distinction is vital, and were it not for the number and importance of
the exceptions, from Michael Angelo down to Alfred Stevens, one would
think that the sculptor-architect would be an anomaly. In describing
the pursuits of Donatello and Brunellesco during their first visit to
Rome, Manetti says that the former was engrossed by his plastic
researches, "_senza mai aprire gli occhi alla architettura_." It is
difficult to believe that Donatello had no eyes for architecture.
There are several reasons to show that later on he gave some attention
to its study. Like the Roman Tabernacle, the Niche on Or San
Michele[80] is without any Gothic details. Albertini mentions
Donatello as its sole author, but it is probable that Michelozzo, who
helped on the statue of St. Louis, was also associated with its niche.
It is a notable work, designed without much regard to harmony between
various orders of architecture, but making a very rich and pleasing
whole. It is decorated with some admirable reliefs. On the base are
winged _putti_ carrying a wreath; in the spandrils above the arch are
two more. The upper frieze has also winged cherubs' heads, six of them
with swags of fruit and foliage, all of exceptional charm and
vivacity. The motive of wings recurs in the large triangular space at
the top; flanking the magnificent Trinity, three grave and majestic
heads, which though united are kept distinct, and though similar in
type are full of individual character. This little relief, placed
rather high, and discountenanced by the bronze group below, is a
memorable achievement of the early fifteenth century and heralds the
advent of the power and solemnity, the _Terribilità_ of Michael
Angelo. Donatello's aptitude for architectural setting is also
illustrated by the choristers' galleries in the Cathedral and San
Lorenzo. The former must be dealt with in detail when considering
Donatello's treatment of childhood. As an architectural work it shows
how the sculptor employed decorative adjuncts such as mosaic and
majolica[81] to set off the white marble; he also added deep maroon
slabs of porphyry and bronze heads, thus combining various arts and
materials. Having no sculpture, the Cantoria of San Lorenzo is perhaps
more important in this connection, as it is purely constructive, while
its condition is intact: the Cathedral gallery having been rebuilt on
rather conjectural lines. In San Lorenzo we find the same ideas and
peculiarities, such as the odd egg and dart moulding which reappears
on the Annunciation. The colour effects are obtained by porphyry and
inlaid marbles. But we see how much Donatello trusted to sculpture,
and how indifferently he fared without it. This gallery does not
retain one's attention. There is a stiffness about it, almost a
monotony, and it looks more like the fragment of a balcony than a
_Cantoria_, for there is no marked terminal motive to complete and
enclose it at either end. Two gateways have been ascribed to
Donatello, but there is nothing either in their architecture or the
treatment of their heraldic decoration, which is distinctive of the
sculptor.[82] There can be no doubt that Donatello was employed as
architect by the Chapter of Sant' Antonio at Padua,[83] and his love
of buildings is constantly shown in the background of his reliefs. But
the strongest testimony to his architectural skill is derived from the
fact that he was commissioned in 1416 to make a model for the then
unfinished cupola of the Cathedral at Florence. Brunellesco and Nanni
di Banco also received similar orders. Brunellesco alone understood
the immense difficulty of the task, and in the next year he announced
his return to Rome for further research. In 1418 the sum of two
hundred gold florins was offered for the best model, and in 1419
Ghiberti, Nanni di Banco, Donatello and Brunellesco all received
payments for models. Donatello's was made of brick. Ultimately the
work was entrusted to Brunellesco, who overcame the ignorance and
intrigues which he encountered from all sides, his two staunch friends
being Donatello and Luca della Robbia. As to the nature of Donatello's
models we know nothing; it is, however, clear that his opinion was at
one time considered among the best available on a problem which
required knowledge of engineering. As a military engineer Donatello
was a failure. He was sent in 1429 with other artists to construct a
huge dam outside the besieged town of Lucca, in order to flood or
isolate the city. The amateur and _dilettante_ of the Renaissance
found a rare opportunity in warfare; and this passion for war and its
preparations occurs frequently among these early artists. Leonardo
designed scores of military engines. Francesco di Giorgio has left a
whole bookful of such sketches, in one of which he anticipates the
torpedo-boat.[84] So, too, Michael Angelo took his share in erecting
fortifications, though he did not fritter away so much time on
experiments as some of his contemporaries. Donatello and his
colleagues did not even leave us plans to compensate for their
ignominious failure. One is struck by the confidence of these
Renaissance people, not only in art but in every walk of life. They
were so sure of success, that failure came to be regarded as
surprising, and very unprofessional. Michael Angelo had no conception
of possible failure. He embarked upon the colossal statue of the Pope
when quite inexperienced in casting; he was the first to taunt
Leonardo on his failure to make the equestrian statue. When somebody
failed, the work was handed over to another man, who was expected to
succeed. Thus Ciuffagni had to abandon an unpromising statue, _quod
male et inepte ipsam laboravit_,[85] and the David of Michael Angelo
was made from a block of marble upon which Agostino di Duccio had
already made fruitless attempts.
