Donatello had the assistance of a number of disciples, even if we had
no documentary evidence on the point. Bandinelli refers to their
numbers: when needing help he wrote to the Grand Duke saying that
Donatello always had eighteen or twenty assistants, without whose aid
it would have been impossible for him to have made the Paduan
altar.[203] But we also possess bills, contracts, and schedules, in
which we can find the names of Donatello's _garzoni_. The work, it
must be remembered, was not wholly confined to sculpture: among the
earliest recorded payment to Donatello is that for structural work on
the Loggia (30, iii. 1444). Giovanni Nani of Florence was already
engaged there (3, iii. 43) as a sort of master mason on Donatello's
arrival: he made the marble pedestal for the crucifix (19, vi. 47),
and several others are mentioned in a subordinate capacity, such as
Niccolo Cocaro (23, iv. 49), Meo and Pipo of Florence (30, iv. 49),
Antonio of Lugano, _taia pria_ (12, v. 49); Bartolomeo of Ferrara went
to Valstagna to open up the quarry--_una montagna de lo alabastro_
(13, viii. 46). Employment was also given to Jacomo, a goldsmith (9,
v. 48), to Squarcione the painter (21, xi. 47), to Moscatelo, the
maker of majolica (v. 49), and to Giovanni da Becato, who made a metal
grille behind the altar. Francesco del Mayo and Andrea delle Caldiere
were the chief bronze casters; a dozen or fifteen other names are
recorded. None of these can have had much influence on the sculpture
itself; but there were men of greater calibre, Giovanni da Pisa,
Urbano da Cortona, Antonio Celino of Pisa, and Francesco Valente of
Florence. Though called _garzoni_ and _disipoli_ of Donatello (June
and Sept. 47), they soon became men of trained capacity, and were
specifically mentioned in some of the contracts. Thus it appears that
each was entrusted with one of the evangelist's symbols; they were
also largely responsible for the bronze choristers (27, iv. 46). Their
whims and idiosyncrasies are visible in many particulars: in the halos
for instance. The gospel emblems all have halos, likewise most of the
singing children, whereas there are none on the Madonna and the great
statues of canonised saints on the altar. But it is impossible here to
enter upon the most interesting problem of their respective shares on
the altar sculpture, and how far they were independent of Donatello
beyond the chiselling and polishing of the bronze; the subject would
need discussion at too great length. It is, however, worth while to
refer to some of their work, for which they were exclusively
responsible. Thus the Fulgosio tomb in the Santo, and the superaltar
in the Eremitani at Padua (though much disfigured by paint), show
that Giovanni da Pisa was influenced by Donatello to a remarkable
degree. The composition of the altar consists of a broad relief of the
Madonna with three saints on either side of her: below it is a
_predella_ divided into three panels; above, a frieze of dancing
children similar to those on the pulpits of San Lorenzo. The
composition is crowned by a tympanum and _putti_ suggested by
Donatello's Annunciation. Several of the larger figures might almost
be the work of Donatello, though the personality of Giovanni makes
itself felt throughout. Urbano of Cortona was another interesting man.
He received a commission to decorate the chapel of the Madonna delle
Grazie in the Sienese Cathedral,[204] and he had to make the Symbols
of the Evangelists: _nel fregio ... si debi fare IIII. evangelisti in
forma d'animali_. Donatello himself, _excellentissimus sculptor, seu
magister sculture_,[205] was commissioned later on to work in this
chapel; but there can be no doubt that the angel of St. Matthew, now
preserved in the Opera del Duomo,[206] is the work of Urbano. It is
the identical design of the emblem on the Paduan altar, pleasant in
its way, but differing in all the material elements of charm; but it
is an important document in that it shows a further stage in the
evolution of Donatello through the hand of a painstaking pupil. Of
Celino and Valente our knowledge is less--perhaps because there was
never any friction between the master and his assistants, which gives
so unenviable a record to the relation of Michael Angelo with his
pupils.[207] The two inscriptions on the background of the Miracle of
the Miser's Heart, read as follows: "S. ANT. DI GIOV DE SE E
SUOR[=U]": and "[=S] DI PIERO E BARTOLOMEO E SU[=O]." They have been
variously interpreted. Some have suggested that they indicate the
names of donors, or that the letter s means _sepulchrum_, and that
they are in the nature of epitaphs. It would seem more probable that
they are signatures of those who were occupied in giving final touches
to the chiselling of the background.
[Footnote 203: 7, xii. 1549. Printed in Bottari, ii. 70.]
[Footnote 204: 19, x. 1451. Milanesi, ii. 271.]
[Footnote 205: 17. x. 1457; _ibid._ 295.]
[Footnote 206: Marble, No. 149.]
[Footnote 207: The rules of the Sienese guild of painters provided
against strife within their own circles by imposing a fine upon
whoever _dicesse vilania o parole ingiuriose al retore_: Art. 55.
