eyesight no
longer permitted him to judge them properly and to give them a beautiful finish; and although their
1547,
7,
conception
is
(Semper, D.
m, Rome, 1759,
p.
'75, p.
have supper.
in the
Medici church
."
.
209
and
after
".
Then spend
a whole
The Sculpture
(c.
1550)
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
low
relief,
show
S.
i,
De
p. 150),
Lorenzo, and in
all
of Donatella
as
[S.
la scultura:
high as in
relief
is
called
half-relief.
we
and landscapes,
stairs,
Lorenzo]."
as
Vasari-Ricci, p. 57 (Milanesi, p. 416): "[Donatello] also laid out (ordino) the bronze pulpits in
S.
Lorenzo, showing the Passion of Christ. These have design, force, invention, and an abundance
finished
ibid., p.
62 (Milanesi,
of figures
pulpits of
S.
p.
425)
"To
he
state;
they are to
iv, p.
many
custodian of the
most of aU
and
skill
now
he could no longer
tello
sculptors,
p. 314):
and
wanted
a great
many
casts
."
.
was placed on the four porphyry columns towards the cloisters, in the church
December 1565 the other one, which is across from it, was [also] raised."
of S. Lorenzo;
in
1568 Vasari-Milanesi, vn, pp. 313f, Vita of Michelangelo: "The pulpit from which Varchi delivered his
funeral oration, which was later printed, had no decorations at aU. Since it was of bronze and its
fittingly
on the opposite
tall
ornament
side,
in addition
1591 Bocchi, pp. 250ff (Cinelli, pp. 508ff): "As we advance through the nave [of S. Lorenzo] towards
the high altar, we find two rectangular pulpits against the piers of the crossing, each resting on
four beautiful columns of varicolored marble. Their sides are bronze panels in low relief by
Donatello, representing the Passion of Christ and other subjects, which are held
by
all
to
be
extraordinary works, both for their design and their workmanship. At the head of the one to the
right are the Apostles receiving the
highly praised
is
Divine radiance.
on her head,
is
Holy
Spirit;
its
all,
artistic
The
if
blinded by the
Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, done in a fitting and grand style. The very beautiful saint has another
figure by his side, whose back is aflame; it could not be bolder or more beautiful, and experts
have recognized
its
extreme greatness. In the center of the front side Donatello has represented
the Savior in Limbo, hberating the Holy Fathers. Their faces clearly reflect their longing for Divine
help; there
full of
is
woman who
advances towards
Christ rising
The
from
Him who
St.
John
has
come
to free her,
with a movement
where the draperies and the gestures are equally extraordinary. In the next
210
Critical Catalogue
panel
One
we
see the
Marys
who
of them,
at the
Tomb;
their bearing
show her
We
sad,
is
grief,
in their sorrow.
magnificently conceived.
is
to
them here
be kept, and
in this order.
likewise
is
Christ before the judge and are eagerly awaiting the verdict. Next
to this scene,
figures are
to
is
art that
they
figure, half
follows,
Here the
naked,
is
and fury
story.
much
as
in silence,
Very
fine
and these
a group
is
on the
human body,
down
looks
skillfully
ness
He
done extremely
cross
thieves.
whose
hair
is
down
streaming
over his eyes in delicate strands, presses his right hand to his face in a gestm^e of extreme anguish.
His drapery
is
of the Marys,
who
great insight.
who
sits
One
same
side
we
see the
Entombment
skill.
is
body
of Christ.
Many
is
One
figure,
one
The
cross.
Virgin,
hfelike
particularly admires
mourns with great emotion as she holds the body of her son,
choir
the
The expert
skill.
On
is
much
praised, as
is
exceptionally
sits
her knee, and with her hair disheveled. She expresses the great inner grief that has seized her.
Another
The
which implies
Semper (D. '87, p. 103) and Semrau (D., pp. 5f) assumed that the individual pieces were put together
for the first time in 1515, and even then only in a provisional
final installation
Paatz
for such
we
two terms
on opposite sides of
the church. ) But what of the document of 1515? Paatz,
loc.cit., has suggested that it probably concerns two
did not
interpretation
different, otherwise
unknown
pulpits, since
it
speaks
them
means
(op.cit.,
"for
as
take place until 1558 for the North Pulpit and 1565
for the
extreme disconsolation."
is
pulpits vary a
that
interior of S.
logical"
north-south terminology. Surely the liturgy as pracis not revised with reference to
211
whom
The Sculpture
but the difference in height
identical,
is
of Donatella
noticeable
to
we
take
it
particular
this
refers
occasion.
We may
as
pit,
may
It
was the
letter of
it
floor of the
base. In
any
case,
in pieces, since
it
it
from the
by Albertini
inasmuch
installation witnessed
installation
Doni
on the
for
Michelangelo's funeral
to
way
first
hastily,
them
sentations of
in this position
nave
a print
struction of
all,
still
how
all
either
the pieces
this observation,
in his
S.
Semrau, D.,
of the
two
sets
of columns;
Florentine architecture.
p.
7,
Kauffmann, D.,
p.
251, n. 599,
century
p. 574.
3
to their
to
i.e.,
were moved
Leo
some musty
storeroom for almost haff a century, and would fit
together properly? And how were they able to decide
in advance that one of the pulpits was to be used for
singers? This, too, indicates that they had seen the
pulpits assembled before and could visuafize their
size and appearance beforehand.
After the Papal visit of 1515, the problem of the
permanent installation of the pulpits appears to have
been overshadowed, for several decades, by all the
were
in
by Stefano
and
212
Critical Catalogue
Kauffmann
fully
cantoria
was
built in S.
The
Here Kauff-
mann
edge of the Agony and St. Lawrence panels coincides exactly with the start of the indentation on the
back of the marble platform, a clear indication that
the pulpits were meant to be attached to the pilasters
of the crossing piers from the very start. The space
it
now occupied by
free
sion cycle
open
left
fully
is
as singers' galleries.
of
weak argument
is
feels that
reflected in
pulpits.*
has
Donatello's Cantoria."
fuori le mura, S.
Maria
in Aracoeli)
It seems strange that Kauffmann should have followed Semrau in attaching so little significance to Al-
removed one
no possible connection; the Roman twin pulfrom ours not only in shape and in the character of the decoration (which is purely ornamental),
but the atnbo for the reading of the Gospels is always
larger and more elaborate, while the S. Lorenzo Pulpits show no such differentiation. Moreover, Semrau
adds, the true ambones are placed parallel to the axis
of the nave, whereas the Donatello pulpits were probthere
as true
is
and
Lorenzo
Pulpits with the sculptured pulpits of the Tuscan
Romanesque. These, however, are all individual pulpits, rather than ambones, and Semrau makes no attempt to explain why Donatello was asked to do two
then links the
S.
Luca
della
dral.
Such
for
singers
in Florence
Cathe-
ambones
(he
me
is
his
word
Middle Ages, backed by a continuous tradition, and this tradition did not exist,
ambones having gone out of style with the advent of
as survivals of the
him
to
it
never occurred
for
i.e.
S.
to
Albertini's
ambones,
He
of Semrau's
pits diflFer
bertini's
This
is
the Cathedral,
by older
466).
213
it
The Sculpture
also exactly
what
when he
Sem-
of Donatello
characterized the
Christ's
in
actions
after
his
death.
The dominant
Such knowledge was easily available, since Early Christian and mediaeval liturgical
writings contain abundant references to the reading
of the Gospels and Epistles, with precise instructions
method
Once we
to follow.
would
recall the
widely shared interest among Early Renaissance humanists in the editing and translating of patristic
Hterature,
it
tempts were
made
occasional at-
if
of the sarcophagus,
practices
architectural
seem
to
sort. If
embodiment
is
of
new
the
era,
would
be tested
was
inspired, not
by
S.
Lorenzo amhones
who had
When were
by
The
may
(Vespasiano da
well have
The Sources
until
first
represents
The
for Padua,
what might be
Agony
in
the
ing
had reached
the pulpits
who mentions
Bisticci,
same
and the bronze doors of the Old
breath, need not have meant to imply that they were
all commissioned at the same time.) C. J. Cavallucci
{Vita ed opere di Donatello, Milan, 1886, pp. 28fiF)
beheved the pulpits to have been conceived together
with the sculptural decoration of the Old Sacristy,
Although the large panels of the pulpits form a selfcycle, the choice and distribution of the
is
S.
sufficient
scenes
the
to translate the
to the
fore, that
214
is
Critical Catalogue
still
nonexistent.
The
first
Crucifixion,
few
205ff).
There
is
(cf.
Tomb
at the
clumsiness.
of the reasons
is
why he broke
left
determine
and discursive
analysis
fifty years.
the
his elaborate
work
Semrau begins
by every
did not receive the order for the pulpits until his
sion
in
London
To
relation to Donatello's
out to
show
traces of
gilt.
On
ters
all
the pilas-
Lamentation and of the Entombment are cast individually. The latter panels, Semrau infers, must have
been cast before the architectural framework of the
North Pulpit as a whole was definitely fixed; and
Donatello himself cannot be held responsible for this
framework, which is far too strict for him (p. 54).
Moreover, the elaborate ornament on the cornice is
and credited him with the friezes and with the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence. Reymond (Sc. FL, u, pp.
145ff) agreed with the view of Tschudi and Semper,
although Donatello's own modehng, he felt, could be
seen better in the North Pulpit. Cruttwell (D., p. 124),
too, saw Bertoldo's share largely confined to the South
Pulpit. Bode (Denkmdler, loc.cit.), in contrast, em-
Thus the
the frieze.'
the
This
is
the middle
'
St.
addition to the North Pulpit by an artisan thoroughly conversant with Mantegnesque ornament.
same motif,
ing in
The
its
am
inclined
to
believe
that
the
entire
215
frieze
not
was
neces-
The Sculpture
of Donatello
is
in his other
works, gives evidence of the inventive power
that would be necessary to sustain Semrau's claims.
Nor, it seems to me, can one pulpit be clearly ranked
intentions;
A number
it
as best
of the
scenes for
North Pulpit
i.e.
it,
tural
of the
Agony
in the
He
details
Marys
at the
Semrau point
While acknowledging the participation of
Bellano, as well as of Bertoldo and perhaps others,
they have tended to see the underlying conception of
Donatello in both pulpits as a whole, and in every
even probably, Bertoldo
as
further
who added
classical
details.
various
say.
latter
imitate
their
classical
model.
earlier analysis of
such a study.
for
pp. 108, no. 4; 118, no. 1; and 123, no. 2; all of them in the
Camposanto, Pisa). If these subjects were regarded as having
a sort of generic funerary flavor during the later Quattrocento
( as suggested by their recurrence on the Sassetti Tomb
they
)
might have been chosen as appropriate both to the sarcophagushke shape of our pulpits and to the theme of the death and
,
The
resurrection of Christ.
More probably,
first arose in Northeastern Italy with PiJacopo Bellini and Mantegna but did not become
widespread in Florence until about 1470. In the oeuvre of
Donatello the only details at all comparable to the pulpit friezes
are the nude, winged genii decorating the "classical" furniture
of the Evangelist tondi in the Old Sacristy, but these, like
the Judith base, have all the dynamic, imaginative qualities
sanello,
now
adoration of a putto
putto scenes to the right of the centaurs
on pedestal and raising of a herm are equally close to their
model, a sarcophagus of the t\-pe represented by a specimen in
the Princeton University Art Museum (published by Ludwig
Curtius, Jahreshefte des Oesterreichischen Archdologischen Instituts, XXXVI, 1946, pp. 76f); and the same, one suspects, holds
putti sailing on a raft and
true of the two scenes on the left
although their classical prototype
reclining under a palm tree
remains to be discovered. Cf. the ancient material for all the
full
in relation to the
putto
The
will in
Uterally
Garden, or the
in the
The
Agony
point.
and centaurs
trees in the
Instituts
Geschichtsforschung, in, pp. 417ff). Semrau also discovered that one of the scenes, the adoration of the
putto on a pedestal, is repeated twice on the frieze below the
sarcophagus on the tomb of Francesco Sassetti (cf. Aby Warburg, Gesammelte Schriften, Leipzig-Berlin, 1932, i, pp. 152fF),
in the midst of all sorts of other pagan subjects that seem to
bear no relation to the Christian decoration above. That, it
seems to me, is the spirit of the pulpit friezes as well. To
charge these putto scenes with a profound Eucharistic svTnbolism (Kauffmann, D., p. 185) is no more justified than in
the case of the Judith base. Still, the latter does have a meaning
fiir
the Christ
and the
based on a Donatello design.^ Donatello scholars, handicapped by inadequate photographs ( the pulpits are too high above the floor and too poorly ht for
more
(e.g.