[Footnote 80: The niche was completed about 1424-5. There is a drawing
of it in Vettorio Ghiberti's Note-book, p. 70. Landucci, in his
"Diario Fiorentino," says that Verrocchio's group was placed in it on
June 21, 1483.]
[Footnote 81: _Cf._ Payments to Andrea Moscatello, for painted and
glazed terra-cotta for the Paduan altar. May 1449.]
[Footnote 82: From the Residenza dell' arte degli Albergatori, and
that of the Rigattieri of Florence, figured on plates xii. and xv. of
Carocci's "Ricordi del Mercato Vecchio," 1887.]
[Footnote 83: _Cf._ Payments for work on "_Archi de la balconà de lo
lavoriero de la +_," _i.e._, the crociera of the church, March 30 and
April 11, 1444.]
[Footnote 84: Siena Library.]
[Footnote 85: Domopera, 7, vii. 1433.]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
THE MARZOCCO
BARGELLO]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
THE MARTELLI SHIELD]
Two fountains are ascribed to Donatello, made respectively for the
Pazzi and Medici families. The former now belongs to Signor Bardini.
It is a fine bold thing, but the figure and centrepiece are
unfortunately missing. The marble is coated with the delicate patina
of water: its decoration is rather nondescript, but there is no reason
to suppose that Rossellino's _fonte_ mentioned by Albertini was the
only one possessed by the Great House of the Pazzi. The Medici
fountain, now in the Pitti Palace, is rather larger, being nearly
eight feet high. The decoration is opulent, and one could not date
these florid ideas before Donatello's later years. The boy at the top
dragging along a swan is Donatellesque, but with mannerisms to which
we are unaccustomed. The work is not convincing as regards his
authorship. The marble Lavabo in the sacristy of San Lorenzo is also a
doubtful piece of sculpture. It has been attributed to Verrocchio,
Donatello and Rossellino. It has least affinity to Donatello. The
detailed attention paid by the sculptor to the floral decoration, and
the fussy manner in which the whole thing is overcrowded, as if the
artist were afraid of simplicity, suggest the hand of Rossellino, to
whom Albertini, the first writer on the subject, has ascribed it.
Donatello made the Marzocco, the emblematic Lion of the Florentines,
and it has therefore been assumed that he also made its marble
pedestal. This is held to be contemporary with the niche of Or San
Michele. So far as the architectural and decorative lines are
concerned this is not impossible, though the early Renaissance motives
long retained their popularity. There is, however, one detail showing
that the base must be at least twenty-five years older than the niche.
The arms of the various quarters of Florence are carved upon the
frieze of the base. Among these shields we notice one bearing "on a
field semée of fleurs-de-lys, a label, above all a bendlet dexter."
These are not Italian arms. They were granted in 1452 to Jean, Comte
de Dunois, an illegitimate son of the Duc d'Orléans. His coat had
previously borne the bendlet sinister, but this was officially turned
into a bendlet dexter, to show that the King had been pleased to
legitimise him in recognition of his services to Joan of Arc. Jean was
a contemporary of Donatello, and the coat may have been placed among
the other shields as a compliment to France. Certainly no quarter of a
town could use a mark of cadency below a bendlet, and Florence was
more careful than most Italian towns to be precise in her heraldry.
