Figure 3.27 St George, 1416, by Donatello, marble, 214 cm, Orsanmichele, Florence. The marble panel at the base shows St George slaying the dragon. It is carved in very low relief, called rilievo schiacciato, or flattened relief. This was the first time that linear perspective was used in public sculpture.
Donatello’s friend, the sculptor Nanni di Banco, was commissioned by the Stonemasons’ Guild to create a sculpture called Four Crowned Saints for the Orsanmichele. Find out more about Nanni di Banco’s life and work.
David
The story of David, the heroic young shepherd boy who killed the giant Goliath, comes from the Bible and was a favourite in Florence during the Renaissance.
Donatello’s bronze depiction of David (Fig. 3.28) was the 64
Figure 3.28 David, c. 1440, by Donatello, bronze, 158 cm, Bargello Museum, Florence.
first life-sized freestanding nude figure since Classical times. It stood for many years in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici and probably symbolised that family’s struggles against its own powerful enemies.
The sculpture shows Classical influences, but the slim youth is unlike the powerful nudes of ancient Greece; his graceful contrapposto stance is sensual and somewhat effeminate. The skin is highly polished, but the hair and hat have a rougher finish.
The Feast of Herod
The Feast of Herod was Donatello’s first relief in bronze, and is one of six panels on the baptismal font in the baptistery in Siena (Fig. 3.29). The rules