Milanesi, i. 25.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
TOMB OF GIOVANNI, SON OF GENERAL GATTAMELATA
PADUA]
[Illustration: _Alinari_
TOMB OF GENERAL GATTAMELATA
SANT' ANTONIO, PADUA]
[Illustration: SHRINE OF ST. JUSTINA
LONDON]
[Sidenote: Bellano and the Gattamelata Tombs.]
One other sculptor, Bellano, is said by Vasari to have been so much
affected by Donatello's influence that the work of the two men was
often indistinguishable. This places Bellano too high. Scardeone, it
is true, says he was _mirus coelatura_;[208] but Gauricus is more
accurate in calling him _ineptus artifex_.[209] He was really a
lugubrious person, though on rare occasions he made a good thing,
such, for instance, as the statuette of St. Jerome, belonging to M.
Gustave Dreyfus. But his large bas-relief of St. Anthony and the
Mule[210] is stiff and laboured. The tomb of Roycelli, the _monarcha
sapientie_ in the Santo, with its wealth of poverty-stricken
decoration, shows that Bellano was a man who could work on a large
scale, but whose sense of fitness and harmony was weak. So also the
Roccabonella fragments, in spite of a rugged, rough-hewn appearance,
show an absence of ethical and intellectual qualities; while the fussy
and breathless reliefs round the choir of the Santo are farcical in
several respects. There was another man influenced by Donatello, who
must be nameless pending further investigation: his style cannot be
identified with anything on the great altar, but he was a sculptor of
immense power. He made the so-called shrine of Santa Giustina in
London,[211] and the two Gattamelata monuments in the Santo. These
tombs are very simple, consisting of the effigies of the two
Condottieri, fully armed, but with bared heads. Below is a broad stone
relief of children holding the scroll between them, as on the Coscia
tomb in Florence. Above is a lunette containing painting, the whole
composition being framed by a severe moulding, and surmounted by the
family crest and badge. They are most remarkable. The two recumbent
figures lie calm and peaceful: they show the ennobling aspect of
death, the belief in a further existence. This sculptor with his
sensitive touch makes us realise the migration. To "make the good end"
was, indeed, a product of Christianity: antiquity was content if a
man parted from life "handsomely." Greek art can, of course, show no
sign of the Christian virtues of death. Like the Egyptians, their
object was to present the dead as still alive, even where the aid
of fiction had to be invoked. To them sleep and death are often
indistinguishable; often again one is left in doubt as to which of the
figures on a funeral relief represents the departed. With death the
human body, having ceased to be the home of life, ceased also to be a
welcome theme of art. These two Gattamelatas, father and son, have
fought the good fight, and in the carved effigy acquire a statuesque
repose which is full of dignity and pathos. The famous warrior of
Ravenna, Guido Guidarelli as he is called, though of a later date, is
fashioned in the same spirit; showing, moreover, certain peculiarities
in the armour which one notices in the tombs at Padua. The d'Alagni
monument in S. Domenico at Naples, and a tomb in the Carmine of Pisa,
are similar in respect of sentiment. So, too, is the shrine of Santa
Giustina in London, of which the details as well as the organic
treatment leave no doubt as to its authorship, so closely does it
resemble the tomb of Giovanni Gattamelata. It is a work of singular
refinement and beauty. We see the recumbent figure of the saint on the
façade of a sarcophagus, at either side of which are little angels
made by the same hand and at the same date as those on Giovanni's
tomb. Santa Giustina is modelled in low-relief; the sculptor seems to
draw in the stone, and the drapery is like linen: not a blanket or
counterpane, but some thin clinging material which is moulded to the
form below. In some ways this precious work is analogous to the more
famous bas-relief belonging to the Earl of Wemyss, the St. Cecilia
which has been ascribed to Donatello. This wonderful thing is not well
known: it has been seldom exhibited, and the photograph by which it is
usually judged is taken from a reproduction moulded a generation ago.
The original, of rather slaty Lavagna stone, has never been
photographed, and the cast, many thousands of which exist, entirely
fails to show the intangible and diaphanous qualities of the original.
The widespread popularity of the St. Cecilia would (if possible) be
enhanced were we more familiar with the genuine work itself. It is
certainly one of the most accomplished examples of Italian plastic
art; not, indeed, by Donatello himself, for there is a softness and
glamour which cannot be associated with his chisel. But it has the
unequalled tenderness and grace for which the Gattamelata tomb is
so notable, placing its nameless author in the highest ranks of
Italian sculpture.
[Footnote 208: "De antiq. urbis Patavii," 1560, p. 374.]
[Footnote 209: "De Sculptura," 1504, gathering f.]
[Footnote 210: Marble, in Sacristy of S. Antonio.]