Numbers of stone shields bearing the arms of Florentine families were
placed upon the palace walls. When high up and protected by the broad
eaves they have survived; but, as a rule, those which were exposed to
the weather, carved as they usually were in soft stone, have
perished.[86] Bocchi mentions that Donatello made coats-of-arms for
the Becchi, the Boni and the Pazzi. Others have been ascribed to him,
namely, the Stemma of the Arte della Seta, from the Via di Capaccio,
that on the Gianfigliazzi Palace, the shield inside the courtyard of
the Palazzo Davanzati, and that on the Palazzo Quaratesi, all in
Florence. These have been much repaired, and in some cases almost
entirely renewed. The shield on the eastern side of the old Martelli
Palace (in the Via de' Martelli, No. 9) is, perhaps, coeval with
Donatello, but it is insignificant beside the shield preserved inside
the present palace. This coat-of-arms, which is coloured according to
the correct metals and tinctures, is one of the finest extant
specimens of decorative heraldry. It is a winged griffin rampant, with
the tail and hindlegs of a lion. The shield is supported by the stone
figure of a retainer, cut in very deep relief, as the achievement was
to be seen from the street below. But the shield itself rivets one's
attention. This griffin can be classed with the Stryge, or the
Etruscan Chimæra as a classic example of the fantastic monsters which
were used for conventional purposes, but which were widely believed to
exist. It possesses all the traditional attributes of the griffin. It
is fearless and heartless: its horrible claws strike out to wound in
every direction, and the whole body vibrates with feline elasticity,
as well as the agile movement of a bird. Regarding it purely as a
composition, we see how admirably Donatello used the space at his
command: his economy of the shield is masterly. It is occupied at
every angle, but nowhere crowded. The spaces which are left vacant are
deliberately contrived to enhance the effect of the figure. It is the
antithesis of the Marzocco.[87] The sculptor must have seen lions, but
the Marzocco is not treated in a heraldic spirit, although it holds
the heraldic emblem of Florence, the _fleur de lys florencée_.
Physically it is unsuccessful, for it has no spring, there is very
little muscle in the thick legs which look like pillars, and the back
is far too broad. But Donatello is saved by his tact; he was
ostensibly making the portrait of a lion; though he gives none of its
features, he gives us all the chief leonine characteristics. He
excelled in imaginary animals, like the Chinese artists who make
admirable dragons, but indifferent tigers.
[Footnote 86: _Cf._ those high up on the Loggia de' Lanzi, or in other
Tuscan towns where the climate was not more severe, but where there
was less cash or inclination to replace the shields which were worn
away.]
[Footnote 87: The marble original is now in the Bargello, and has been
replaced by a bronze _replica_, which occupies the old site on the
Ringhiera of the Palazzo Pubblico. Lions were popular in Florence.
Albertini mentions an antique porphyry lion in the Casa Capponi, much
admired by Lorenzo de' Medici. Paolo Ucello painted a lion fight for
Cosimo. The curious rhymed chronicle of 1459 describes the lion fights
in the great Piazza ("Rer. It. Script.," ii. 722). Other cases could
be quoted. Donatello also made a stone lion for the courtyard of the
house used by Martin V. during his visit to Florence in 1419-20.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
SALOME RELIEF, SIENA.
STATUETTE OF FAITH (TO LEFT)]
[Sidenote: The Siena Font.]