South
Tomb
sarily, or
of extraordinary clumsiness
by
unexampled boldness
he
work
the
of the South
Pulpit in the relation of the figures to their architec-
Bertaux,
known
Bertoldo.
lii;
Schubring, KdK, p.
on the pulpit
dstreichische
mas-
cost,
2l6
in the
Garden.
Critical Catalogue
How
we
are
turned over
to visualize the
or
left
Garden
to his assistants?
up
and
He
rehefs.
Padua High Altar to his patrons, but their funcwas not a creative one; they served merely to fix
as the
tion
make
wax
and possibly
all,
field,
draw
sion
inherited
see
is
the balus-
all
involves.
Merely to
scenes
is
hardly
suflBcient;
Only then
its
shall
this, in turn,
may
its
we be
of the balustrade
and
what
his
execution. KauflFmann
reliefs
in-
we
reliefs.
instead of
assistants
of the epidermis
it
how much
to Donatello
trade
assistants
over,
and to what extent it has been modified by lesser hands through modeling or chasing, is a
fascinating but practically limitless task which cannot
be attempted here.
One reason why Donatello scholars have refused to
concede Semrau's claim that some panels were independently invented by Bertoldo and Bellano, is the
it
given instance
due
then
think, the
single
statues
it
is
Renaissance
art,
"filling in," of
tions
tended for the foundry, in varying stages of completion. Bertoldo, Bellano, et ah, thus faced the task of
elaborating and articulating those porwhich Donatello had only roughed out or, in
some instances, left entirely blank. There was no panel,
I believe, that did not need some further work of this
sort,
other
The
And how
and the
least fully
St.
Peter in the
Agony
come
by
a group of
entirely unprecedented,
in the
Miegeville of
at S. Isidro
in
diflFerent
244ff.
.
grill
did Donatello
angels?
Lawrence
of St.
by Bocchi)? The iconographic sources cited by KauflFmann (D., p. 256, n. 649) show nothing of the sort.
amounted
Martyrdom
217
The Sculpture
detail
is
of Donatello
The meaning
as
PI.
105a
tional
new
"iconography in a
the rules
of this figure,
we
are
wont
to
The S. Lorenzo Pulpits still present a vast number of unsolved problems of a similar sort arising
art.
One
of his
most
striking dis-
unforgettable figure
includes an old
endarial cycles of
(notably the
hand and
ing.
of the
To
8.
' !
w ^v-V*
''I
among
man
in profile
long-range goal of
vj
not to be found
is
Rome, and
art.
man
del
cup or bowl
Janus-headed
filled
formal source
earlier Resurrections,^^
Some of them
Duomo, Ferrara,
Pieve in Arezzo) show January
Romanesque
the Museo
reliefs in
all
il
iw
".
I:
'
-M>.^:
of St.
2l8
Christi,
Berlin-
REJECTED ATTRIBUTIONS
TWO PROPHETS
PORTA DELLA MANDORLA, FLORENCE CATHEDRAL
PLATE
121
cm
Marble; H. 128
(left)
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
Semper (D. 75, pp. 53f ) acclaimed these two figures
as documented works of Donatello, on the basis of two
entries in the records of the Cathedral workshop which
he published in slightly incomplete form (p. 273).
Poggi (Duomo, pp. 66f) gave a fuller transcription
but accepted Semper's thesis, as did almost
Belle Arti,
(in
1951, p^
statue as a
in part
for the
aforementioned
work.
1408, February (Poggi, doc. 366 as
ment
The
V/i braccia
tall,
has received 10
maining sum of 6
and
is
marble figure,
Mandorla; he
attribute of the
Man-
dorla.
schrift
f.
object to the
tello,
was the
on documentary as well
strict
15
away
(Zeitfirst
left-hand
Certain features
left
the
laurel
to
in
order to
make room
to
Dona-
to
as stylistic grounds.
the
left leg,
meant
reject
ished
lists
scroll.
florins.
to
amended by Vac-
come
payment
work
independently,
quite
statue to Donatello;
1406,
more conservative
The
102).
none
attributed the
quent authors until recent years, including Kauffmann (D., pp. 3f, 196, n. 16) and Paatz (Kirchen, m,
pp. 367, 488f, n. 225). A few small but important mistakes in Poggi's reading have since been corrected by
Paolo Vaccarino (Nanni, Florence, 1950, pp. 21f) and
Giulia Brunetti
none
subse-
all
(1405-1410; 1417-1418)
He
proved only that the master had been paid for one
129)
came
Ciuffagni as
owe
to the
left.
Planiscig
(Rivista
Giulia
Brunetti.
2 Dr.
Giulia Brunetti, who was able recently to inspect
the figure at close range, has been kind enough to inform me
that the
in itself,
219
The Sculpture
much
too
tall to fit
the
document
of 1408.
And
of Donatella
carino
since
probability,
had made,
or
Donatello.
upheld them
eries
only Valentiner
left to
to
most authors
was making,
seem
[La
analogues
among
was discarded,
its
since
work, the
Guido
carries little
St.
Matthew
known
Nor can
it
braccia
of the
closest
proposed
its
Door
payment for
which
the
individuality
nounced
in the
of
Donatello,
already
very pro-
I,
by
in
it.
contrast,
appears not
bertesque. That
the
as four years
in
much
below,
p.
ago (D.,
prophet
p. 58).
reflects
some
3 Wilhelm
Voge, while still accepting the authorship of
Donatello, has recently observed the kinship of our statue with
we
Festschrift
220
and
Rejected Attributions
work on the upper part
was farther advanced. In 1409 (Poggi,
doc. 371 ) they requested the transfer of a marble
Annunciation group from the Altar of the Trinity to
the Porta, and five years later (Poggi, doc. 372) they
again asked for the transfer of such a group from "the
newly established altar near the entrance to the Cathedral," adding that it had been made for the Porta.
About this Annunciation we have no further knowledge; there certainly is no reason, documentary or
we need
specific
of the Porta
"^
Nanni probably carried it out as part of his total assignment on the Porta, in which case there would have
been no need to mention the prophet separately. ( The
numerous payments to him between 1415 and 1420
Poggi, docs. 376-385 refer, for the most part, simply
to "marble figures," a term that might mean both
statues and reliefs.)
But how did Nanni's youthful prophet come to be
paired with a converted Annunciation angel? A combination as odd as this can be explained only as the
result of special circumstances about which the documented history of the Porta della Mandorla tells us
little indeed. Still, it does contain a few clues
enough
for us to venture a hypothesis, however tentative. Let
us start with the marble prophets that Donatello had
been commissioned to do about 1406 and of which he
finished only one, so far as we know. The documents
fail to mention where on the Porta these figures were
to be placed, but it seems plausible enough to assume
that they were destined for the positions now occupied
by the angel-prophet and the boy-prophet; the statue
for which Donatello was paid in 1408 measured V/i
it
having
in
above, p. 4).
still exists,
it
Its
further history
unknown
if
its
may
Thus there
is
for quite
installation in 1414.
Nor
is it difficult
it
after
to think of a
two standing
is
while when
it.
it
some way.
Annunciation
transferred
for the
the
it
to
belonged
be dwarfed by a
* It may be relevant to note, in this context, that the Assumption rehef itself contains additional proof of Nanni's interest in the marble David; the musician angel on the left
wears a wreath clearly derived from the "amaranthine crown"
of Donatello's statue, which we have analyzed above, pp. 6f.
^ In any event, it cannot be the prophet statue in the Musee
Jacquemart-Andre, which according to Valentiner ( La Critica
d'arte, loc.cit. ) is 85 cm tall and thus must have been car\'ed
from a block of 1/2 braccia ( i= 87.6 cm); in order to match the
size of Donatello's prophet, it would have to be at least 16 cm
the lunette.
from the lunette may be identical with the two statues Nos. 95
and 96 in that museum. Planiscig, Nanni di Banco, Florence,
1946, pp. 17ff, and Brunetti, in Belle Arti, 1951, pp. 3, llf,
assume this as certain, the former claiming the statues for
Nanni, the latter for Jacopo della Quercia. The problem of the
authorship of these beautiful and puzzling figures need not
detain us here, but it is worth emphasizing that their connection
with the lunette of the Porta della Mandorla remains purely
hypothetical, unsupported by positive evidence of any kind.
All we can safely say is that their measurements (given in
Brunetti, loc.cit., as 132 cm for the Angel, 140 cm for the
Virgin) do not preclude such a possibility.
smaller.
" Giovanni Poggi, Catalogo del museo dell'opera del Duomo,
Florence, 1904, pp. 42f, suggests that the Annunciation group
221
The Sculpture
It
would seem,
of Donatella
had he
work around
why
did he
said
fail to
left?
for 'TDrightening
up the
lily
of
Brunetti, loc.cit.
but
it
also
tympanum was
ensemble were
later, in
September
to
installation of the
year
these circumstances
The
cf.
were anxious
Our Lady
out.
was made
it
install in its
lived to carry
1423 (Poggi, doc. 395), the commission was withdrawn from CiuflFagni, and the operai decided to
favor of this
hypothesis:
ordinarily,
the
notion
of
angel
I suspect.
While the
St.
made
a better
match
it
than a conventional
for
PETER
OR SAN MICHELE, FLORENCE
ST.
PLATE
122b
Marble; H. 237
cm
W.
DOCUMENTS
none
(1415-1425)
SOURCES
Identical with those for Donatello's St. Mark; see above, pp. 16f.
unanimous testimony
Mark,
was believed to furnish unassailable proof of Donatello's authorship. Semper ( D. 75, pp. 85flF; D. '87, pp.
15f), Schmarsow (D., p. 12), Reymond (So. Fl, n,
p. 89), Balcarres (D., p. 36), and Venturi (Storia, vi,
Until
some
for
St.
Mark
Nanni
St.
Peter
di
ler
Banco, noting that its style seems incompatible with that of the St. Mark. This attribution was
accepted by Bode ( Denkmdler der Renaissance-Skulptur Toscanas, Munich, 1892-1905, pp. 14f ), Schottmul-
of 1411-
and Planiscig
222
Nanni
Rejected Attributions
were content to call it a thing of utter mediocrity, unworthy of any master of consequence. The latter author also dismissed Lanyi's claim, advanced without
theirs in size
in Florence,
p.
dilemma unique
it
was
firmly established
among
in
the canonical
works of the master before the end of the Quattrocento; such evidence, though far from absolute, cannot be lightly brushed aside. Yet the shortcomings of
the figure are so obvious, especially in comparison
with the St. Mark, that even the most wholehearted
defenders of the attribution to Donatello have been
embarrassed by them to some extent. The stance is
weak and unstable; the drapery, despite its "clinging"
effect, seems overelaborate, indecisive, and far from
organic; the entire work fails to convey the inner
strength, the commanding presence so strongly felt in
the St. John the Evangelist and the St. Mark. This very
lack of a clear-cut individual character removes our
statue equally far from Donatello and from Nanni,
even though in detail it is often reminiscent of both
masters. Planiscig (loc.cit.) found it so devoid of any
personal style that he thought several artists of unequal merit must have worked on it in succession.
