Donatello

8 Pages 1992 Words

tition for the commission of the Florentine Baptistery, the two of them went to Rome. There the locals called them ‘treasure seekers’ because they sought to study anything and everything that they could of the ancient influences and knowledge (Munro 136). Before Donatello went to Rome, he carved the wooden Crucifix (Fig. 1-2) at Santa Croce, Florence. When this is compared to his marble The Prophet David (Fig. 3-4), there are several differences between the two. The Crucifix is an extremely religious figure and the only human interest involved in it is the suffering of Jesus for man’s sins. Whereas The Prophet David is shown as a natural man who seemingly could be singing or talking with or amongst the people. The feet and ankles are exposed, one knee is bent to show natural movement, and realistic veins are in both hands. This breaks from the conventionally pillar like prophets used by the church to show authority. Also, the St. George was made with humanistic qualities. Simply the arrangement of the armed saint in a niche that frames and idolizes him with a god (in this case God) watching over him is fashioned from the “[...] countless antique Roman military stelai erected in the cemeteries and along the main road of the Roman Empire” (Greenhalgh 48). Apart from that, his armor derives from the Byzantine era and the saint‘s posture that is original. By dressing the Byzantine St. George in “[...] antique references [...]” Donatello materialized an eternal hero (62). Furthermore, Do...