DONATELLO, or DONATO DI BETTO BARDI, Italian sculptor: b. Florence, between 1382 and 1387; d. there, 13 Dec. 1466. By his character and genius, by.the historic importance and artistic quality of his work, he is one of the most original and grandest figures of the glorious Quattrocento. Since the preponderat ing role of naturalism in freeing modern art has been properly recognized, Donatello has been assigned his real place. In 1886 Florence celebrated, as a national event, the fifth cen tenary of his birth. At an early period he was greatly influenced by Brunellesco. The great models of antiquity also exerted a powerful influence over him. After a stay of two or three years in Rome he returned to Florence, where he began in earnest his career as sculptor. The first work in which Donatello impressed his personality was the marble statue of Saint Michael on the northern facade of the church of Or-San-Michele, together with its accompa nying bas-reliefs. Another admirable piece of work are the three figures — Saint John the Baptist, David and Jeremiah on the west facade of the campanile of Santa Maria del Fiore. Among the works belonging to this • early Florentine period and in which he holds himself aloof alike from all of the ancients and from the violent realism of some of his contemporaries we may note the statue and bust of Saint John in the Martelli palace, 'Christ in the Sepulchre'; 'Madonna and Child); 'Jesus Christ giving the keys to St. Peter,' all in the Kensington Museum; the charming profile of Saint John in the Uffizi, and 'Head of a Young Girl,' in the Louvre. Donatello was very intimate with his patron and protector, Cosmo de Medici, and it is probably to his influence and to that of Ghiberti that are due certain works directly inspired by the ancients. Of these the bronze (David) is the most noteworthy. The 'St. of the Uffizi and the (Madeleine) of the Florentine baptistery are important as psychological studies rather than as works of art of a purely original type.
Donatello executed four monuments in col laboration with Michelozzo Michelozzi, the tombs of Pope John XXIII, Cardinal Bran cacci, and Bartolomeo Aragazzi, also the bas relief in bronze of the baptismal fonts in the Siena baptistery, all of which were completed between 1420 and 1432. In 1444 Donatello re moved to Padua where he was destined to execute some of his most imperishable works, among others, the statue of Gattamelata, and the decorations in the basilica of Saint Antony. From 1450 to 1453 Donatello was engaged suc cessively at Ferrara, Venice and Modena, after which he returned to Padua. In 1456 we find him at Ferrara and it was probably in the fol lowing year that he returned to Florence. Al though now in advanced years, he was full of activity and it is without doubt between this date (1457) and his death that he executed many of the works mentioned above, also the bronze 'Saint John' at Siena, and the Evangelists' for the church of Saint Laurence, where the artist was buried close by his friend and patron, Cosmo de Medici. Donatello was the precursor of Michelangelo. Well versed in the craft of the ancients he preserved, to a degree even greater than Ghiberti, their great canons and simplicity.
Since 1886 the large hall at the Bargello has been exclusively devoted to the display of his works. Consult the biographies by Angelini, Carocci, Melani and Balcarres (London 1903), the best in English; also Vasari, 'Lives of the Painters, etc.) (English trans., New York 1912-16) ; Bode, (Denkmaler der Renaissance skulptur Italiens' (Munich 1905), which con tains a complete series of reproductions of the sculptor's works; id., 'Florentiner Bildhauer der Renaissance' (English trans., London 1808) ; Tschudi, (Donatello e la Critica moderna> (Turin 1887).