Does the St. Peter really deserve such utter condemnation? I believe not. As a work of art, it is far from
negligible, whatever its faults; and the level of execution seems consistent enough to rule out the possibility of more than one artist being involved here. Its
author, then, must be a sculptor of the second rank,
who worked
ways eager
in the
to
shadow
in talent
who
pp. xxxvi
ff ;
now
in the
) ;
i.e.,
raise
resolved
(compare the
and church fathers on the North Doors);
the head type and the pose of the left hand resting
on the book are derived from the St. Mark of Niccolo
Lamberti, while the right hand is copied almost exactly from that of Donatello's St. John. The face and
hands display a surprising amount of realistic detail
knuckles and cheekbones are emphasized, veins
stand out clearly, and the eyes, otherwise still of conventional shape, have crow's-feet at the corners. Yet
these features remain curiously isolated, so that they
give the appearance of having been grafted onto the
smooth and tightly stretched skin. In the face, Ciuffagni has attempted to match the new severity of ex-
evangelists
pression of Donatello's
marred by a
St.
we now
recognize
it
St.
Peter,
we
Mat-
realistic
to
Bernardo Ciufinferior to
Duomo,
Museo dell'
Opera del Duomo it ends with the King David which
he delivered in 1434 (cf. Poggi, op.cit., p. liv; on the
Poggi,
much
seem to favor
There are, I
all
St. Peter.
tion
tion
name
own, and yet incapable of fully comprehending their aims. At the same time, our artist
was certainly much more than a routine craftsman; his
St. Peter may be a failure, but it is an ambitious failure
that demands to be judged by the standards of a Donatello or Nanni di Banco rather than of the International
Style (of which it shows hardly a trace). These considerations eliminate the older men, such as Niccolo
di Pietro Lamberti and Lorenzo di Giovanni d'Ambrogio, who could never have shed the Gothic tradi-
the
(cf.
direction of his
do so
down
to
519, n. 83).
work-
Dona-
tello
St.
The
and importance
them
much
telltale details,
such
and
223
The Sculpture
of Donatella
Matthew,
Duomo,
strict
after the
Matthew.
St.
Nanni
of
di Banco's
it is
efiFort
226).
understood.
with an excess of
realistic detail
of every shape
The
St.
Matthew
it
out.
to the
But
later.
resumed
In 1420 he
his
work
we
consider
head
still
ways,
it
how
Matthew
The
Libro). Here
was a minor
The
St.
George
to
be attributed
to
made
its
appearance
we must keep
figure, likely to
in
mind
in
it is Billi's
that Ciuffagni
it was too different in type from the other two statues, and
the interior of the niche had no decoration of any kind. For
a fuller discussion of the "growth pattern" of BrunelleschiDonatello legends, see above, pp. lOf, 138ff.
than Brunelleschi.
2
come
St.
Mario Salmi,
ed., Milan,
Peter
St.
first
did the
leschi-Donatello partnership
many
to the years
2d
in
how
St.
marble paneling.^
for the
to the St.
Donatello in the
is still
in
"illusionistic"
By
extended
221, 223-
reflects the
docs.
between the
428.
St.
St.
its
as
mentioned
delayed
midway
Did the
they are
Peter at the
Its
St.
for the
constantly
betray an
1411-1412.
Quattro
c.
left,
its
we may assume
was not
It is
"Roman" drapery
true,
with the
it is
same hypothesis
224
Rejected Attributions
the last twenty years of his
know nothing
life
he died
we
in 1456
either as nameless or
What we know
Thus there
of the true author of the St. Peter did not survive for
members
the
The
been
as strong
cumstances ) as
altogether,
all,
among
long
to a case of
pre-
tirely
refers to
of CiuflPagni's career
appear
(and as understandable, given the cirit was in the case of Ciuffagni's statues
1415-1416; 1420-1421
122c, 124a
DOCUMENTS
A number
of entries
among
Duomo, from
by the operai
Poggi,
Duomo,
of the
pp.
37flF,
is
Joshua for the opera, to be placed on the Campanile, but the master-in-charge of the workshop
must
first
December 23
which he
1416,
March
is
22S )
to
do
this
purpose.
for the
The master-in-charge
payment
so certifies.
marble
Campanile.
payment
for the
Joshua he
is
Campanile.
March 6 {225): Ciuffagni has left Florence and has not been working on the marble statue for
which the opera had advanced him certain sums [the amount is illegible]; the operai decide, there-
1417,
1418, April 29
226 )
who
to Donatello,
1420, April 30
not
The marble
241
finish, is still
finish
May
to finish
by Ciuffagni
is
to
it.
Ciuffagni, having received an advance of 42 florins for the marble statue he did
is
to
be turned over
to
Nanni
who
shall
it,
14
is
242 )
The value
of the
at 222/3 florins.
is
advanced 20
he
is
working on
for the
Campanile.
Nanni has completed the unfinished statue that had been turned over to him. The
florins, and Nanni is to receive 52 florins 1 lira
the amount still due him for his share of the work.
7 soldi
as
About five years ago Ciuffagni had been commissioned to do the marble statue
which he left unfinished when he departed from Florence, even though he
had been advanced 42 florins on it. About one year ago, this figure had been turned over to Donatello and Nanni. The operai now acknowledge that too low a value has been placed on Ciuffagni's
October 31
250 )
of a certain prophet,
225
The Sculpture
of Donatella
share of the work, and that his indebtedness to them, which stands at 42 florins less
excessive.
florins,
22%
florins,
florins,
SOURCES
1510 Albertini,
"On
p. 9:
p. 75:
p.
S.
is
...
at the
comer the
"On
the fa9ade of S. Maria del Fiore [Donatello did] ... a bald old
.
49 (Milanesi, pp. 400f): "On the fagade of S. Maria del Fiore Donatello in his
comer towards the Via del Cocomero, an old man between two columns. It
at the
one.
The
figure
first
man by
bay
its
after
identification
first
Notizie istoriche,
it
was intended
vi,
easy to decide;
if
the fa9ade.
How
to
be regarded
surely post-Vasarian,
is
may assume
that
it
first
author to mention
was ben
it.
We
name
verify
on
stylistic
his predecessors,
(loc.cit.),
who equated
Joshua of 1412. This notion won the support of Venturi (Storia, vi, p. 243) and, more recently, of Colasanti (D., pp. 15f), even though after the publica-
the
ill-founded identification
and
by Vasari and
to
ascribed to Donatello
as
his,
."
is
man
."
at the corner.
approaches the style of the ancients more closely than does any other work of
The present
statue of an
."
sitter
The
Opera
large
del
pen drawing of the fagade in the Museo dell'a statue at that comer which may very
Duomo shows
226
is
rest,
Rejected Attributions
he saw the hand of Nanni di Bartolo. On the basis of
these clues, he identified the "Poggio" with a prophet
done by Nanni for the fa9ade of the Cathedral in
1419-1420, since the records explicitly state that Nanni
was permitted to carve the head separately and to
utilize the services of
with
time.
eminently persuasive;
fails
whose
be seen
hands of the
Lanyi at
much
reached
this
that
was Donatello,
but
statue.
much
By
way
different
the operai,
nonetheless
of the drapery
as KaufiFmann,
pp.
with
Ciuffagni's
is
since
Joshua,
labeled as a
St.
the
dis-
been carved
figure.
its
but by
when they
we
had
and that Nanni was to
the sum still due him for his
at
95
florins,
know
at 22^/3 florins in
amount paid
May
we
1420,
to artists other
than
April 1421
we
need not worry unduly about the fact that the document of October 31, 1421, refers to our figure as having
been turned over to Donatello and Nanni about a year
ago. This is plainly inaccurate
Donatello had been
given the assignment three and a half years before the
date of the entry, Nanni one and a half years but
since these events are only mentioned in passing, as
part of the background for the financial settlement
with Ciuffagni, which is the real subject of the entry,
there was no necessity for the scribe to dig into the records and verify the details of his summary statement of
the manner in which the statue was finished. Thus, if
other
we
insist
we
in the
tween
May
done about one third of the work and the "St. John"
shows no trace of his style, while the "Poggio" certainly does. Unlike Kauffmann, Lanyi never specified
which parts of the statue he regarded as by Donatello
(his canon of the master's works, in Probl, p. 23,
lists our figure as "in part by Donatello"; Planiscig,
Had
lesser of the
possibility.
The
of the statue
or
is
not a loss to
3 A
third alternative, advocated by Nicholson, op.cit., pp.
80n and 96, hardly deser\es serious consideration; Nicholson
2 According to Schmarsow
(D., p. 19) this Joshua is the
bearded prophet in the northernmost niche on the east side
of the Campanile, a clearly erroneous opinion still repeated by
Kauffmann (D., pp. 2.3ff) and Alfred Nicholson (Art in Amer-
ica,
artists
receive 52 Vs florins as
128f,
scroll.
as Ciuffagni's
not by the
after
been appraised
tionable;
made
The accounting
suspicion; here
Here, however, his reasoning is queshe takes for granted that the "St. John" was
conceived as a St. John simply because it is inscribed
as such, without considering the doubts expressed by
Balcarres (D., p. 19) and Schubring (KdK, p. 194).
My own belief is that the figure was not meant to be
a St. John at the time it was carved, and that the words
on the scroll are a later addition (see below, p. 229).
Even so, Lanyi's proposal seems to me preferable to
Kauffmann's.^ After all, Ciuffagni, according to the
documents, had a sizeable share in carving the Joshua
the accounting of 1421 indicates that he must have
on
who
and
it
although he
(Statue,
at all
true, the
hypothesis seems
figure in question
in the interval.
a strange coincidence,
conclusion
two years
that
it is
relations at that
is
had no share
Duomo,
the same
a
in
likelihood Donatello
all
228). This
only shortcoming
unpleasant
peculiarly
in
that in
to
in the
its
for
227
The Sculpture
be mourned,
seems
it
of Donatella
to
is
amply
am
by
attested
his signature
demand
pointing
upon
is
disap-
was
1420
first
it oflEers
may have
felt
ics of expression.
model,
realistic detail
exactly
PLATES
JOHN THE
122a, 124b,
BAPTIST,"
Marble; H. 207
cm
it
as
have
Ahdia he reverted
"St.
it
is
the reason
he
left
It
has
him what by
his standards
most ambitious
his
artistic eflForts.
(including plinth);
on the
Inscriptions:
He may
'ST.
why
an ambitious and
of
having taken
who
at his
its
1416-
in
Campanile
before he emerged as an
overloaded with
correct in assimi-
it,
If I
on the Ahdia.
scroll,
W.
ecce agnvs
1419-1420
65 cm; D. of plinth 44 cm
on the plinth, donatello
of plinth
dei;
DOCUMENTS
A number
of entries
among
though he
is
Nanni
is
to
be commissioned
to
do a marble
statue,
even
away; he must guarantee to indemnify the opera for the marble in case he should not
should
fail to
do acceptable work.
August 2
to
235 )
him one
for
Nanni is given permission to use two pieces of marble in carving the statue allocated
the head and neck, the other for the rest of the figure.
is
given an advance of 20
of the opera.
marble figure he
is
carving for
the fagade.
1420, January 9
239 )
Nanni receives 15
florins in part
payment
for the
The very
at 78/3 florins,
and he
is
beautiful four statues on the side of the Campanile facing the church
are to change places with those on the side facing the Baptistery,
228
in comparison.
Rejected Attributions
SOURCES
Identical with those for the
Until
its
Campanile
in the
Museo
dell'
finished in
cited at the
was one
of the four figures that were transferred there from the
north side of the Campanile in 1464. Since its original
destination was the fa9ade of the Cathedral, we can-
"St.
it
it
it
for
was
uni-
work
with the
St.
p. 38),
because of
its
strong kinship
panile figure,
"St.
made an
and
of uncertain date.
He
suggests, for
in a narrative context
comparison of
fur tunic,
Young
St.
on the Baptistery
doors of Andrea Pisano; see the thorough iconographic
study of the subject by Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Art
Bulletin, xxxvn, 1955, pp. 85ff). Thus, if we accept
the Campanile figure as a bona fide St. John, we
should have to assume that the type was coined before
1420 surely neither Nanni di Bartolo nor Ciuffagni
was capable of inventing it but did not become popular until more than thirty years later; and that the
earliest known example omits the one telltale feature
that would have enabled the beholder to recognize it
from a distance as a St. John (the words on the scroll
could not be read from the street level any more than
the signature of Nanni di Bartolo on the scroll of the
Obadiah, which was noticed only in modem times;
cf, the sources cited above, pp. 35f). But if our statue
was not meant to be a Baptist, how are we to account
for the inscription? There can be no doubt that the
John
p. 38). Only Poggi (Duomo, pp. lixf), followed by Colasanti (D., pp. 17f ), equated it with the
Campanile prophet for which Donatello received payments in 1423-1426 (see above, p. 39). It was Lanyi
has, I befieve,
above,
first
He
stylistic
who
must be the
of Donatello.
of the
latter
doc. 307).
