Son of a woodcarver, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi was born in 1386 in Florence, Italy. Donatello was famous sculptor in bronze and marble, and is known to be one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists. Not much information is known about Donatello’s personality and charisma, except that he never married and was simply pleased. Patrons often found Donatello difficult to work with because in the Renaissance, artists’ working conditions were determined by the guild rules, and Donatello wanted his own artistic freedom, making his ideas clash with patrons’ ideas. Donatello knew a significant number of humanists pretty well, but he was not a “cultured intellectual.” According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “His humanist friends said he was …show more content…
George Killing the Dragon (1416-17), Donatello invented a new mode of relief called schiacciato, which translates in English to “flattened out”. This technique is where there is very shallow carving throughout which creates a more “striking effect of atmospheric space than before” (Donatello (Italian Sculptor), Encyclopedia Britannica). This technique allowed Donatello to “paint” his shapes with his chisel. “A schiacciato panel depends on visual rather than tactile perceptions and thus must be seen” (Donatello, (Italian Sculptor), Encyclopedia Brittanica). Most of Donatello’s marble work later on can only be fully seen in bright light because it was carved so finely. Donatello also became a major bronze sculptor. In bronze, he was able to “convey the impression of congruous organic structure beneath the drapery in his sculpture of St Louis.” In the 1420s, Donatello partnered with Michelozzo, although during this time he also did independent projects, some of which were in bronze for the baptismal font of San Giovanni in Sienna. The most important one of these was the Feast of Harod (1423-27) because of its detail and drama which it conveyed. This relief also demonstrated Donatello’s use and understanding of scientific linear perspective, that Brunelleschi invented a few years prior.” (Donatello (Italian Sculptor), Encyclopedia