Donatello brought the sculpted body back to life after its long Medieval slumber. Whereas earlier sculptors, prompted by Christian prudery, had drained the body of its vigor, cloaked its nakedness, and stripped it of individuality, Donatello revealed the body as a...
[more]Donatello brought the sculpted body back to life after its long Medieval slumber. Whereas earlier sculptors, prompted by Christian prudery, had drained the body of its vigor, cloaked its nakedness, and stripped it of individuality, Donatello revealed the body as a singular organic unity. He observed the body through secular eyes and saw its beauty in casual poses, everyday manners, and subtle gestures. Neither diminished in the face of God, nor apotheosized as divine Platonic forms, Donatello's bodies effuse a naturally elegant poise, a familiarity with their own skins.
The Renaissance saw a resurgence of Classical ideas and a renewed confidence in the dignity and ingenuity of mankind. Donatello was sculpture's manifestation of this movement: his art embodied humanist notions of freedom and individuality. The Classical emphasis on personality returns in his work -- for example in the pained face of his 'Magdalen in Penitence." But Donatello tempered the tendency towards heroism in Classical art with a predilection for more relaxed, quotidian postures. In merging pagan and Medieval traditions, Donatello signaled a new balance between Roman arrogance and Christian humility.
His bronze "David" (not to be confused with a later "David" in marble) shows just how pioneering Donatello's work was. As the first free-standing, life size nude statue since antiquity, it certainly came as a shock to his contemporaries. But Donatello did not merely imitate Classical predecessors: his "David" is not captured in the midst of battle, nor is he frozen in a triumphant pose. He stands casually, the back of his hand resting on his hip, the tip of his sword in the ground. His figure is lithe, almost feminine; neither arms nor breast nor legs ripple with muscle. He looks down contemplatively, and a slight smile glazes his lips. This is neither a virile, pagan David, nor a humble, diminutive one. It is Donatello's David: nonchalant, graceful, and mild.
Donatello was also a clever innovator. He was the first sculptor to develop a style known as "schiacciato": shallow reliefs etched lightly in stone. And he perfected a scientific technique, inspired by Brunelleschi, that allowed him to depict interior scenes in a partially flattened yet still three-dimensional space. Thus Donatello was both a bold cultural adventurer who went beyond the accepted aesthetics of his day, and a scientifically rigorous inventor grappling with perspective and representation.
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