The
the
this entry )
made
ap-
its
is
head of
also
lettering
(e.g.,
is
some
of
them
the
its
characters
N, V, and
consists of
Roman
features
to
229
is
The Sculpture
of Donatella
The
him
ing touch to
when
it.
Could
it
moved
in 1464,
to think
statues.
Mid-
deldorf (AB, p. 585) has suggested that the "Donatello" label on the base of our figure dates from the
somewhat
words on the
on the
The
scroll, as
believe,
is
true
been added
all
Donatello.
The author
of the
XIV uomini
were by
concede them a
cer-
was
alive
still
since he speaks of
tells
us
when
all
to
singhularf,
do we not have
four
Campanile were
credited to Donatello, the master-in-charge may have
been rather surprised to discover that the Obadiah
was signed iohannes rossvs. Since two figures carried
transfer
it
Maybe
it?
that
would ensue
if
moment,
all
ques-
is
John."
From
we
gather
whom
is
about 10
cm
less
than that of
who
had something
me
Dario Covi,
is
not
230
to
Rejected Attributions
start as a
And
"St.
John"
is
17
it
for the
Campanile but
that
for the
Ap-
of the legs,
why Nanni
plains
later, to utilize
was
he,
The
this question,
but those
who
Who
gard
it
may
seem,
re-
as unlikely:
three weeks of
artistically
wanted
tion to
evidence of style
if
This
is
all
is
in
many ways
plausible
is
this
Even the
plinths
the
difficulty. As a work
Nanni di Bartolo, it is a valuable addition to our
knowledge of that artist's development, while in the
context of Donatello's ceuvre it is no more than a piece
of unnecessary ballast which we can well afford to
of Lanyi's
One
whether he chose
is
have the same shape; they are the only ones among
all the Campanile statues to show profiled edges (the
plinth of the "St. John" has been cut down on the
to that point
as this alternative
work up
into
Appeahng
a retrogressive pastiche
tello.
is
Yet,
figures in Donatello's
for
braccia).
3)4
36fiF
St.
weakened
and were
as against
of motifs taken
of
closer to
discard.
231
cf.
Lanyi, Statue,
The Sculpture
of Donatello
123a
Bronze
relief;
W.
L. 286 cm;
124
cm
(c.
DOCUMENTS
1431 or later
1435-1440?)
nonc
SOURCES
1568 Vasari-Milanesi,
the
tomb
of
p. 419: "It
found himself
Rome
in
just
for
IV; he
for
identity of the
Simone
No
remains obscure.
".
in
tomb
of
having
Pope Martin."
of
Milanesi's theory,
Simone
di
Nanni Ferrucci,
is
known
hear of a
sister),
nor do
assistants of Filarete
or other sources
we
find a
(six of
(we only
to us
whom
seem
to
fit
none
of the
uncommon name
to
decorations for
p.
Agnes'
St.
Day
about the
life
Venturi (Storia,
vi, p.
lived in
Rome from
and died
in
1427 until
Florence in 1491.
second edition,
known work
tomb
of Martin
brother
bronze
are omitted,
as the
of "Donatello's
activities
first
Roman
Simone." In the
to
who
of
pp. 38flF).
Vasari himself seems to have felt rather uncertain
as the
was made
have been
attribute to
to
by Vasari
securely attached,
his
(see Milanesi-Vasari,
and wanted
name can be
his
after a design
that
are
which
of
232
Rejected Attributions
as Filarete's associate on the doors of St.
and he resolved this doubt in his own characteristic fashion, by stressing that Simone did the
tomb of Martin V after his work on the doors (even
though he thereby contradicted his own chronology,
since in the Donatello Vita of 1568 he had linked
edition
Peter's,
the
mund
in 1433,
of
Emperor
Sigis-
after
disciples
summoning Donatello
of the
of
tomb,
may be
to
just
Rome
to inspect the
model
"Simone
of the
tomb" was
who
Donatello and
actually
of the
"Simone
into the
making
ing to a
Roman
a certain Simone.
It
may be
that this
name
tomb was
perpetuates
friendship of the
phasis must,
ministers of
enced
in
Eugene IV
to
whom
left
the
doors
first
how
Filarete grieved
upon
by
was
of
memory
tomb
of Martin
V made by
his disciple
Simone Ghini;
so inadequately
must
233
The Sculpture
of Donatella
He
was
still
indeed be
the
rejected
it
a result, the
at
by Donatello" but
manesque"
it
is
looks
toria,
me,
vails not
is
the
strangely
but in the
is
said of the
almost identical
S.
is
eflBgy rests in a
the
referred to here
monument
1430's,
cm below
is
on the basis of
Roman
The "partner"
an
as
is
42a).
The
here, then,
What we have
it
main
Croce Tabernacle and the Cantoria, the ornadeeply embedded in the architectural members; in the tomb of Martin V, it remains on the surface, ready to be scraped off, as it were. Highly characteristic is the design of the capitals at either end
of the narrow pilasterlike panels that flank the eflBgy
a mask above an inverted Ionic volute, on a flat square
field. This curious combination appears to be a faint
echo of the pilasters of the S. Croce Tabernacle (with
capitals made of twin masks and bases consisting of
linked double volutes and claw feet) or of the masks
the
ment
fore-
eflBgy,
all
were a strongly
like
Pecci
than, as
lifeless
if it
dry,
body
in its design,
it
the
inconsistency:
Kauffmann
by
above it. The plaque with the two angels holding the
papal coat of arms produces a similar conflict its
sides converge towards the same spot as the orthogo-
(D., pp.
91f, 227, n. 301) regards the slab as "perhaps not entirely
vitiated
tell
is
receding orthogonals
of our slab
effect
fetch from
234
p. 110.
it
this
to
the
more
Rejected Attributions
is no reason whatever
assume that the tomb was ready to be cast within
two years after the Pope's death.^ Nor do we have a
He
to
we know
was composed by
that
sonalities.
would seem
entirely
normal.
Tomb
of Martin
"Master of the
have
who
to
be found among
that the
will
Further persistence
not his
among
may
this
group, whether or
name be Simone.*
value.
The
inscription
added
to the
tomb
in
1853
to
commemorate
of Martin
"Simonis
Florentini arte caelatum, mccccxxxiii"; this information is
obviously derived from Vasari and therefore has no evidential
transfer
its
the present
to
setting,
refers
to
it
as
PLATE
123b, c
Limestone
reliefs
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES:
According
W.
31 and 30
cm
none
none
two
Fondazione
for the
Romano
Justina.
as
steps
to
(cf.
the
Catalogue
of
the
There
pp.
5ff).
after in Burl.
Mag.
their height
cm
taller
by two
ments
in question
must be part
of this set.
all,
it
seems most
been
be explained
above, pp.
well. Since
slab
by assuming
169fif).
given to
(cf.
iv,
appeared soon
ment
are,
lost
(About 1450)
The un-
identified saint,
235
The Sculpture
among
represented
why
of Donatella
is
The
much more
are
likely to
is
two
own hand
master's
Church, or the four cardinal virtues. All these arguments practically exclude the possibiHty that our two
fragments ever formed part of the high altar. The
alternative proposed by Kauffmann (D., p. 233, n.
378) seems far more plausible at first glance, since it
fits the scale of the pieces: are they not the remains of
Donatello's work on the choir screen of the Santo?
But the screen, as we know both from the documents
and from surviving pieces, was made of white and
red Veronese marble, rather than of pietra di Nanto,
faced
BUST OF
PLATE
LEONARD (OR
ST.
ST.
Paduan
Sc. Fl,
II,
cf
Tschudi, D.,
p. 115).^
p. 22;
memorie
di S. Lorenzo,
ii,
none
its
d.
rv,
St.
Leonard
in
had dated
loc.cit.,
Old
The
new approach).
Florence, 1817,
correct
David
is
that
who
Judith group.
236
The date
made him
p. 567, n.
2
the bust must have been modwas not until then that the Neroni
neighbors were built (Walter Paatz,
it
none
p.
reni
1460)
delle
Chapel and
Reymond,
in the
LORENZO, FLORENCE
S.
(c.
Mitteilungen
program
ap-
W. 52 cm
in
who
The
of Donatello's
study.
SOURCES
wake
out by a sculptor
altar.
DOCUMENTS
is
activities, carried
Terracotta; H. 50 cm;
125a, b
The grim-
St.
may
too,
Donadue partly to
their
style of the
tellesque,
surely
(Guidaldi's
tomb
part of a
Padua.
in
And why
Rejected Attributions
mediately evoke the art of Desiderio da Settignano.
common
in
with the
work
late
of Donatello.
nino Martelli
somewhat
example
earlier
reveals
the differ-
Pis.
company
the
On
E.g.,
many
all
we can
ers,
only assign
it
to Desiderio's
own
hand.
the other hand, they imthose by the artist's own hand from the ones that are merely
"Desideriesque" need not detain us here.
relatives
A com-
cite a
is
difficult
124g, 125c, d
W. 44 cm
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The earliest reference to the bust uncovered so far
(by Frida Schottmiiller, Monatshefte f. Kw., n, 1909,
(c.
1460-1480)
none
none
1881 (Milanesi, Cat.,
p. 26), after
(Wilhelm
Bode had
tried to
secure
it
1930,
pp. 130f).
bust is disfigured
is
The
the
citizen."
mann
mentioned by
Carlieri,
show the
Kauffmann,
loc.cit.,
inscrip-
found the
text
tori/
recorded in
He
added
new
infers
details.
condi-
Capponi (1643-1714)
when the bust was moved to
that Ferrante
this inscription
suo."
et spectato viro/
How-
"Magno
which
by
v.
was published by Robert Corwegh (Der Kunstwanderer, 1928, p. 67) as the original portrait head, modeled from life; Joseph Pohl (Die Verwendung des
An
An
grini after
tion
tury
tello,
I,
for Berlin
It is,
however, far
less
heavily
details,
refers to
eyelids,
up more
distinctly.
tine
bust
is
recent scholar
of Niccolo
such as the
237
The Sculpture
of Donatella
mistaken
change in angle, though small, is of considerable importance aesthetically, as evidenced by the contrasting
distinctly different
photos on
direction.
pute ever since Tschudi (D., pp. 22f ) raised the issue
by pointing out that Niccolo da Uzzano died in 1432,
while the bust seemed to be of a later date (he placed
it
He
Magi
our bust
St.
Fabriczy (L'Arte,
it
vi,
in the
a portrait of Niccolo,
is
its
sitter loses
halo,
force completely,
along?
Wdlfflin,
work
less to
its
on the
loc.cit.,
AB,
Bocchi, or Bocchi-Cinelli.
it
da Uzzano painted by Cristofano del Altissimo for the portrait gallery of Cosimo I in the later
Cinquecento. This, Studniczka claims, is based on the
bust, so that the latter must have been known as a
poni's day,
and Pohl
Niccolo Fiorentino of
striking
c.
cite
the
it
does not
assume that the newly acquired iconographic importance of the work raised its
artistic standing as well. Ferrante Capponi, or one of
his descendants, may very well have concluded that
their illustrious forebear must have been portrayed by
the greatest sculptor of his time; and since Donatello,
according to tradition, had represented other wellknown contemporaries such as Gianozzo Manetti,
Poggio BraccioHni, Francesco Soderini, and Giovanni
seem
portrait medal by
which they claim a
1480, for
Middeldorf,
The
of Niccolo
more than
portrait of Niccolo
bust received a
rejected
Is it
denied
by Studniczka and Fabriczy), and Kauffmann introduces a head from the mural of 1424-1428 on the
S. Egidio in Florence, by Bicci di Lorenzo,
which he correctly identifies as the only contemporary
portrait we have of Niccolo da Uzzano (Vasari had
fa9ade of
at all implausible to
238
Rejected Attributions
The
mondo,
logical
atello has
been attacked
who
loc.cit.,
as often
The
sitter.
hsted
da Uzzano"
and
to
Don-
it
was
among
Reymond
the
to protest
the
bust
Sc.