Siena had planned her Cathedral on so ambitious a scale, that had not
the plague reduced her to penury the Duomo of Florence would have been
completely outrivalled. The Sienese, however, ordered various works of
importance for their Cathedral, and among these the Font takes a high
place. It was entrusted to Jacopo della Quercia, who had the active
assistance of Donatello and Ghiberti, as well as that of the Turini
and Neroccio, townsmen of his own. Donatello was thus brought under
new influences. He made a relief, a _sportello_ or little door, two
statuettes, and some children, all in bronze, being helped in the
casting by Michelozzo. Jacopo, who was about ten years older than
Donatello, had been a competitor for the Baptistery gates. He was a
man of immense power, in some ways greater than Donatello; never
failing to treat his work on broad and massive lines, and one of the
few sculptors whose work can survive mutilation. The fragments of the
Fonte Gaya need no reconstruction or repair to tell their meaning;
their statuesque virtues, though sadly mangled, proclaim the
unmistakable touch of genius. But Donatello's personality was not
affected by the Sienese artists. Jacopo, it is true, was constantly
absent, being busily engaged at Bologna, to the acute annoyance of the
Sienese, who ordered him to return forthwith. Jacopo said he would die
rather than disobey, "_potius eligeret mori quam non obedire patriæ
suæ_"; but the political troubles at the northern town prevented his
prompt return. However, after being fined he got home, was reconciled
to the Chapter, and ultimately received high honours from the city.
His font is an interesting example of transition; the base is much
more Gothic than the upper part. The base or font proper is a large
hexagonal bason decorated with six bronze reliefs and a bronze
statuette between each--Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Prudence, and
Strength. The reliefs are scenes from the life of the Baptist. From
the centre of the font rises the tall Renaissance tabernacle with five
niches, in which Jacopo placed marble statues of David and the four
major prophets, one of which suggested the San Petronio of Michael
Angelo. A statue of the Baptist surmounts the entire font. In spite of
the number of people who co-operated with Jacopo, the whole
composition is harmonious. Donatello made the gilded statuettes of
Faith and Hope. The former, looking downwards, has something of
Sienese severity. Hope is with upturned countenance, joining her hands
in prayer; charming alike in her gesture and pose. Two instalments for
these figures are recorded in 1428. The authorities had been lax in
paying for the work, and we have a letter[88] asking the Domopera for
payment, Donatello and Michelozzo being rather surprised--"_assai
maravigliati_"--that the florins had not arrived. The last of these
bronze Virtues, by Goro di Neroccio, was not placed on the font till
1431. Donatello also had the commission for the _sportello_, the
bronze door of the tabernacle. But the authorities were dissatisfied
with the work and returned it to the sculptor, though indemnifying him
for the loss.[89] This was in 1434, the children for the upper cornice
having been made from 1428 onwards. The relief, which was ordered in
1421, was finished some time in 1427. It is Donatello's first relief
in bronze, and his earliest definitive effort to use a complicated
architectural background. The incident is the head of St. John being
presented on the charger by the kneeling executioner. Herod starts
back dismayed at the sight, suddenly realising the purport of his
action. Two children playing beside him hurriedly get up; one sees
that in a moment they, too, will be terror-stricken. Salome watches
the scene; it is very simple and very dramatic. The bas-relief of St.
George releasing Princess Sabra, the Cleodolinda of Spencer's Faerie
Queen, is treated as an epic, the works having a connecting bond in
the figures of the girls, who closely resemble each other. Much as one
admires the _élan_ of St. George slaying the dragon, this bronze
relief of Siena is the finer of the two; it is more perfect in its
way, and Donatello shows more apt appreciation of the spaces at his
disposal. The Siena plaque, like the marble relief of the dance of
Salome at Lille, to which it is analogous, has a series of arches
vanishing into perspective. They are not fortuitous buildings, but are
used by the sculptor to subdivide and multiply the incidents. They
give depth to the scene, adding a sense of the beyond. The Lille
relief has a wonderful background, full of hidden things, reminding
one of the mysterious etchings of Piranesi.
[Footnote 88: 9. v. 1427. Milanesi, ii. 134.]
[Footnote 89: Lusini, 28.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
TOMB OF COSCIA, POPE JOHN XXIII.
BAPTISTERY, FLORENCE]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
EFFIGY OF POPE JOHN XXIII.
BAPTISTERY, FLORENCE]
[Sidenote: Michelozzo and the Coscia Tomb.]
