Sculptor (c. 1385/6 - 1466)

01.12.11: Gallery Text

Donatello is one of the greatest sculptors that ever lived owing to his astonishing ability to portray the spectrum of human emotion and character. Long-lived and versatile, he worked in a great range of materials. This work offers a clear picture of the artist and the man.

His own heroic style, first seen in the "St Mark" (1411-12) and his "St John Evangelist" (1413-15), made his reputation. In both these he created a new kind of humanity, slightly larger than life and exemplifying those qualities of will that were so highly prized in the early renaissance. His "St George" (1416-c.1420) for Osanmichele the Saint is a portrayal of the Christian hero, but more significantly it is the earliest datable example of perpective being used to create definable space for the figures to occupy.