Discovering Donatello: His Life, Works, & Legacy - Part 2

Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

This course will focus on the extraordinary artistic genius of the 15th-century sculptor Donatello. Through an in-depth analysis of selected works of art from throughout his prolific career, students will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the artistic vision of an artist whose range of expression is without equal in history. We shall also discuss the historical context of the artist’s life and those patrons who helped shape his career; as well as Donatello’s relationship to contemporary artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and Lorenzo Ghiberti.

Particular emphasis will be given to those works of art that served as inspiration for artists of later generations such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bernini, as well as those works that stand as singular milestones in the history of art.

Course Objectives:
- To bring a historical figure to life through a “hands on” approach to the works produced by the artist throughout the entirety of his career.
- To understand the role that the historical context of Donatello’s life had on his extraordinary artistic production.
- To learn to appreciate the rich and influential aspects of Italian art from the late 14th to the middle of the 15th century.
- To develop the fundamental skills of art historical analysis that include formal analysis and iconographic interpretation.
- To develop an ability to interact in a personal and intimate manner with works of art - which in the case of Donatello are some of the most innovative in history - and their surroundings.

THEME 1 - TREASURE HUNTER AND PEASANT MAKER

- Lecture 1 – The Crucifixes of Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi

Giorgio Vasari’s first story in his “Life of Donatello” concerns a wooden Crucifix that the young Donatello carved for the church of Santa Croce and that was criticized by Filippo Brunelleschi for being too naturalistic. This lecture will unpack Vasari’s anecdote which presents an important insight into how Donatello’s near contemporaries viewed him as perhaps the only sculptor to equal the genius of Michelangelo.

- Lecture 2 - Early Sculptures for Florence Cathedral – St. John the Evangelist and the marble David

The Opera – or “works committee” - of Florence Cathedral was Donatello’s most important and consistent patron. At only 22 years of age, Donatello produced two of his most important statues for the building committee. While Donatello’s St. John the Evangelist for the façade of the great church revealed the sculptor’s ingenuity and originality, his marble Davidfor the cathedral tribunes was instead adopted by the Florentine Republic as its official symbol.

THEME 2 - GUILD SCULPTURES AND THE BAPTISMAL FONT IN SIENA

- Lecture 3 – Sculptures for the Church of Orsanmichele – St. Mark, St. George, and St. Louis of Toulouse

Each of the three statues produced by Donatello for the guild church of Orsanmichele is a milestone in the history of art. St. Mark is generally considered the first fully Renaissance-style work of art. St. George is instead the first statue of the post-classical world to be represented in a narrative context. St. Louis of Toulouse instead reflects the sculptor’s extraordinarily expressive talents in the medium of bronze, while also demonstrating his profound knowledge of classical architecture.

- Lecture 4 – Relief Sculptures in Siena Baptistry – The Feast of Herod

In 1427, Donatello was commissioned by the Opera of the Baptistry of Siena to demonstrate his skill in bronze relief sculpture for the city’s main baptismal font. Other panels for the same font were produced by the celebrated Florentine goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti and Siena’s own renowned sculptor Jacopo della Quercia. Ultimately, Donatello’s often-overlooked panel not only outshined the works of the other two sculptors, but it also clearly displays Donatello’s mastery over the rules of linear perspective.

THEME 3 - THE REBIRTH OF CLASSICAL SCULPTURE

- Lecture 5 – Singing Statues in Florence Cathedral – The Cantoria

The massive marble choir loft carved by Donatello for Florence Cathedral is an explosion of music and dance, movement and freedom, youth and joy. Covered in shimmering mosaics, multi-colored enamels, and stones, it is perhaps the work of Renaissance sculpture that comes closest to demonstrating the Classical world’s surprising love of ornamentation.

- Lecture 6 – Sculpture all’antica – The Bronze David

Donatello’s bronze David was the first free-standing nude statue since ancient Roman times. In addition to restoring sculpture to its place alongside architecture, and not simply as ornamentation for it, Donatello also caused quite a ripple in traditional Christian iconography as the homoeroticism of the sculpture is palpable. This lecture will explore the iconography of the statue, as well as discussing various theoretical interpretations of its meaning.

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