[Footnote 211: Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 75, 1879.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
GENERAL GATTAMELATA
PADUA]
[Sidenote: Gattamelata.]
Erasmo Narni, General Gattamelata, died in 1443, and the Venetians,
whom he had honourably served, granted the privilege of a site in the
tributary town of Padua for the monument, the cost of which was borne
by the family of the dead Condottiere. Donatello had to reconstruct
the anatomy of a horse on a colossal scale. He was faced by the
formidable task of making the first equestrian bronze statue erected
in Italy during the Renaissance, and no model existed except the
antique statue of Marcus Aurelius at Rome. Donatello was, however,
familiar with the four horses on the façade of San Marco at Venice. He
undertook to complete the Gattamelata monument by September 1453, but
the bulk of the casting was finished as early as 1448, though the
chiselling and chasing of the bronze required further work for two or
three years. The statue was placed on the pedestal before the agreed
date, and a conference was held at Venice to settle the price.[212]
There were four assessors on either side, and it was finally agreed
that the total payment should be a sum equivalent to about two
thousand guineas in our own day. Donatello does not seem to have been
hampered by his lack of experience. The work is adroitly handled, the
technical difficulty of welding the large pieces of bronze is
successfully overcome, and the metal is firm and self-supporting.
There are faults, of course, though the fact that the horse ambles
need not be considered an error. But the relative proportions of the
horse and rider are not quite accurately preserved, Gattamelata being,
if anything, rather below the right scale. The monument is, however,
so massive and grandiose that criticism seems out of place; indeed, in
the presence of the statue one feels that everything is subordinated
to the power and mastery of Gattamelata himself. The general is
bareheaded, and the strong courageous face is modelled with directness
and energy. The gesture is commanding, and he rides easily in the
saddle. Colleone's statue at Venice is superior in many ways: yet the
radical distinction between them is that whereas Gattamelata is the
faithful portrait of a modest though successful warrior, it must be
confessed that Verrocchio makes an idealised soldier of fortune, full
of bravado and swagger, a _Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre_ of the
Quattrocento. But, striking as the contrast of sentiment is,
noticeable alike in the artist and his model, these two statues remain
the finest equestrian monuments in the world, their one possible rival
being Can Grande at Verona. Donatello has decorated Gattamelata's
saddle and armour with a mass of delicate and vivacious detail, which
modifies the severity without distracting the eye. The _putti_ which
act as pommels to the saddle are delightful little figures, and the
damascened and chased fringes of the armour are excellent. Moreover,
the armour does not overweight the figure. The horse, of rather a
thick and "punchy" breed, is well suited to carry a heavy load; he is
full of spirit, and is neighing and chafing, as the old critics
pointed out. An enormous wooden horse, some twenty-four feet long, is
preserved in the Sala della Raggione at Padua. It used to belong to
the Capodalista family, and has been considered Donatello's model
for the Gattamelata charger. This is unlikely, and it was more
probably used in some procession, being ridden by a huge emblematic
figure. It is improbable that Donatello should have done more than
sketch the design; but the head of the horse is admirable, with the
feathery ears and bushy topknot which one finds in the Venice
quadriga, on Gattamelata's steed, and on the colossal bronze head of a
horse now preserved in the Naples Museum. This used to be considered
an antique, but it is now established beyond all question that
Donatello made it; and it was presented in 1471 to Count Mataloni by
Lorenzo de' Medici. It is an interesting work, defective in some
places, and treated similarly to classical examples; indeed, Donatello
was obviously influenced in all his equine statuary by the most
obvious classical horses at his command, namely, those at Venice. He
does not seem to have taken ideas from the Marcus Aurelius, which he
had not seen for upwards of ten years when commissioned to make the
Gattamelata. The base of the statue is simple, but scarcely worthy of
the monument it supports. The pedestal made by Leopardi for the
Colleone monument is both more decorative and dignified. On
Donatello's pedestal there are two marble reliefs of winged boys
holding the general's helmet, badge and cuirass. The reliefs on the
monument are copies of the maimed originals now preserved in a dark
passage of the Santo cloister. There must be many statues elsewhere,
now taken for originals, which are nothing more than replicas of what
had gradually perished. If one closely examines the sculpture on some
of the church façades--Siena Cathedral, for instance--one finds that
most of the statues are only held together by numberless metal ties
and clamps; and one may safely assume that many of those in really
good condition have been placed there at later dates.
[Footnote 212: 29, vi. 1453. Donatello is still described as _abitante
in Padova_.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
COLLEONE
VENICE]
[Sidenote: Smaller Reliefs and Plaquettes.]
