The 15 best works of Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi)

The Renaissance was a period of transition between the Middle Ages and the first steps of the Modern Age. Sculpture had its heyday at this stage, taking ancient works and their mythology as a basis and model. He used all kinds of materials, being marble, wood and bronze, the main elements of Renaissance sculpture.

Among the pioneering sculptors of the Renaissance we find Donato di Betto Bardi, known worldwide as Donatello, who was born in Florence, Italy, in 1386. From a very young age, Donatello began working in the world of construction and ornamentation. And it would not take long for him to become a legend.

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Who was Donatello?

From a very young age, Donatello began working in the world of construction and ornamentation. Later his artistic career is divided into three stages: The first stage lasted until 1425 and had a great Gothic influence, but also a classical and realistic trend. The second period goes from 1425 to 1443 where he used some models and sculptural principles from classical antiquity. In the third stage, Donatello focuses more intensely on realism and drama.

Donatello was a man who did not place any value on financial mattersIt is understood that this artist left the money he earned with his work in his workshop so that his assistants could use it whenever they wanted. That is why it is believed that during his old age he lived in poverty. He spent his last years in bed due to a completely paralyzed illness and a blindness that was getting worse and worse. He died on December 13, 1466 in the same city where he was born.

Best works of Donatello

This artist stood out for his strong innovation in monumental sculpture and in the execution of deep reliefs within a minimum plane, which is called stiacciato or flattened relief and is considered one of his great contributions to art.

Perhaps at first Donatello could be confused with other great sculptors of the Roman period, but as he Years passed and a name began to form and originating dynamic works and futuristic figures almost reaching the expressionism.

Therefore, below you will know the best works that were made by this great creative artist.

1. Equestrian monument of Condottiero Gattamelata

It is a sculpture that caused a great sensation in its time since it represents an equestrian motif that was in disuse since ancient Rome, becoming a very different work from those that existed. It is made of bronze with a dimension of 340 by 390 centimeters and is supported on a base of 7.80 by 4.10 meters.

Donatello was inspired to make this magnificent work, in the sculpture of horses located in the San Marcos Church in Venice, although many connoisseurs In the matter they erroneously assure that the inspiration came from the equestrian sculpture of Marco Aurelio that is in the Plaza del Campidoglio in Rome.

It was dedicated to Erasmus of Narni, better known as ‘Gattamelata’, Condottiero of the Most Serene Republic of Venice. It is located in the Plaza del Santo in Padua, Italy, and is characterized by the victorious serenity of its rider who is on the horse and marches majestically with his cane in hand.

2. David del Bargello

It is considered one of the best works of Donatello and for which he is recognized throughout the world. It is a full body figure of King David Made in bronze and represents the triumph of reason over brute force as it expresses the triumph of David over the giant Goliath.

With this sculpture, the artist applies the plastic values ​​of the Renaissance such as balance, symmetry, proportion, sobriety and exaltation of human nudity. It is located in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, in Florence, Italy.

3. The Cavalcanti Annunciation

It is the first work that gave Donatello notoriety. It is a relief made in sandstone with polychrome areas and gold appliques, it is a work that expresses the scene in which the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is God's chosen one to be the mother of her only son who will be named Jesus. Donatello masterfully immortalized this dialogue by giving the characters candid, subtle faces and opposing movements.

4. Judith and Holofernes

Made of bronze, it was built in such a way that it can be seen from any point of view. Represents freedom and the triumph of the weak over the strong. This work was an order of the Medici who were a very powerful and influential family of the Renaissance in where the popes stood out: Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV and Leo XI and of the Queens Catalina and María de Medici.

In this play, Judith cuts off the head of her enemy and Donatello describes it very eloquently. He currently resides in the Room of the Lilies of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy.

5. Penitent Mary Magdalene

With this piece, Donatello breaks with the classic naturalistic style and approaches the Baroque. Here we see a Mary Magdalene with an emaciated, ragged and old appearance, very unusual to what we are used to seeing from this woman follower of Jesus. With this figure, the artist expresses the soul's desire to live the purest love and contempt for human laws especially the ideal of beauty. It is made of polychrome wood and is located in the Museo dell´ Opera del Duomo, Florence.

6. Herod's Feast

It was crafted in bronze as an order from the Siena Cathedral for its baptismal font. In this work the technique of the stiacciato. Several artists participated in it and Donatello made the scene where Salome makes the request to King Herod to have the head of John the Baptist.

Using linear perspective gives a sense of spatial depth. You can see a room behind the feast and another one further away where you can see the moment where the head is brought on a silver tray.

7. San Marcos

This sculpture stands out for being in detail realistic, which clearly shows the skills of the artist. San Marcos has his left knee more bent, his torso a little twisted and he has more weight on his right leg. He presents a kind of curtain that differentiates him from medieval works.

The saint presents a very realistic draping in linen in honor of the guild that hired the artist. The pattern of the spinners is presented as a wise evangelist carved with classicist techniques and Gothic memorabilia.

8. Crucifix of the Holy Cross

It is a 168 x 173 cm polychrome piece of wood, which was highly criticized because Jesus looked very peasant thanks to the realism that Donatello achieved, since it placed greater emphasis on human suffering. In Christ, the agony, the tearing of the body and the partially open eyes, which were requested by the Franciscan order that hired the artist, stand out.

9. The Cantoria

It is a work of marble measuring 3.48 x 5.70 centimeters. It is a rectangular structure with balconies or choirs where representations of singers appear in relief. This work belongs to Donatello's second period called Poetic-Classical.

10. Saint John the Evangelist

This Donatello sculpture was carried away by his tastes, moving away from the plausible, tending towards unreality and abstraction. Saint John the Evangelist is a work made of marble and represents a seated man with long beards, shoulders arched, with a garment where chiaroscuro effects are observed, large and expressive hands, where one of they holds a book believed to be the Holy Bible.

11. The Altar of the Saint

This bronze sculpture it was done with the lost wax technique. It is a work in which Donatello experimented with more freedom. It is a niche where the Virgin Mary and the Saints stand on a pedestal adorned with relief and enclosed within a tabernacle crowned with a canopy with a vault.

12. The pensive prophet

It is a white marble sculpture, made with lines that show the greatness of Donatello. It is not certain with which character this work is identified, even though it is believed that it resembles San Marco (a work previously made by the sculptor). It has the typical deep thoughtful gesture, where the right hand is placed as if it were pulling the beard.

13. The Sacrifice of Isaac

This work is made up of two figures placed in such a way that they occupy the same space within their niche. Represents Abraham as he offers his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Her right leg rests on a log and with her hand she holds the knife to her son's neck and with the other she holds the hair. It is characterized by torsion and the anatomy of the bodies.

14. San giorgio

Also known as Saint George Saves the Princess, it is a work in marble and with the stiacciato bas-relief style. It is one of the most representative Renaissance sculptures of the artist. They have converging lines that give a kind of chiaroscuro variations.

15. Atis-Love

It is a bronze sculpture that represents a child who seems to start a dance with his arms in the air and with a sway of the shoulders. The attitude is cheerful and vital, with reflections of pagan culture. It has wings like Eros, as well as the rear and its sex in the air, taking an air of Atis.