For ten years Donatello was associated with Michelozzo,[90] who began
as assistant and finally entered into a partnership which lasted until
1433. The whole subject is obscure, and until we have a critical
biography of Michelozzo his relation with various men and monuments of
the fifteenth century must remain problematical. Michelozzo has not
hitherto received his due meed of appreciation. As a sculptor and
architect he frequently held a subordinate position, and it has
been assumed that he therefore lacked independence and originality.
But the man who was Court architect of the Medici, and director of the
Cathedral building staff, was no mere hack; while his sculpture at
Milan, Naples, and Montepulciano show that his plastic abilities were
far from mean. He was a great man with interludes of smallness. When
Donatello required technical help in casting, Michelozzo was called
in. Though Donatello had worked for Ghiberti on the bronze gates, he
was never quite at home in the science of casting. Gauricus says he
always employed professional help--"_nunquam fudit ipse, campanariorum
usus opera semper_."[91] Caldieri cast for him at Padua. Michelozzo
also helped Luca della Robbia in casting the Sacristy gates which
Donatello should have made; the commissions which Donatello threw over
were those for work in bronze. The partnership extended over some of
the best years of Donatello's life, and three tombs, the St. Louis,
and the Prato pulpit are among their joint products. The tombs of Pope
John XXIII. in the Baptistery, that of Aragazzi the Papal Secretary at
Montepulciano, and that of Cardinal Brancacci at Naples, are
noteworthy landmarks in the evolution of sepulchral monuments, which
attained their highest perfection in Italy. In discussing them it will
be seen how fully Michelozzo shared the responsibilities of Donatello.
Baldassare Coscia, on his election to the Papacy, took the title of
John XXIII. He was deposed by a council and retired to Florence, where
he died in 1418. He was befriended by the Medici, who erected the
monument, the last papal tomb outside Rome, to his memory. "_Johannes
Quondam Papa XXIII._" is inscribed on it, and it is said that Coscia's
successful rival objected to this appellation of his predecessor, but
the protest went unheeded. The tomb is remarkable in many ways. Its
construction is most skilful, as it was governed by the two upright
pillars between which the monument had to be fitted. We have a series
of horizontal lines; a frieze at the base, then three Virtues; above
this the effigy, and finally a Madonna beneath a baldachino. Each tier
is separated by lines which intersect the columns at right angles. The
task of making a monument which would not be dwarfed by these huge
plain pillars was not easy. But the tomb, which is decorated with
prudent reserve, holds its own. The effigy is bronze: all the rest is
marble. It was probably coloured, and a drawing in Ghiberti's
note-book gives a background of cherry red, with the figures
gilded.[92] Coscia lies in his mitre and episcopal robes, his head
turned outwards towards the spectator. The features are admirably
modelled with the firmness and consistency of living flesh: indeed it
is the portrait of a sleeping man, troubled, perhaps, in his dream.
The tomb was made some years after Coscia's death, and Donatello has
not treated him as a dead man. The effigy is a contrast to that of
Cardinal Brancacci, where we have the unmistakable lineaments and
fallen features of a corpse. The dusky hue of Coscia's face should be
noticed; the bronze appears to have been rubbed with some kind of dark
composition, similar in tone to that employed by Torrigiano. Below the
recumbent Pope is the sarcophagus; two delightful winged boys hold
the cartel on which the epitaph is boldly engraved. The three marble
figures in niches at the base, Faith, Hope and Charity, belong to a
different category. Albertini says that the bronze is by Donatello,
and "_li ornamenti marmorei di suoi discipuli_." Half a century later,
Vasari says that Donatello made two of them, and that Michelozzo made
the Faith, which is the least successful of the three. Modern
criticism tends to revert to Albertini, assigning all to Michelozzo,
with the presumption that Hope, which is derived from the Siena
statuette, was executed from Donatello's design. Certainly the basal
figures are without the _brio_ of Donatello's chisel; likewise the
Madonna above the effigy, which is vacillating, and may have been the
earliest work of Pagno di Lapo, a man about whom we have slender
authenticated knowledge, but whom we know to have been well employed
in and around Florence. In any case, we cannot reconcile this Madonna
with Michelozzo's sculpture. As will be seen later on, Michelozzo had
many faults, but he was seldom insipid. The Madonna and Saints on the
façade of Sant' Agostino at Montepulciano show that Michelozzo was a
vigorous man. This latter work is certainly by him, the local
tradition connecting it with one Pasquino da Montepulciano being
unfounded. The Coscia tomb is among the earliest of that composite
type which soon pervaded Italy. At least one other monument was
directly copied from it, that of Raffaello Fulgosio at Padua. This was
made by Giovanni da Pisa, and the sculptor's conflict between respect
for the old model, and his desires after the new ideas, is apparent in
the whole composition.