The Gattamelata reliefs seem to be sixteenth-century work. They show a
detail of which Donatello and his scholars were fond, namely, the
Medusa's head. It reappears on the Martelli Patera[213] and on the
sword-hilt in the Royal Armoury at Turin. The former has been ascribed
to Donatello, but the attribution is untenable. It is a bronze
medallion of a Satyr and Bacchante, executed with much skill, but not
recalling the spirit or handling of Donatello. It is an admirable
example of the bronze-work which became popular in Northern Italy, to
which Donatello gave the initial impetus, and which soon became
ultra-classical in style. The sword-hilt is more interesting, and it
is signed "Opus Donatelli Flo." Some of the detail has a richness
which might suggest rather a later date; but the general outline,
especially the small crouching _putti_, was, no doubt, designed by the
master. The history of this curious and unusual specimen is unknown,
and it is outside Donatello's sphere of activity. Michael Angelo, it
may be remembered, also had the caprice of making a sword for the
Aldobrandini family. The manufacture of plaquettes, small bronze
plates which were widely used for decorating caskets, inkstands,
candlesticks, &c., became a specialised art; and some of these dainty
reliefs are possibly made from Donatello's own designs. There are,
however, a few larger bronzes of greater importance in which his
personality was able to assert itself more freely than in the reduced
plaquettes. But the work of scholars and imitators has been
frequently mistaken for Donatello's own productions. Thus the Ambras
(Vienna) relief of the Entombment, with its exaggerated ideas of
classical profile, must be the work of a scholar. The Sportello at
Venice[214] also shows later Renaissance decoration in its rich
arabesques, though two hands seem to have been employed--the four
central _putti_ and the two angels being more Donatellesque than the
remainder. The relief of the Flagellation in Paris[215] is more
important, as we have a rugged and severe treatment both in the
subject and its execution: but the summary treatment of such details
as the hair makes one doubtful if Donatello can have been wholly
responsible. A somewhat analogous Flagellation in Berlin[216] is the
work of a clever but halting plagiarist. He has inserted a
Donatellesque background of arches showing the lines of stonework, and
a pleasant detached girl who reminds us of the figure on the Siena and
St. George reliefs. But the imitator's weak hand is betrayed by the
anatomy of the three principal figures. The positions are those of
force and energy, but there is no tension or muscular effort, and
there is no vestige of vigour in the rounded backs and soft limbs.
Even if Donatello furnished the original sketch, it is quite
impossible that he should have executed or approved the carving.
Madame André's Martyrdom of St. Sebastian is work in which the
finishing-touches were probably added by a pupil, but this striking
composition shows dramatic qualities which one must associate with
Donatello himself. So also the tondo Madonna belonging to M. Gustave
Dreyfus, in which the figures are ranged behind a balustrade, making
the "garden enclosed"--a popular symbolical treatment of the Virgin
and Child--is doubtless from one of Donatello's designs.[217] Though
imperfect, the London Deposition or Lamentation[218] is an important
work, and has a value as showing the methods of fastening figures in
relief on to the foundation of the background, though in this case the
bulk of the background is missing. Three other reliefs should be
mentioned, all representing Christ on the Cross. Of these, the Berlin
example,[219] though sadly injured since its acquisition for the
museum, is notable; being, in fact, a genuine sketch by Donatello
himself, and in a degree comparable to the clay study of the same
subject in London.[220] The bronze relief, belonging to Comte Isaac de
Camondo in Paris, is a most remarkable work of the Paduan period.
Donatello has succeeded in conveying the sense of desolating tragedy
without any adventitious aid of violence or movement. The whole thing
is massive, and treated with a studied simplicity which concentrates
the silence and loneliness of the scene. It is superb, and superior to
a varied treatment of the same subject in the Bargello. In this
well-known relief the crowded scene is full of turmoil and confusion.
In the foreground are the relatives and disciples of Christ. Many
soldiers are introduced, some of whom closely resemble the tall
men-at-arms in Mantegna's frescoes at Padua. Donatello's hand is
obvious in the angels and in the three crucified figures, which are
modelled with masterly conviction. The rest of the composition has
been ruthlessly gilded and chased until the statuesque lines are lost
in a mass of tiresome detail; which is regrettable, for the conception
is fine.
[Footnote 213: Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 8717, 1863.]
[Footnote 214: Museo Archeologico, Doge's Palace.]
[Footnote 215: Louvre, "His de la Salle Collection," No. 385.]
[Footnote 216: Marble, No. 39 B.]
[Footnote 217: _Cf._ a Donatellesque stucco Madonna beneath a
_baldachino_ belonging to Signor Bardini, who also possesses a stucco
Entombment similar to the London bronze.]
[Footnote 218: Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 8552, 1863. Bronze.]
[Footnote 219: Stucco No. 41.]
[Footnote 220: See p. 62.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Alinari_
MADONNA AND CHILD
SIENA CATHEDRAL]
[Illustration: _W.A. Mansell_
"PAZZI" MADONNA
BERLIN]
[Sidenote: The Madonnas.]