Fl, u, pp. 116f) pronounced it "unworthy of Donatello" and placed it at the end of the Quattrocento,
St.
niczka, loc.cit.
Lawrence
draws attention
Finally, Planiscig
"closer to
as vigorously as
first
1-2,
i,
that
was erected
in
individual
angelo
to
its
(Kunstge-
by Donatello (probably
by a comparison
To Kauffmann
seemed indicated
after 1433).
He
who
He
classes
it
with a great
masks and
a death
little
difference, since
The harsh
bust
as essentially correct,
We
us think.
do
of course,
not,
know
the precise
we would
good deal
it
and the
truly
the eyes,
whose
is
is
fishlike stare
vacuous
il
such were really the case, it would be a powerful arguthe claim that the bust was known as a work of
Donatello in the Cinquecento, but the only element of similarity
is the turn of the head.
2 The wart, as Studniczka has shown, was indeed regarded
in expression.
as a sort of facial
1 If
ment
is
documented works.
I am afraid, be
acknowledged
other
or death
any event be unable to learn much about the master's style from this work. Middeldorf's opinion has
since been cited with complete approval by Lanyi
(Probl, p. 16, n. 11) and Planiscig, who had omitted
the bust in both his Donatello monographs but reit
lifesize
in
jected
requisite wart.
lifesize,
also
it
an unidentified
to
Donatello;
of
Venezianische Bildhauer
Roman, and quite posNorth Italian or even Paduan; only this time the
subject was Cicero, so whoever made the bust picked
earliest
many
life
actually a Renaissance
sibly
Planiscig,
is
mask
"reconstruction" of a famous
marble bust
der Renaissance, Vienna, 1921, pp. 315ff). The "Niccolo da Uzzano," he suggests, is another Cinquecento
(Leo
to a
emblem
for
239
The Sculpture
of Donatello
face;
is
it
at
all.^
one
naturalistic that
is
The
tempted
damaged
that ear).
them
to think of
is
shows
The resemblance to the Brutus really depends on this forward tilt (and may very well have
been the reason why the wedge was thought desirable ) As soon as we view the bust as it was intended
to be seen, the head no longer shows the forwardcraning movement that is mainly responsible for the
analogy with the Brutus. Instead, we now find that
the chin is raised and the entire head thrown back, as
if the sitter were looking upward. Such a backward
tilt of the head, and sometimes of the entire bust,
occurs in less drastic form among busts of the 1460's
and 1470's by Desiderio and his school (see above, p.
236). Thus Tschudi was guided by the right instinct
when he felt that the "Niccolo da Uzzano" must be of
about the same date as the St. Leonard in the Old
forward.
this
loc.cit.,
claims
that
it
of
consists
real
cloth
Young
of the
and
Sacristy. This
known
to
the Trecento).
It
he knows
that
the
how
to
cloth,
to his
own
will, so
its
the later
in
is
still
readly
as
Pohl,
be
argument
on far
rests
a crudely patched
believe. Planiscig's
masks
The treatment
Cinquecento origin
Italian
no hair texture
North
for a
sion.
3 Could this hole have served to anchor some sort of headcovering? It is difficult to imagine what shape it could have
had, but the undifferentiated treatment of the skull does suggest such a possibility. The hole does not look like a later
addition.
* No. 28; attributed to Donatello by Bode but clearly Desideriesque; Kauffmann, D., p. 241, n. 478, gives it to Desiderio
outright.
127b
Marble
relief;
H. 46.5 cm;
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The
family,
1
was acquired
Unaccounted
at that
for since
time in the
fire
owned by
in Florence in 1892
that
57.5
cm
(c.
none
Museen,
Beschrei-
presiunably destroyed
interior of the anti-
aircraft
240
Berlin,
tower
m, 1953,
consumed the
1460-1470?)
nonc
the Peruzzi
(
W.
at
p. 11.
2d
ed., v, ed.
Friedrichshain;
Berliner Museen,
N.F.,
Rejected Attributions
No. 27; revised
p. 15,
ed., 1933, p. 8,
author,
male
figure
certainly
by
The
assumption.^
this
reflects
that,
common
however,
fe-
prototype
classical
woman
a masterpiece
is
the only
is
background,
may be
it
said to
Bertaux, D., p.
(Reymond,
Sc. FL,
ii,
p. 114;
placed
between the
it
St.
vi,
George
relief
Flagellation "the
work
gives
them
to
me
is
an
its
it
number
into
it
appears to com-
The most
called the
the
is
to Niccolo Coccari, a
it
What seems
bine a
H. Folnesics ascribed
rist."
who
Donatellesque does
Donatello
is
it
45f;
it
pecially striking
At
this point,
is
however,
blank wall
we
miiller, in
sistency: the
claims the
work
Max
Semrau,
,
IX,
in
1913,
with reservations
had omitted
it
from
his
list
of the
it
by
1949, p. 58);
also the
is
relief,
converging
He
Abraham group on
p.
me
him
wall;
shallow pilaster
like a
published opinion
don, 1941, p. 17) has grave doubts about it; and Rezio
Buscaroli (L'arte di Donatello, Florence, 1942, p.
various sorts.
is
lines;
reference to a
know how
comphcated network
much lower
is
of
designed with
Un-
to place the
we compare
terminus ante of 1442 for our relief; the figure of the maid, he
believes, inspired the attendant on the extreme right in the
Exorcism scene of Agostino di Duccio's Modena panel. The
resemblance here is so vague, however, that it can be fully
accounted for by assuming that both figures reflect a common
the Campanile,
as persuasive.
prototype.
241
The Sculpture
echoes of ours, a bronze plaquette (Schubring, KdK,
p. 95, Berlin; another specimen in the Louvre) and a
believe, a
more
exclude
It is
the
work
who
of
an
would be
it
The
way
at a different conclusion
if
we
new morbidezza
does
it
middle
The
style of the
al-
we
find
on piers
work suggested
of the century.
as
smooth and
of architectural surfaces
be, the
by
figures in
may
clear enough to
any other master
we
betray the
plaquette.
far
is
that
artist of
has discarded
However
earlier
The
this
attribution to Donatello or
consider the
Peter?
above
in the
The design
its
of major stature.
whoever
St.
Flagellation.
the Betrayal of
drawing (Schubring, KdK, p. xxxix, UflBzi; Ferrarese?). In both of them the horizon coincides with the
floor hne. The plaquette has no perspective background at all, yet the illusion of depth is far more
convincing than in our relief; and since the entire
action is much more forceful and expressive, we have
here,
of Donatella
lation.
There
is
remarkable similarity of
also a
facial
air
classicizing
and the
figures.
which our
have suggested here for the Berlin Flagellation may well have
to be revised in the light of future findings. Perhaps
it
surance than
from
different sources
artist
remains a
to bring
is
difficult to
know
of
left in
account
the Siena
for,
relief,
even icono-
will
difficult matter,
command
to say
with greater
at present just
when
as-
the
became
possible.
127a
Bronze
relief;
H. 93 cm;
DOCUMENTS
W. 70 cm
(c.
1470-1480)
nonc
SOURCES
1568, Vasari-Milanesi, p. 417: "In the
same guardaroba
[of
Duke Cosimo]
242
figures;
and
there
is
also another
bronze panel,
like-
Rejected Attributions
1584, Borghini, Riposo, p. 321: "In the guardaroha of the
bronze
relief
of Christ
While
panel
is
its
history cannot
be traced back
belong
figures that
Are we
we may assume
done
own
it
among
Crucifixion"
is
the
it
measure
to
some
panel strikes
me
genius. There
is, first
plane.
of style
all,
is
modeled
closer scrutiny,
is
we
The
notice
all sorts
of
surely intended to be a
good deal
closer to
The
is
man on
very poorly
it;
the rest of
weak-
compilatory
character
of
the
shields.
composition
is
The
also
of the
S.
Lorenzo
four
Pulpits.
women and
St.
Johnthe
(Bode,
fully
that figure
certainly an ambitious
obviously "post-Paduan"
On
of
more
merely
assistant.
is
the beholder than that of the thief on the right, yet the
left
man on
instance,
on the extreme
below
to the thief
foreground.
is
(D., p.
and, in some ways, impressive work, replete with Donatellian features. Yet
we
"Donatellesque."
The "Medici
earlier?
on the ground
p. 29);
as
this sin-
what he had
And where in
(Compare
left is far
(D., p. 83),
thirty years
90); Cruttwell
p.
master himself, on
marble
sitting or lying
in
fixion?"
invention,
bronzi
relief as in
."
to the subject.
in detail, the
and Borghini
Lorenzo
Pulpits.
in character
is
left; why is he looking back, as if pursued by an enemy? He, too, has the quality of a
"quotation," although from another source. The other
Mantegna (hence,
243
The Sculpture
of Donatello
The foregoing
Doors. Finally, as
still
to exclude the
we must
start,
modeled
rather
since
than
so
much
the ornament
of
engraved.
Tschudi,
I believe,
oeuvre altogether.
The
equally difficult to
justify.
is
is
Musee Jacquemart-Andre,
loc.cit.,
Schubring, KdK,
Paris
p. 125;
p.
Madonna
Museum
mondo
Crucifixion
is
them must have been produced not long after Donatello's death, in the 1460's or 1470's. The same general
date will have to be assigned to the "Medici Crucifixion,"
many
earlier elements.^
i,
1953, p. 105); an exact
stucco replica of our relief, in the Birmingham Museum, is
illustrated in Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogue of a Collec-
29,
London, 1913,
pi. n.
Terracotta
relief;
H. 53.5 cm;
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The panel (No. 7619-1861) was acquired
W.
57.5
cm
1470-1480?)
nonc
none
Max Semrau
in 1860
Schmarsow gewidmet,
(c.
Bode
the
is unknown. The conjecture of Wilhelm Bode (Denkmdler der Renaissance-Skulptur Toscanas, Munich,
Resurrection.
Migliarini,
.
Museo
relied
cf.
is
modem,
the predella
Maclagan-Longhurst,
by
loc.cit.,
a later
who
of a triptych, as pointed
inferior
left
and
identify
244
Rejected Attributions
three sides; the frieze above the architrave; and
one
Padua (see
84a), as
PI.
evidenced by such details as the angels in the spandrels and the scroll with standing angel decorating
many patched
relief. It is
acquisition
its
him ought
have stressed
its
loc.cit.,
who
loc.cit.,
were the
earliest to
do
p.
that of the
reliefs
From
is
so), especially
now
Among
the pictorial
still
that
of
demands
of scientific
perspective.
is
roughly to what
we
In the
"correct,"
St.
John
and
their
panel corresponds
he argued, could
made up
we
London panel
Crucified Christ).
of Donatello,
268,
similarly Schottmiiller,
thus
is
loc.cit.,
Semrau even
loc.cit.).
all,
We
in the St.
our composition.
this
upper half of the panel, so that the beholder views the scene from a point high above the
figures on the ground (his eye level, in fact, is exactly
which Semrau,
from any-
clearly in the
Lorenzo
S.
Semper, D. 75,
diflferent
(Robinson,
Pulpits
Bode,
the scholars
start,
fundamentally
be rejected on
to
notice, first of
as
logue, 1862, p. 17). It was accepted almost unanimously Venturi, the only dissenter (Storia, vi, p.
450), proposed Giovanni da Pisa instead and has
not been challenged in the literature even today, ex-
the very
not
me
panel strikes
is
same time, however, the relationship between figures and architecture in the London
quite so close. At the
Museum
the setting of
It also recalls
it
appears
( i.e.,
as a "diptych"
of the Cruci-
fixion
it,
executed soon after the
masters return from Padua.- The proportions of the
represents two-thirds of
London
fit
relief,
panel,
however,
is
to
much
of
dispute.
in
Semrau postulates
form a continuous
background, while
in the
visible
245
to
The Sculpture
of Donatella
much
lesser
tello's reliefs
well (he
St.
