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Uffizi Donatello. Statues at the Uffizi, on the facade of the Gallery building. Famous florentines: Donatello. Picture by used Frieda, September 18 2004. Original uploader of the photo was Frieda –

Top 10 Little Known Facts about Donatello

Donatello di Niccolo di betto Bardi, better known as simply Donatello, is arguably one of the most influential sculptors from the Italian Renaissance. He was born in 1386 or 1387 in Florence, Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown.

Donatello’s father was Niccolo di Betto Bardi. The Bardi family was commercially successful and Niccolo Bardi was a wool carder that had earned a modest place in Florence’s bourgeois society.

The social rank likely earned Donatello an apprenticeship around 1400 to learn stone–carving with one of the many sculptors who worked nearby during the construction of Florence’s cathedral, the Duomo.

1. Donatello did not spend his entire youth as a studio apprentice to a master

Half-length portrait of Donatello, Italian sculptor, engraved on a copperplate by Nicolas de Larmessin; from the book Académie Des Sciences Et Des Arts by Isaac Bullart, published in Amsterdam by Elzevier in 1682. Photo by Nicolas de Larmessin and Esme de Boulonois –

Unlike many other celebrated artists of his day, Donatello did not spend his entire youth as a studio apprentice to a master. Instead, he studied briefly with a stone mason and a goldsmith.

 He then worked with Lorenzo Ghiberti on the bronze entry to Florence’s Baptistery, which was later dubbed the Gates of Paradise by Michelengelo.  At the tender age of 17, Donatello was out on his own, making a name for himself in Renaissance Florence.

2.  The artist progressed during his life from humble beginnings

Cinque maestri del rinascimento fiorentino, XVI sec, donatello. Photo by Florentine School –

 The artist progressed during his life from humble beginnings as the son of a wool carder to a final resting place beside his lifelong supporter, Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici, who was a wealthy banker, an art patron, and the founder of the powerful Medici dynasty of Italy, de facto rulers of Florence during the artist’s lifetime.

3. The elder Medici had commissioned Donatello’s best-known work

Pulpito di Donatello Sacra Cintola duomo di Prato Giovanni Nerbini. Donatello Holy Girdle Prato Cathedral Giovanni Nerbini. Photo by Wikiprato –

The elder Medici had commissioned Donatello’s best-known work, the bronze David , in 1430 as well as many other artworks. The men’s remains are entombed side by side in Florence’s Basilica of San Lorenzo.

4. Donatello popularized a unique manner of communicating motion

Fotoreproductie van (vermoedelijk) een fresco van Paolo Uccello, voorstellend een portret van Donatello Portret van Donatello (Donato di Niccoló di Betto Bardi) door Paolo Ucello. Photo by Rijksmuseum –

Donatello popularized a unique manner of communicating motion in otherwise inanimate stone.

 The Italian name for this technique, which shows figures in energetic, spiraling poses, is “figura serpentinata.” It is similar to but not the same as contrapposto, a type of pose also used by sculptors. Subsequent masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael,   and Michelangelo variously adopted both techniques to breathe life into their sculptures.

5. Donatello spent several years in Rome

Donatello Santa Croce Florence. Monument à la mémoire de Donatello, Basilique Santa Croce de Florence, Italie. 1895. Photo by Jebulon –

Early in the 15th century, Donatello spent several years in Rome with fellow Florentine and goldsmith apprentice Filippo Brunelleschi where they excavated for relics and studied the city’s ruins. This trip gave Donatello a rep

utation as a treasure seeker. He later worked again in Rome sculpting tombs with the artist/architect Michelozzo, whom he had met in Ghiberti’s workshop.

6. Donatello sculptor journeyed to Padua in the Republic of Venice where he completed a commission

Donatello. Photo unattributed –

 In later life, the sculptor journeyed to Padua in the Republic of Venice where he completed a commission for a life-sized bronze statue of famed military leader Gattameleta horseback. As the first publicly displayed, standalone bronze equestrian statue since ancient times, the sculpture represented a paradigm for future works of other Italian and European artists.

7. Donatello produced a carved wood statue, Penitent Magdalene

Santa croce, cenotafio a donatello e tomba carlo botta. Photo by sailko –

 Donatello did not confine himself to stone and metal as media for his sculptures. He produced a carved wood statue,Penitent Magdalene, around 1450, for the Baptistery of Florence. The statue was groundbreaking in Renaissance Christian art for its realism and the unique vision of Mary Magdalene as one who is wasted away from fasting rather than healthy and beautiful as she appears in earlier art.

8. Donatello was not generally well-liked as a person

Frari (Venice) Cappella di San Giovanni Battista – San Giovanni Battista di Donatello. Photo by
Didier Descouens –

Despite being a celebrated artist of his day, Donatello was not generally well-liked as a person. He was known to destroy a sculpture sooner than allowing someone he didn’t approve of to buy it.

He highly valued his artistic freedom, and he earned a reputation in society for being abrasive. Under the protection of the Medici family, the artist did not have to worry about the repercussions of his antisocial behavior.

9. Donatello enjoyed fame, acclaim, and financial success during his lifetime

Villa Torlonia – Donatello Fiorentino. Rome, Italy. Photo by Stefano Bolognini –

Contrary to today’s conception of the starving artist, Donatello enjoyed fame, acclaim, and financial success during his lifetime.

While this is largely due to his talent, artistic vision, and love of innovation, his close relationship with the Medici family didn’t hurt, providing him with a reliable source of commissions.

10. The vast majority of his surviving works remain in that city and Rome

Donatello, incoronazione della vergine. Photo unattributed –

Although Donatello’s artistic influence was not confined to Florence, the vast majority of his surviving works remain in that city and Rome. The single artwork by the early Renaissance master now on exhibit in the U.S. is his Marble Madonna, rendered in Donatello’s signature rilievo schiacciato, or flat relief style, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Three primary factors contributed to the fact that as an artist in Florence around the beginning of the 15th century, Donatello was squarely situated in the cradle of the Renaissance. Not only did his prosperous hometown have a wealthy merchant class, but it was a gathering place for artists and its proximity to Rome meant that artists did not have far to go to reconnect with classical ideals, subject matter, and techniques.