DONATELLO EXHIBITION AT PALAZZO STROZZI AND THE BARGELLO MUSEUM
If you are looking for a unique chance to see the greatest works of Donatello in Florence, don’t miss the opportunity to see the exhibition “Donatello, il Rinascimento” from April to July 2022 at the Palazzo Strozzi and the Bargello Museum.
There are over 130 masterpieces in this unparalleled exhibition, some of which have never been shown to the public, from 60 different locations all over the world.
If you are looking for a unique chance to see the greatest works of Donatello in Florence, don’t miss the opportunity to see the exhibition “Donatello, il Rinascimento” from April to July 2022 at the Palazzo Strozzi and the Bargello Museum.
There are over 130 masterpieces in this unparalleled exhibition, some of which have never been shown to the public, from 60 different locations all over the world.
The exhibition starts with Donatello’s early works, like the beautiful marble David and the wooden Crucifixion, which is diplayed together with Brunelleschi’s to show how the two masters deeply influenced one another.
Donatello was born in Florence in 1388 from a humble family of wool workers. He was apprenticed at Lorenzo Ghiberti’s workshop and quickly became one of the most revolutionary artists of his generation. His sculptures break free from the traditional medieval standards and pave the way to a greater freedom in the representation of both the human body and the divine spirit.
One of his earliest masterpieces is the St. Louis of Tolouse, the huge gilt-bronze statue depicting the son of the king of France who gave up his title to become a Franciscan bishop. Donatello conceives his work as a free-standing high relief, set against a niche which acts like a frame, and gives the saint a pensive and melancholic look of transcendence. He constructs the work from the bottom up, in different pieces cast separately and immersed in a gold-mercury mixture which was more resistant than the usual oil gilding of his times.
One of the aspects that the exhibition deals with is the touching humanism of Donatello’s works. His polychrome terracotta Madonnas with Child are superb examples of both craftsmanship and innovation. They express a whole new way of motherhood and tap into the growing optimism of Renaissance Florence through a closer relationship bewteen art and patronage. Moreover, his use of linear perspective, which was totally new at the time, give works like the Pazzi Madonna, an incredible symmetry and balance.
The exhibition also explores new ways of looking at Donatello’s works of art. Professor Francesco Caglioti, the exhibition director, conducted an extensive research on the original positions of Donatello’s works providing the visitors with a unprecedented chance to look at these amazing Florentine Renaissance treasures. The iconic Amor/Attys and the worldwide famous bronze David have been placed of high plinths to engage the viewer, as Caglioti maintains, in a dynamic dialogue with space and meaning.
This exhibition will also allow you to admire Renaissance artists like Paolo Uccello, Masaccio, Andrea del Castagno, Mantegna and many others from Padua, Ferrara and Siena, in order to understand how Donatello’s career influenced the works of his contemporaries.
If you want to visit the exhibition with us, write us an email. We will be happy to give you a quote!
You may also be interested in our "Michelangelo Tour"
Back