Altar, the
the
architecture tends to
Do
And
Padua Altar
of the
Lorenzo Pulpits
simply
it
(e.g.
not the
is
PI.
work
(e.g.
105).
of
The
is
precise determination of
sible. Still,
PLATE
JOHN THE
Bronze
DOCUMENTS
eyes of Semrau,
figure
sance
77;
first
in the
nonc
tower
had
called
fifty
it
and
of Donatello's rehefs."
all
Florence;
fail to
cm
(c.
1470)
none
1866,
Kaiser-Friedrich-
Italienischen
to bring
for since
it
is
above the
more hkely
was
pointed
comabandoned
missions as he
the commission.
was
in 1423-1424, simply
Why
Museen, N.F.,
I,
installed
presumably destroyed
consumed the
it
Unaccounted
H. 84
statuette;
to
Museo Nazionale,
pos-
nection here.
it
more
may become
unknown.
in
{Bildwerke des
Bode, the
who
origin
Die
uncertain
was purchased
Florence
Mtiseums
is little
its
of
SOURCES
The
its
BAPTIST,
126a
Strozzi,
there
S.
3 According
to Kauffmann, D., p. 254, n. 641, there are
echoes of the London Crucifixion in Bertoldo's Crucifixion relief
ST.
"Forzori Altar"
by
drawing once
PI.
Flagellation
in the St.
tails
when we match
the
is
by Mac-
KdK,
which Maclagan-Longhurst regard as a reflection of both the refief itself and the predella. More
hkely they derive from a common source a source
same hand,
as pointed out
The
p. xxxix),
pi. 3,
loc.cit.).
tively,
(Goloubev, n,
Bellini
framework.
96,
as 1424.
in,
1953, p. 17.
246
Rejected Attributions
would be that the
cast
significant,
is
mention the
did not
artist
John for Orvieto in his Catasto Declaration of 1427, as he should have done had the commission still been "alive" at that time. We can only
conclude that the commission had lapsed by then, or
that Donatello had delivered the figure and been paid
in full before 1427. The latter alternative, however, is
incompatible with the notice concerning the gesso
St.
is
recalls the
Paduan
scroll inscribed
Among
KaufFmann alone
recent scholars,
Bode
the
He
hypothesis.
still
p.
dei,
147).
supports
links
it
later
p. 76,
it
proposes a date of
c.
me
impossible to
fit
Cf.
its
Sienese,
who
Donatellesque impressions
Baptist of 1457
The
my
p. 143],
St.
1440.
dependence pro-
time, this
he regards as superior
self-consciously
exaggerated contrapposto,
while the Berlin figure has a cup and a scroll too small
for
somewhat
its
has nothing in
John
St.
ecce agnvs
yet the
had ordered a
statues,
Sienas
fig.
64.
127c, d
Bronze; H. 37.5
DOCUMENTS
SOURCES
The
be
Its
(Schubring, KdK.,
it
p.
by Wilhelm Bode
may be
it
denies that
it
among
none
head a
Venetian, since
none
(1470-1480)
cm
the canonical
247
The Sculpture
of Donatello
fined curls
tello,
is
Florence, 1950,
pi.
115).
its
128
master's work.
tent;
55 (Milanesi,
p.
who seems
saw
it
in
(i.e.,
or Spirituals
which
413)
less
it
was
He
(14S0-1500)
Hone
made
of
wood
John
St.
D., p. 52, n. 2
who
bronze statuette in
Berlin attributed to Bertoldo (Inv. No. 2338) and
thought the figure "possibly connected with the Donatello workshop." Cruttwell, D., p. 143, rejected it
transferred
to that of a
pi.
108).
cloth originally.
the
St.
restoration of 1845;
been brought
1892-1905,
now
to light, a
is
it
cm
chromy uncovered by the restorers of the Soprintendenza in Florence, who removed the loincloth and the
cross as recent additions.^ The left hand must have
Munich,
36.5
both the Frari St. John and the St. Jerome to have
been carved by an assistant after sketches by Donatello; Schubring and Balcarres placed it among the
school pieces; Schmarsow (D., p. 48, n. 1) and Pastor
(D., p. 93) found various features of the statue ahen
Toscanas,
W.
Museum
work
art.
the
head
OURCES
Renaissance-Skulptur
of the
Roman
(including base);
to the
latter's
Barbarians of
to
it
it is
and expression
for
does, I beHeve,
Donatello to some exsurely Florentine rather than Venetian. But
shared the
Osservanti
Milanesi,
true
it
DOCUMENTS
p.
is
St.
same
ST.
and a
neatly de-
1550 Vasari-Ricci,
its
PLATE
of hair
and
The treatment
it
entirely or declared
Schubring (KdK,
p. 175),
248
Kauffmann (D.,
p. 27),
Rejected Attributions
those
work
of
markedly
of the head,
which ought
to
be
suflScient
evidence in
itself
body
is
The carving
in
not (as
As
statiure,
with
if
much weight
knew the statue
too
to
it
we need
in this instance.
not attach
Apparently he
he
also speaks of a
wooden
is clearly a work of
The blame here belongs
effort.
bronze David.
3 The origin of the pose is probably classical, which would
explain its very general use; cf. the spear-holding Hippolytus
Jerome
identity
link
difficult to
is
of the
John and
the Magdalen. It is not a body ravaged by old age
and the denial of the flesh but a standard male figure
on which some telltale marks of old age, such as
swollen veins, have been superimposed in a rather
superficial and pedantic manner.^ The pose, too, reproduces a commonplace formula of the late Quattrocento that could, and did, serve any number of other
purposes equally well; hence the long Hst of supposed
"echoes" of our statue cited by Kauffmann.^ Completely foreign to Donatello is the sentimental pathos
2
artist of
St.
The
certainly not an
major
my opinion
estabhsh. His
of the master
to that of the
pi.
249
LV].
APPENDIX
Selected Donatello Bibliography, 1957-1962
V. Martinelli, "Donatello e Michelozzo a Roma,"
G. Soranzo,
Bolletino del
Margrit Lisner, "Die Biiste des heiligen Laurentius in der alten Sakristei von
ein Beitrag zu Desiderio
da Settignano,"
in:
S.
Lorenzo,
S.
Lorenzo,"
in:
I'Histoire
738flF
de
I'Art," in:
(cites the
Libro
which Giovanni
gave medical treatment to Donatello and on August 27, 1456, received in return a
bronze roundel of the Madonna and Child with two angels
John Pope-Hennessy, "The Martelli David," in: Burlington Magazine, ci, 1959, pp. 134flF
John Pope-Hennessy, "Some Donatello Problems," in: Studies in the History of Art
Dedicated to William Suida on his Eightieth Birthday, New York, 1959, pp. 47ff
Raghna and Nic. Stang, Livet og kunst en i ungrenessansens Firenze, II: De store
billedhuggere og borgerrepublikken, Oslo, 1959
Guy de Tervarent, Attributs ef symboles dans I'art profane, 1450-1600, ii, Geneva, 1959,
col. 393, s.v. "Vase" ( Atys-Amorino
Wilhelm R. Valentiner, "Towards a Chronology of Donatello's Early Works," in:
Festschrift Friedrich Winkler, Berlin, 1959, pp. 71ff (argues that the "St. John the
Campanile
is
Ciuffagni," in:
head
Zeitschrift
fiir
Kunst geschichte,
Ciuffagni
I,
Francesco a Bosco
ai Frati,
attributed to D.
by Alessandro Parronchi)
Frederick Hartt and Gino Corti, "New Documents concerning Donatello, Luca and
Andrea Delia Robbia, Desiderio, Mino, Uccello, Pollaiuolo, Filippo Lippi, Baldovinetti
and Others," in: Art Bulletin, xliv, 1962, pp. 155ff (new documents, according to
which D. spent 100 florins for bronze, charcoal, etc., between October 14 and November 19, 1456)
R. W. Lightbown, "Giovanni Chellini, Donatello, and Antonio Rossellino," in: Burlington Magazine, civ, 1962, pp. 102ff (cites, without knowing the original, a late sixteenth-century excerpt from the passage in Giovanni Chellini's Lihro published by
Aldo de Maddalena, and speculates on the appearance of the bronze roundel by
Donatello
Raghna and
documenti,"
in:
il
Giosue per
Institutum
il
Romanum
Campanile
di S.
artium historiam pertinentia, i, Oslo, 1962, pp. 113ff (shows that the Joshua of
1415-21 [see p. 225 above] is identical with the "St. John the Baptist" from the
Campanile, not with the "Poggio")
et
INDEX
Abraham, Bishop
of Souzdal,
93
Achilles, 6f
226, 230
Alberto di Arnoldo, 90
Albizzi, Rinaldo degli, 41
Albizzo di Pietro, 17
Alciati, Andrea, 6
Allegrini, Francesco, 237
Alpharano, Tiberio, 96f
Bicci di Lorenzo,
BiUi, Antonio, 4, 7,
Bamberg,
Cathedral,
equestrian
182, 209
barbarians in Roman art, 248
Barbaro, Francesco, 153, 155, 160
Barbiere, Alessandro del, 104
Barbigia, Bernardo and Niccolo, 9
Bardi, Donato di Niccolo di Betto, see
Donatello
Baroncelh, Niccolo, 141, 158, 161, 183
Bartoli,
Cosimo, 77
amaranth, 6f
Amerino, Pirrino, 60
Ammirato, Scipione, 57
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, stucco replica
of the Pazzi Madonna, 44
Lanz Collection, Madonna with An-
gels, relief,
95f
dalle Cal-
163ff
109
di Nofri,
di ser Rufino,
lOfF,
19ff,
on Donatello,
107,
125,
130,
135,
141,
159fiF,
Apelles,
86
158n
Bartolommeo, see Montepulciano
Arezzo, Cathedral, baptismal font, 94;
Annunciation,
Bernardo
Rossellino,
Aragazzi,
107n
,
nello Aretino,
106
Francesco, Annunciation,
della Francesca, 106
,
S.
Amolfo
Cambio, 126
Athens, Duke of, 200
Atys, 143ff
Bisticci,
Boccaccio,
Madonna, 44
(Panormita),
85f
212
Bellano, Bartolommeo, 82, 155, 177, 195,
S.
Giacomo Maggiore,
monument, Niccolo
Battista d'Andrea,
S.
S.
Petronio,
St.
BentivogUo
dell'Arca,
159n
Proculus,
Michel-
202, 215ff
BelUni, Giovanni, 181
Bonanus of
Young
S.
123
Bovolenta, monastery
of,
187
Brunelleschi,
54ff,
68,
quarrel
with
Donatello,
138ff; at siege of
St.
poems,
Flagellation,
139f;
Vita,
see
134,
132,
Lucca, 135;
satirical
Manetti, An-
tonio
Works: Florence, Baptistery, competition for the Doors, lOf; Museo Nazionale,
Abraham and Isaac, 32n, 99; Or San
Michele, supposedly commissioned to do
Madonna, see
to Bertoldo, 248;
137
Pisa,
Borghese, Cardinal, 96
Benvenuti, Matteo, 9
Benvoglienti, Leonardo, 189, 206, 208n
Berlin, Staathche Museen, Ugohno Martelli, Agnolo Bronzino, 21; bronze statuette after the David Martelli, 22n;
Madonna Orlandini, 44; stucco rephca
of the Madonna relief by Desiderio da
Settignano in the Victoria and Albert
Piero
di
lOf, 13,
xiv
Giacomo Maggiore
89
98f,
120
Beccadelli, Antonio degh
Bellini,
diere
statue,
158
Altichiero
238
Pazzi
125n
Bernardi, Cristoforo, 3
253
St.