[Footnote 90: See "Arch. Storico dell' Arte," 1893, p. 209.]
[Footnote 91: "De Sculptura," 1504, folio e. 1. On the other hand, the
sculptor Verrocchio cast a bell for the Vallombrosans in 1474, and
artillery for the Venetian Republic.]
[Footnote 92: _Op. cit._ p. 70. In this drawing two _putti_ are also
shown holding a shield, above the monument; this has now
disappeared.]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: The Aragazzi Tomb.]
In the _Denunzia de' beni_ of 1427 Donatello states that he was
working with Michelozzo on the tomb of Bartolommeo Aragazzi, and the
monument has therefore been ascribed to them both. But recent research
has established that, though preparatory orders were given in that
year, a fresh contract was made two years later, and that Donatello's
share in the work was nil. Michelozzo alone got payment up to 1436 or
thereabouts, when the tomb was completed. Donatello's influence would,
perhaps, have been visible in the design, but unhappily we can no
longer even judge of this, for the tomb is a wreck, having been broken
up to make room for structural alterations.[93] Important fragments
are preserved, scattered about the church; but the sketch of the tomb,
said to be preserved in the local library, has never yet been
discovered. The monument had ill-fortune from the very beginning. An
amusing letter has come down to us, pathetic too, for it records the
first incident in the tragedy. Leonardo Aretino writes to Poggio, that
when going home one day he came across a party of men trying to
extricate a wagon which had stuck in the deep ruts. The oxen were out
of breath and the teamsmen out of temper. Leonardo went up to them and
made inquiries. One of the carters, wiping the sweat from his brow,
muttered an imprecation upon poets, past, present and future (_Dii
perdant poetas omnes, et qui fuerunt unquam et qui futuri sunt_.)
Leonardo, a poet himself, asked what harm they had done him: and the
man simply replied that it was because this poet, Aragazzi, who was
lately dead, ordered his marble tomb to be taken all the way to
Montepulciano from Rome, where he died; hence the trouble. "_Hæc est
imago ejus quam cernis_," said the man, pointing to the effigy, having
incidentally remarked that Aragazzi was "_stultus nempe homo ac
ventosus_."[94] Certainly Aragazzi was not a successful man, and he
was addicted to vanity. In the marble we see a wan melancholy face,
seemingly of one who failed to secure due measure of public
recognition. The monument need not be further described, except to say
that two of the surviving figures are very remarkable. They probably
acted as caryatides, of which there must have been three, replacing
ordinary columns as supporters of the sarcophagus. They can hardly be
Virtues, for they are obviously muscular men with curly hair and
brawny arms. They are not quite free from mannerisms: the attitudes,
granting that the bent position were required by their support of the
tomb, are not quite easy or natural. But, in spite of this, they are
really magnificent things, placing their author high among sculptors
of his day.
[Footnote 93: The effigy is placed in a niche close to the great door
of the Cathedral, put there "lest the memory of so distinguished a man
should perish"--"_Simulacrum ejus diu neglectum, ne tanti viri memoria
penitus deleretur, Politiana pietas hic collocandum curavit anno
MDCCCXV_." The remainder consists of a frieze now incorporated in the
high altar, on either side of which stand two caryatides. The Christ
Blessing is close by. Two bas-reliefs are inserted into pillars
opposite the effigy.]