Donatello was born in 1386 in Florence, Italy and was known as the most influential, individual artist during the 15 century. His full name is Niccolo di Betto Bardi and was nicknamed Donatello by his friends. He had close ties with the Medici family through the Martellis, where he had been educated in the arts. Donatello learned sculpting from the goldsmith in the neighborhood near by. The local goldsmith taught him fabrication of substances and also metallurgy. Then he had followed and was taught by Lorenzo Ghiberti, a well known sculptor. Lorenzo was picked to sculpt the Cathedral doors and brought Donatello along to accompany him. Donatello then met up with Filippo Brunelleschi, another well known sculptor, and traveled to Rome to study art. No …show more content…
Donatello was among the first sculptors and influential human beings of the Renaissance period. The Renaissance had begun around 1350 and Donatello became known about 58 years later in 1408. Donatello’s style was very unique for its time period and showed innovation and extraordinary skill. He built a foundation for the upcoming sculptors in the next 300 years and his actions will not go unnoticed. The pieces that had shown his talent and that were also most influential among the Renaissance were David, Gattamelata, and Saint Mark.
In 1408, he had completed David, a life-sized marble figure of a hero from Italian fables. Originally, the statue was to be put up in the Cathedral, but was instead put up in the town hall, Palazzo Vecchio, to defy the authority of the Florence. At the time, Florence was in a struggle with the King of Naples. Donatello had more of a Gothic style and David reflected it a lot. Gothic art and architecture symbolizes the gothic tribes that destroyed the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. It has nothing to do with the goth style of today
A little over 6 feet of marble, Donatello’s first version of David was one of his earliest known commisions that mark the beginning of his artistic career. He was commissioned by the Operai of the cathedral of Florence to create a David statue to decorate one of the buttresses. The statue ended up looking too small when placed high up, so it was taken down and later requested to be displayed in Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall. Many historians dismiss his first version of David, calling this piece unoriginal and nothing to praise.
Michelangelo was born in Caprese, Italy on March 6th 1475. His family was politically prominent as his family had large land property. His father was a banker and was looking to his son to engage in his businesses. As a young boy, he has ambitions of becoming a sculptor, but his father was very discouraging of this. He wanted his son to live up to the family name and take up his father’s businesses. Michelangelo became friends with Francesco Granacci, who introduced him to Domenico Ghirlandio(biography.com). Michelangelo and his father got into a series of arguments until eventually they arranged for him to study under Ghirlandaio at the age of thirteen. Ghirlandaio watched Michelangelo work and recognized his talent for the art and recommended him into an apprenticeship for the Medici family palace studio after only one year of at the workshop. The Medici’s were very rich from making the finest cloths. Lorenzo, which was one of the most famous of the family had a soft side for art and is credited for helping the Italian Renaissance become a time of illustrious art and sculpting. At ...
Pope Julius was in fact the one to make a great and visionary choice of contracting the future renowned artist Michelangelo.” At thirty-three years of age Michelangelo was the most gifted and sought after sculptor in all of Europe. It was Julius II… early in 1505, ordered that the young sculptor come to Rome”(Rome.info,2012). Michelangelo Di Lodoivico Buonarroti Simoni born in March 6 1475. Being one of the first names you think of when you here renaissance Michelangelo was born Caprese near Arezzo, Tuscany.
During the time of the renaissance, Italy became the cultural center of Europe and of the renaissance (“Italian Renaissance”). Art had a major impact on the people of Italy during the Renaissance. Many pieces of art were seen as a metaphor for the people of Italy. Italy had independent city-states with their own governments (“Italian Renaissance”). Michelangelo’s sculpture “David” was an example of a sculpture seen as a metaphor. It represented the biblical hero from the story of David and Goliath was seen as a metaphor for the people of Italy against the government it reminded them that someone as small as David once defeated a giant(“Michelangelo Buonarroti”). Even though the arts were changing in Italy, the government was not doing so well. Michelangelo had training in humanism which in the renaissance artist’s art challenged the church and government, they also encouraged that others do the same (“Italian Renaissance”.) This led to many wars throughout this
A good deal is known about Donatello's life and career, but little is known about his character. Donatello was born in Florence, Italy in 1386 and died in 1466; he was never married and had no children. He was a master of sculpture in bronze and marble and is considered to be one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists of his time. The first sculpture is of Donatello?s David, 1425-1430. Its material is bronze and stands 5? 2 ¼? and is currently located at Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. The sculpture is a nude and is contrapposto. The scene being depicted is after the clash with Goliath. Donatello?s statue of David was the first large scale, free-standing nude statue of the Renaissance. The sculpture helps to strike a balance between classicism and the realism by presenting a very real image of a boy in the form of a classical nude figure. Although Donatello was inspir...
Donatello was the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool carder. It is not known how he started his career but probably learned stone carving from one of the sculptors working for the cathedral of Florence about 1400. Sometime between 1404 and 1407 he became a member of the workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti who was a sculptor in bronze. Donatello’s earliest work was a marble statue of David. The “David” was originally made for the cathedral but was moved in 1416 to the Palazzo Vecchio which is a city hall where it long stood as a civic patriotic symbol. From the sixteenth century on it was eclipsed by the gigantic “David” of Michelangelo which served the same purpose. Other of Donatello’s early works which were still partly gothic are the impressive seated marble figure of St. John the Evangelist for the cathedral and a wooden crucifix in the church of Sta. Croce.