Madonna,
cartapesta, 244n
Buggiano (Andrea
Pazzi
44;
di
Crucifixion,
Lazzaro
of
gilt
Caval-
Byzantine
Index
(Sardinia), 57; Cathedral, ambones, 213
Pisan style and Florentine
calendar,
style, 89n, 90n
Cagliari
212
Cambi, Giovanni, 78
Cambio di Ferro, 110
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam
Callot, Jacques,
nunciation,
Miracle of
Zenobius, ISln
St.
Campagna, Girolamo,
171, 176
Camponeschi, Ludovico, see Aquila
Can Grande
158
I,
Capponi,
Capponi,
Capponi,
Capponi,
Capponi,
Ferrante, 237ff
Gino, 238
238
203n
237
Casimiro, Padre Francesco, 101
Castagno, Andrea del, 28n, 82, 103
Castiglione, Sabba, 22n, 146
Carlieri, Carlo,
Masolino, 71
casts
sculpture,
of, in
Renaissance
240
203
185
Coppo
Cappone, 56
Piero,
40
di Marcovaldo, 184
Cortona, Museo Diocesano, silver reliquary, 235n
Coscia, Baldassare, see John XXIII; tomb,
see Florence, Baptistery
Cosmati, 126
Covi, Lodovico, 56f
Crivelli, Giovanni, tomb of, see Donatello, Rome, S. Maria in Aracoeli
Charlemagne, 158
Charles VIII, King of France, 190
Chartres Cathedral, St. Theodore, 28
D.C.,
ton,
death
Gallery
National
of
Art,
masks,
use
Works:
telli
relief,
Chimento da
63,
54ff,
Staatliche
Museen,
tomb,
Mar-
Giovannino
193f;
193ff;
193,
S.
237;
Croce,
S.
Lo-
Leonard, 50,
Magdalen, 191,
Victoria and Albert
Sacristy,
ancient
art,
125;
22n.
Mediaeval
perspective
art,
WORKS
Staatliche
Museen,
Pazzi
Ma-
193f;
Museum, Madonna,
247, 248f
Cathedral, Coronation of the Virgin,
window, xiiif, 136n; Porta della Man-
86; Paris,
Louvre, Arconati-Visconti tondo, 193f
Detroit, Institute of Arts, Minerbetti
Arms, attributed to Donatello, 43
relief,
Champmol, Moses
Dijon, Chartreuse de
Dolce, Lodovico, 9, 11
Domenichi, Lodovico, 154
Domenico di Piero of Pisa, xiii
Domenico Veneziano, 103f, 106, 181
Donatello, documents and sources, xi;
date of birth, xivn; mother (Orsa), 92;
portrait, xvn; early training, xivn; re-
and
St.
S. Trinita,
London,
from
86
81
Berlin,
(attributed),
Old
designer,
architectural
Berlin,
134n, 236f;
Cinelli,
44;
reliefs,
Renaissance
in
of,
renzo,
238f
Widener Collection
chiaroscuro, 31
of,
Madonna
28;
statues,
"quotations"
Marsuppini
Cimabue, 36
John,
Fiesole, 152
232ff;
40f
Rome,
135;
126,
Nanni
as
Cherichini,
Cupid, 144
Cybele, 184n
Cennini, Pietro, 60
St.
77,
Diocletian, 57
Dionisi, Filippo, 97
254
234, 247f
Museo
Nazionale,
David,
marble,
198,
15,
23,
201n,
27f,
202f,
83,
205,
236n,
249;
Index
Venice,
Washington,
137
Palazzo Vecchio, Judith and Holofemes, 6, 41, 77f, 80f, 83, 85, 125,
143, 145, 149, 194, 198-205, 207,
215n, 216n, 236n, 237, 248
S. Croce, Crucifix, 7-12, 107, 148; St.
Louis, 39, 45-56, 57ff, 64, 75, 142;
Annunciation, 23, 54f, 63, 72, 83f,
,
135,
S.
John the
Frari, St.
247, 248f
Art,
National
D.C.,
Widener
Collection,
Gallery
of
David Mar-
192
Cathedral,
S.
li4n
Padua, Piazza del Santo, Gattamelata, 64,
77, 135, 141ff, 149ff, 151-61, 188, 202
S.
176f,
95,
Entombment,
Joshua,
Florence,
Rome,
S.
Maria in Aracoeli, Crivelli
tomb, 75, 76n, 77, lOlf, 202, 234
,
Vatican,
St.
Peter's,
Sagrestia
dei
Beneficiati,
142, 222,
64f,
72f,
76, 84,
wax model
Paul (1439),
sacristies
for an
bronze
(1437-43),
xiiin;
Mantua, Area di
REJECTED ATTRIBUTIONS
Berhn, Staatliche Museen, bronze statuette after the David Martelli, 22n;
bronze bust, supposedly of Lodovico
Gonzaga, 141n; bronze statuette, St.
John the Baptist, 189n, 246f; marble
rehef. Flagellation, 208n, 240ff; stucco
bust. Young St. John, 240
Minerbetti
Detroit,
Institute
of Arts,
Arms, 43
Faenza, Pinacoteca, St. Jerome, 82, 190,
248f
Florence, Casa Martelli, Martelli Arms,
43
Cathedral, Porta della Mandorla, two
prophets, 99, 219-22; Joshua ("Poggio"), 36ff, 225-28, 229
Fondazione Salvatore Romano, St.
Prosdocimus and Unknown Saint, 235f
Museo deU'Opera del Duomo, "St.
John the Baptist" from the Campanile,
26, 36ff, 228-31
Museo Nazionale, Medici Cnicifixion,
83, 208n, 242ff; Bearded Head ("Vec-
chio
barbuto"),
124,
247f;
da Uzzano," 237-40
Or San Michele, St. Peter,
222-25, 247
"Niccolo
26,
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, courtyard,
medallions, 83f
Lorenzo, Cantoria, 126, 213; Old
,
17f,
S.
Sacristy,
St.
London, Collection
Collection
rehef.
,
terracotta,
W.
L. Hildburgh, marble
Madonna and
Victoria
Sir
255
Christ
226;
altar of St.
22n
teUi,
4f,
Paris,
LOST WORKS
Florence,
98f,
Maria dei
Kenneth Clark,
HeaUng
Woman
the
Possessed,
131n
Musee
Jacquemart-Andre, marble
bronze plaque.
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, 244
Rome, S. Giovanni in Laterano, tomb of
Martin V, 75, 232-35; wooden statue,
St. John the Baptist, 102
,
212
Doni family, Florence, 143, 146
Duccio di Buoninsegna, 106n
Dunois, Jean, Count of, 42
Early Christian
ebrietas,
145n
Empoh,
S.
art,
Stefano,
Annunciation, Ber-
248
Famese, Cardinal, 96
Fehci, Cristofano, 189
Feltre, SS. Vittore e Corona, wall taber-
nacle, 180
Ferrara, equestrian
statue
of
Niccolo
3ff, 77f,
Index
Perugino,
Saints,
26n;
Annunciation,
Madonna
129
Casa Martelh,
Arms, 43
Casa Valori, 92
21,
191ff;
MartelU
119ff,
^,
of the Pazzi
220;
"Thusnelda,"
38,
241; Perseus,
Sabines, Gio-
Dovizia,
Donatello
Museo Archeologico, sphinx
184
Lon Museo
stucco
don Lamentation, Donatello, 208
Museo deirOpera
Duomo,
,
see
chio, 8;
throne,
Bardini,
replica of
del
St.
di
Bartolo,
228ff;
Cantoria
to
36f,
attached
Cam-
Obadiah from
30;
Nanni
Cantoria, Luca
panile,
of
Donatello,
ticelli,
249
Or San Michele,
80
25,
Banco,
Donatello;
,
St.
Ospedale
degli
Innocenti,
fagade,
Palazzo
Palazzo
the Pazzi
Palazzo
,
Capponi, 237
Davanzati, stucco replica of
Madonna, 44
Gozzoli, 238f
Mel-
Trinity,
di
Pazzi,
Strozzi,
cetti, 13;
Maria Maggiore,
Carmine, 184
Maria Novella,
,
S.
3-7,
77ff, 198f,
Madonna
S.
Brunelleschi, 7ff,
tomb
92
Magdalen, Brunelleschi
(destroyed), 11
Magdalen, Desiderio,
216n
Francesco
tomb
Donatello's
drawing
S.
S.
Pier Gattolini,
Spirito,
193f;
S. Trinita,
Sassetti,
after
Uffizi,
marble David, Michelangelo, 28; drawings after the tomb of John XXIII, 61;
drawing after Shaw Madonna, 86; two
altar wings. Era Bartolommeo, 86ff;
Ascension, drawing, Lorenzo di Bicci
(attrib. )
93; ground plan of S. Antonio, Padua, 171ff; two drawings of
proposed High Altar, S. Antonio,
Padua, 171ff, 176; St. Lucy Altar,
Domenico
Veneziano,
181;
Niccolo
238;
52
fluted columns,
see Donatello
200f; Hercules
SS.
S.
degli
frescoes,
S.
6, 70f;
256
fresco, 91;
del
of
Brunelleschi, 30
,
Eontainebleau,
Achilles
cycle.
Rosso
Fiorentino, 129
fortitudo,
xvn,
6n
Index
Francesco d'Andrea Fraschetta, 119f
Francesco d'Antonio di Piero, 164
Francesco di Simone, 167
Franco, Cesare, 171, 176
Frankfort,
Staedelsches
Kunstinstitut,
Athena, 107n
Frassalasta, Francesco, 158n
Frederick II, Emperor, 158
Frescobaldi family, Florence, 90n
Fulgoso, Raffaello, tomb, S. Antonio,
Padua, 62n
monument,
tonio;
Gaurico, Pomponio,
see Donatello,
xiv, 50,
Padua
217
Giusto da Padova, 6n
Gonzaga, Lodovico, 202, 205
Goro di ser Neroccio, 72n, 73
Gozzoh, Benozzo, 82, 145, 238f
Grazzini, Antonio Francesco (II Lasca),
24, 29
Cathe-
dral
Gelli,
Ghiberti,
don
61f
Ghiberti, Lorenzo,
xiiiff,
xv,
7,
15,
42,
Venice, 62; Catasto Declara76n; at siege of Lucca, 135; influence on Donatello, xiv, 7, 16, 31f,
73, 82, 84, 135, 138n, 207
Works: Florence, Baptistery, North
Doors, 6n, llf, 29, 30n, 31, 84n, 91,
135, 138, 220, 223; East Doors, 20, 70,
82, 84n, 125n, 130n, 207, 244; Cathedral, Area di S. Zanobi, 181n; Or San
Michele, St. Matthew, 50, 52, 56, 58,
63; St. John the Baptist, 52; Museo di
S. Marco, LinaiuoU Altar, frame design; S. Maria Novella, Dati tomb, 76,
102; Siena, Baptistery, rehefs for Font,
65, 67ff, 72f, 107
lOf;
Hercules, 144ff
tar,
45n
Lorenzetti, Ambrogio,
Lorenzetti, Pietro, 70
Lorenzo di Bartoluccio, see Ghiberti
45n
Hippolytus, 144
Homer, 10, 36
humilitas, 82f,
luxuria,
203
203
in
tion,
Ghiberti, Vittorio, 50
Ghini, Simone di Giovanni, 232fF
Ghirlandaio, Domenico, 221
Giacomo
di Baldassare
da Prato, 164
imago
imago
Madonna
125n
clipeata,
Rome,
180
pietatis,
da
Pisa,
98
126n
see
Donatello,
Florence,
6,
89;
Bap-
tistery
tinople
154,
167,
190f,
103, 105,
196, 199,
posed
portrait,
xvn
Lapo
di
Pagno
Leningrad,
casket,
Portigiani, 63,
Hermitage,
90n
Byzantine
ivory
126n
Leon,
S. Isidro,
217n
see Donatello
Marchionni, Carlo, 97
209
London, Collection
Sir
Kenneth Clark,
Girolamo
96,
57
133,
112,
Kufic lettering, 58
13,
della
St. Peter's,
257
statue,
see
Index
Maria Novella, Trinity, 30, 51f, 55,
131, 186n; London, National Gallery,
Altar, 39.