In Donatello’s lifetime he had many accomplishments weather it was sculpting or just huge achievements. Donatello sent a while on his famous sculptor, Saint George, which was sculpted from 1416 to about 1420(ward par 2, 3, 4). 1428 was when the town put up a ancient Roman Pillar in the market place and that they asked him to make a statue because they believed he was the best sculptor(Morley 13,18). One of the monuments he created was Padua and he created that between 1443 and 1453. A well know sculptor of his was the statue Zuccone which people say showed the effective use of realism(Ward par 2,3,4).
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi better known as, Donatello, was an artist during the Renaissance art movement. He
About eighty years after Divine Comedy was written, a surge of architecture and sculpture had risen. Three prominent artists in the later Middle Ages were famed for their original designs that held Roman, Greek, and Christian influences within their work. Donatello and Brunelleschi contributed to an era that perpetually changed Western art and it was due to
...’s David fell prey to the image of a hero that was limited to the use of force and pride, while the marble statue done by Michelangelo wanted to show that no matter how great something/someone may seem; it is important to remember that there is a flaw in greatness and that it must be recognized before it consumes the entirety of the being. The marble statue of David is both menacing and beautiful, emphasizing the importance of inner strength over outer strength. This concept is something the appeared frequently in Biblical text and communicated to the people that there is no need to rely on the strength of gods or others. Classical Antiquity inspired the people of Florence to continue the legacy of a great empire and create an independent city-state of values that is reflected though astounding masterpieces that served a greater purpose than cathedral decorations.
One of the ways he did this was by crafting a lot of works: “The world remained so full of his works, that it may be affirmed right truly that no craftsmen ever worked more than he did.” (377) Vasari praises Donatello’s various works throughout the biography. The collection of works that Vasari mentions, suggests that Donatello was more than just a sculptor because he produced and sold many designs. This was similar to a baker or merchant in Renaissance Florence that was constantly selling his or her own product to others. Furthermore, Donatello’s many works were studied and praised by future Renaissance artists. One of the most influential and well known is Michelangelo Buonarroti. At the end of the biography, Vasari leaves the reader with an intriguing quote by Don Vincenzo Borghini that Borghini stated in a book where he collected drawings from esteemed artists. Borghini states that “Either the spirit of Donato works in Buonarroto, or that of Buonarotto began by working in Donato.” (378). Donatello also had other students such as Bertoldo who “he left all his work to be completed by” (377). Donatello inspired and had other students work under him and taught them his craft. Therefore, Donatello inspired Michelangelo and other artists that became famous and excellent artists in their own right. This shows that Donatello left a lasting
This invention distinguish his David from any other David Statue before him. At Bernini’s ear, David was a popular subject in Italy. At that time Italy did not have a powerful central government, and cities were seeking for their independence. The story of David killed Goliath and won the independence of Israel was understand as a symbol of independent. Therefore the statue of David also had political meanings. The two most famous David were from Donatello and Michelangelo. Donatello made two David, one was marble and one was bronze, but the ideas behind them are same. Donatello’s David stood still. He had successfully achieve his goal and killed Goliath, whose head lying at his feet. Michelangelo’s David was nude and had perfect athletic muscles and proportion, and fairly smooth flesh. His body was so perfect that made him immortal and divine. He had not yet embarked on the actual combat but would departure instantly. He stood still confidently. Michelangelo’s David was actually much more vivid than Donatello’s. Nevertheless, when compared to Bernini’s David, even the former seems lack the sense of motion. Bernini made his David a mortal. Bernini expressed a man in the middle of his ferocious action in an ultra realistic
Commissioned by Cosimo de’Medici to be housed in the Palazzo Medici. While is contained some of the design elements seen in earlier forms of art with the long graceful proportions and ornamentation, it was radical in several ways. Most paintings and sculpture of David up to Donatello’s time were representing the King David, King of Israel. Contrasting this, Donatello’s David was youthful, following the biblical story of David being very young. More surprisingly than the age difference of past David depictions, was that Donatello’s David was nude.
Donatello’s first representation of David (commissioned in 1408) sculpted out of marble had very gothic undertones, the positioning of the legs suggests a classical contrapposto (relaxed stance, shifted weight), the figure takes on an elegant Gothic sway which are seemingly the influence of Lorenzo Ghiberti. In 1416 the David was commanded to be sent to Signoria of Florence’s palazzo as it was viewed as an effective political symbol for Florence as well as a religious hero.
Filippo Brunelleschi was born in 1377 in Florence, Italy. He had one older brother and one younger brother. His mom was Giuliana Spini and his dad was Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, who was a Florentine notary. Even though Brunelleschi never married, he had one adopted son, Buggiano. After Brunelleschi trained to be a sculptor and goldsmith, in 1398, he applied to make the bronze reliefs for the door of the Baptistery of Florence in 1401. Sometime around this time he picked up the nickname “Pippo” by his friends. He was competing against six sculptors, one of them being Lorenzo Ghiberti. Unfortunately, Filippo didn’t win; Lorenzo Ghiberti did. After he lost, Filippo decided to leave his sculpting and to focus on architecture, where he worked with gears, clocks, wheels, and weights and math. He became very successful in those two fields. He turned out to be an architect and a clockmaker, but he was still a goldsmith too. He was also the first engineer in the renaissance (“Filippo Brunelleschi 1377-1446”). He was the architect for the Cathedral of Florence, also called the Santa Maria del Fiore.