122
Medici, Francesco I, 192, 243
Medici, Giovanni d'Averardo, 59f, 61n,
133, 138
Medici, Giulio, Cardinal, 79
Medici, Lorenzo di Giovanni, 88, 89, 106,
111, 134, 135n
Medici, Lorenzo
79,
(il
210
Mediaeval
art,
influence
on DonateUo,
Madonna
Museo Nazionale,
Uffizi,
drawing
of the Stairs,
129;
Brutus,
239;
142,
after Donatello's
marble
Villa,
tomb
of
139;
108Flor-
John XXIII,
cloisters
88ff,
New
Niccolo
Niccolo
Niccolo
Niccolo
Niccolo
Michiel,
167,
171ff,
235
Castello
of
statue
Sforzesco,
Bemabo
equestrian
158n;
of
Nep-
125n
sportello,
frescoes,
Isaiah,
Sorrows,
relief,
Annunciation
del
of Cardinal
114n,
tomb
tomb
Museo deU'Opera
126n
Visconti,
Museum, Byzan-
York, Metropolitan
4ff,
195,
219;
Duomo, Man
of
St. Philip,
171, 176;
Altichiero
CappeUa
Belludi,
porting
lommeo
(destroyed), 235;
cimo, 169; University, 186
S.
Prosdo-
Pagno
77
Gustave Dreyfus, marble
variant of Desiderio da Settignano's
Madonna in London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 86
Parenti, Piero,
Paris, Collection
of the Pazzi
Verona,
Nanni
Nanni
di
48n
258
donna deUa
Vittoria,
Index
of Luca della Robbia, 119, 121, 162n;
Prophet, marble statuette, 219
Parrhasios, 10
Parthenon, metope, Athens, 107n
Lamberti
Pentheus, 186n
Pela, see
Perfetto di Giovanni, 17
perspective,
30,
45,
55,
68f,
95,
130f,
26n
Martyrdom
cesco,
of
Matthew,
St.
sance, 124n
Pugliese, Piero del, 86f
Petrarch, 21
Pietro di Niccolo,
216n
229
bronze chandelier,
Maso di Bartolommeo, 52, 116; Forte-
Pistoia,
guerri
Gathedral,
monument, Verrocchio,
91;
of Geres," 125n;
PUny,
7,
Poggibonsi
Poggio Bracciolini, 7, 101, 125, 135; supposed portrait, see Florence, Gathedral,
Joshua
Pohdoro, Valerio, 148, 149n, 176
Poliziano, Angelo, 85, 154
Pollaiuolo, Antonio del, 82, 96, 185
Polo d'Antonio da Ragusa, 164
Pontano da Bergamo, Giovanni, 156
zionale, Liberation
St. Peter,
160
porta conclusa, 106
Portigiani, see Lapo di Pagno and
Lapo
St.
Imperial
architecture,
influence
Roman
Roman
Roman
Roman
battle reliefs,
30
portraits, 38ff
Entombment,
Borghese
Raphael, 187
Nazionale
Stampe,
World Chronicle, 6n
Museo
Roman
,
Gallery,
Collection,
mirror,
,
S.
S.
of
Rio,
of
in
S.
hones, 213
Luigi dei Francesi, Martyrdom
Matthew, Caravaggio, 71
Maria Aracoeli, amhones, 213;
,
of
S.
in
S.
S.
Sabina,
Temple
Temple
wooden
doors,
217n
of Concord, 126
of Vespasian, 126
Vatican,
S.
Villa Albani,
Meleager sarcophagus,
218
RosseUi, Cosimo, 199
Rossellino, Bernardo, 52, 96,
Rossetti, Giambattista,
Rossi,
Vincenzo
de',
delle
Galleria
Capitolino,
38; Spinario, 86
259
portraits,
249
107n
171n
79f
129
Rosso, Giuseppe del, 42
Rossore, St., see Donatello, Pisa
Russorio, see Rossore
Rustici,
Giovanni Francesco, 79
Sacchetti, Franco, 42
sacra conversazione, 180f
Salutati, Coluccio, 7n
St.
rhetor statues, 40
sarcophagi, 53, 159
Rome, Biblioteca Albani, 101
Capitol, Marcus Aurelius, 158, 161
,
Column of Trajan, 83, 187
on Donatello, 126
Pagno
92;
above
Roman
Paris,
di
Romana
159
Poccetti, Bernardo, 13
St.
226, 236
Rimini, S. Francesco, David on doorframe, 22n
Rio, Antonio da, see Rome, S. Francesca
lion
Museo Nazionale,
184n
Giulia,
Barberini,
187;
S.
35,
19, 24,
on door jambs,
17,
224, 230
Quercia, Jacopo della, lOn, 221n; rivalry
62n
singhularj,
Villa
Vulci,
XIV uomini
slab,
di
St.
prudentia, 53n
Industriale,
Museo
tomb
102
Museo Nazionale
Etruscan pediments from
130n
Palazzo
146n
Palazzo Venezia, Annunciation, Giovanni da Milano, 106
Pasquino, 37, 99
Private
Etruscan bronze
146n
Clemente, 232; amhones, 213
Francesca Romana, monument
Antonio da
159n
Giovanni Laterano, tomb
92
Museum,
Satyr,
sanctimonia, 203
Sandrart, Joachim, 146n
Index
Sassoli,
Lorenzo, 109
Ven-
151f, 156
156
( Berchtesgaden )
Collection Estate
of Claire v. Abegg, dupUcate of the
Striib
head
da Uzzano" bust
in the Museo Nazionale, Florence, 237
Suardi, Gianfrancesco, 205
superbia, 203
of the "Niccolo
Tacitus, Annales, 36
Tadda, Francesco
del,
80
179
Theodoric, equestrian statue (destroyed),
158
tello,
7
"Thusnelda," see Florence, Loggia dei
Lanzi
Tiefenbronn, Altar, Lucas Moser, 125n
Tino di Camaino, 90, 214
Tiziano Minio, 175
Tommaso
Ghiberti, Quercia
Cathedral, 81, 203; Cappella S. Giovanni, 197; apostle statues, 220n; tomb
of Cardinal Petroni, 214; St. John the
Baptist, see Donatello; tomb of Giovanni Pecci, see Donatello
Fonte degli Ebrei, 203
Fontegiusta church, putto on ciborium, Giovarmi delle Bombarde, 74n
Loggia di S. Paolo, xii, 202f
Museo deirOpera del Duomo, Three
Graces, 107
Palazzo Pubblico, Guidoriccio dei
Fogliani, Simone Martini, 157
Pinacoteca, Madonna of Humility,
Lorenzo Monaco, 87
Agostino, Massacre
Giovanni,
Matteo
Maria
Feast
,
of the
S.
di
cents,
,
dei Servi,
S.
Pietro Lorenzetti,
Sienese
art,
Inno-
185n
of Herod,
70
Thetis,
di Paolo,
66
Leho, 44
Tomabuoni, Lucrezia, 196n
Torre, Giulio della, 141n
Torelli,
Torrigio, Francesco, 97
Tosinghi, Pier, 78
Toulouse, St. Semin,
Porte
influence on Donatello,
69n
Miegeville,
217n
153, 159
Socrates, 141
Valori,
sprezzatura, 36,
Spoleto,
Tempio
40
di Clitunno,
52
90n
Gughelmo
della,
Museo Na-
xi,
Anastasia, equestrian
Cortesia Sarego, 158, 161n
Fermo, Brenzoni tomb, Naimi
158
Maria Antica,
tombs, 156,
158, 161
Mantegna, 172, 180f
Zeno,
,
statue
S.
di
S.
S.
S.
Scaligeri
Altar,
Verrocchio, Andrea del, 53n, 82; Florence, Museo Nazionale, David, 3, 81n;
Or San Michele, Christ and St. Thomas,
Palazzo Vecchio, bronze
51f;
46fiF,
putto, 79f; S. Lorenzo, Old Sacristy,
Lavabo, 195; Pistoia, Cathedral, Forteguerri monument, 91; Venice, Campo
SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Colleoni monument, 154, 160
Vesalius, Andreas, 186
Vespasiano da Bisticci, 7, 132, 134, 202,
209, 214f
Vierma, formerly Collection Archduke
Franz Ferdinand v. Este, bronze tondo.
Madonna and Angels, 244
Villani, Giovanni, 43n
Villani, Matteo, 42n
Vinci, S. Croce, 191n
Leonardo da, 82
80
20
197
vivacitd, 29,
3flF,
9flF,
of
Bartolo,
Vittoria, Alessandro,
xivn, xv,
171
78
Volpaia, Lorenzo della, 3
vultus trifrons, 53
13,
260
Vitruvius,
163ff, 182f
Bartolommeo di Taldo, 59
Vanni, Lippo, 185
Varchi, Benedetto, 79, 210
varietd, 130
Vasari, Giorgio,
Vinci,
supposed
zionale
Valle,
Florence,
monument, Verrocchio,
154, 160
Doge's Palace, 130
Scuola di S. Rocco, 188
,
SS. Giovanni e Paolo, tomb of Tommaso Mocenigo, 26n, 62; tomb of
Antonio Veniero, 62
S. Maria dei Frari, choir screen, 148n,
177; tomb of Francesco Dandolo, 91n;
equestrian statue of Paolo Savelli, 158;
Titian monument, 188; triptych, Giovanni Bellini, 181; St. John the Baptist,
see Donatello
Veniero, Antonio, tomb, see Venice, SS.
Giovanni e Paolo
Vemia, Pier Antonio da, 9
Verona, Porta dei Borsari, 52
David
Martelli, see
Donatello
Wicar, Jean-Baptiste, 129
Washington,
see
Collection,
D.C., National Gallery of Art
Windsor Castle, St. Michael, study, Peru-
Widener
gino,
winged
art,
26n
feet in ancient
and Renaissance
145f
Zeuxis, 10
Zocchi, Giuseppe, 237
Zuccone, see Donatello, Florence,
deirOpera del Duomo
Museo
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LORENZO GHIBERTI
BY RICHARD KRAUTHEIMER
and TRUDE KRAUTHEIMER-HESS
"One
of
the
American scholarship
New
fashioned."
"The
rereading and
skillful
new
standard
.
No
work
recent
to study a
monographs.
Renaissance
for
major
to
and
fresh
ornaments
greatest
in English attempts
compassing
Saturday Review.
lens."
it
can provide
ern
for
tradition;
future
it
all
the West-
and
students
remain
will
an
as
Art News.
ence."
"A
and
in
early
artistic life
fifteenth-century
The American
work."
".
for
Scholar.
he [Professor Krautheimer]
make any
further
Here
is
a lucid, carefully
with
count
mono-
to
come.
documented,
beautiful
ac-
illustrations."
Manchester Guardian.
"It
is
to
the
is
will be able
life
hard
come
by. It
is
all
here, within
Illus-
London News.
17^)
plates.
Monographs
Archaeology, 31.
1956. $30.00
in
Art
and
W. JANSON
H.
"A
hoard of scholarship,
"It
is
marked throughout by
achievement." Renaissance
"The
insight,
<
rare
News
some of which
artistic
and
early
will be unfamiliar to
Apollo
"Lavish and impressive catalogue raisonne of Donatello's sculpture. ...
that his apparatus
is
"To open
for
it
on Donatello, because
model
its
it is
this first
of
its
kind and
method.
it
to be
is
hoped
It
that others,
working on
similar
literature
volume [the
plates]
it is
is
to
insights.
is
cast in the
form of
stantial
as far
more than
plates.
"No
Jr.,
As
a whole, these
and meticulously
critical
method
two very
It is
sub-
abundantly
in the unfolding of a
Art News
have been
plates]
and reproduced. They are planned as a systematic exposition of Donatello's work not as
illustrations in the conventional sense, and are accurate, thorough, and informative. Never before
selected
has the
no
work
letterpress, the
medium been
landmark
and
fundamental work
The
critical
There
Were
is,
there
however, a
grief.
The
and Professor Janson's clear-headedness and assiduity have done so much to codify and
explain in this admirable and immensely learned book) is not merely the first body of work
vision
which the
own
but the
first
great
to
in
self-