ART
263 / MAN 263 The Business of Art
ART
263 / MAN 263 
Donatello was a Florentine artist - the most famous sculptor
of the Early Italian Renaissance.
Donatello's father was a wool carded, and may have been involved in the
1378 Ciompi Revolt.
Donatello, born between c. 1386 and 1390, may have been an apprentice to
Brunelleschi, who
is credited with the invention of scientific perspective. Donatello was
trained as a goldsmith.
Records indicate that he assisted the slightly older master, Ghiberti between
1404 and 1407.
Donatello belonged to the guild of Pietra e Lagname (workers of stone and
wood), although
many of his works are of bronze. Luckily for us, the guilds of the Republic
of Florence kept
good records. More than 150 documents exist relating to the commission,
materials and
execution of just one of Donatello's works (the Prato Pulpit). A record
of 1412 tells us that
Donatello belonged to the Company of St. Luke, an organization to which
artists belonged,
and his profession was stated as goldsmith and stonecarver. The first reference
to Donatello
comes from 1416, when Donatello received payment for himself and his assistants
for the
finishing of the marble David.
Donatello had many dozens of commissions, but we will look at
just a few as examples
of how the business of art worked in fifteenth century Florence.
Donatello
was commissioned by the Opera del Duomo to create a figure of David in
marble to be placed high up on a buttress of the cathedral. (The Opera
del Duomo was group responsible for the construction and decoration of
the Cathedral of Florence. This took over thirty years, and employed many
of the best Florentine artists.) The David, however, was set up instead
in 1416 in the Palazzo dei Priori as a sort of mascot of the city. The
statue was inscribed "To those who bravely fight for the fatherland,
the gods will lend aid even against the most terrible foes."
Donatello received several commissions for work on the cathedral including
an exterior figure of Joshua, figures of St. Mark and St. John, a singing
gallery for the interior, a stained glass window, and old testament prophets
to be placed on the bell tower.
Donatello also received commissions from the guilds of Florence. In
1339, fourteen exterior niches on a
building called Or San Michele 
were
assigned to guilds. Or San Michele (which still exists) was a warehouse,
grain exchange, and a religious shrine. By 1406, due to economic upheavals
in the intervening years, few guilds had begun to decorate their niches.
The commune of Florence decreed that any guild that did not finish the
decoration of its niche within ten years would lose ownership of it. The
guilds did not want to lose face, and a chance to advertise their guild,
so a flurry of sculptural activity took place.
Donatello
received a commission from the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri
(guild of linen weavers and peddlers) in 1411 for a carved marble figure
of St. Mark. Donatello's contract stipulated that the figure should be
completed within nineteen months (but it took longer...). Two other stone
carvers were commissioned to decorate the tabernacle in which St. Mark
would stand. The details of the contract are very specific regarding the
marble decoration. St. Mark, when completed, was well-received, so Donatello
received a commission from the Arte dei Corazzei e Spadai ( guild of armorers
and swordmakers) for a carved statue of St. George, their patron saint.
Bronze was the medium preferred over marble, but only the richest guilds
could afford bronze sculptures. St. George, though carved out of marble,
held a sword, and wore a helmet of bronze. During the 1420's Donatello
created a bronze figure of St. Louis of Toulouse for a third niche on Or
San Michele, this niche belonging to a political party, the Parte Guelfa.
For this, Donatello designed both the statue and the tabernacle. Other
artists, including Ghiberti and Nanni di Banco carved figures for the other
niches on Or San Michele.
Donatello was involved in a collaborative project in Siena to create
a baptismal font. 
Other
artists involved included: Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia, Giovanni
di Turino, Turino di Sano and Goro di Ser Neroccio. A project such as this
involved complicated logistics, and one of the artists would function as
"Head Master" overseeing the project.
By the fourteen twenties, Donatello had a large workshop, and a huge number of commissions coming in. During this time Donatello formed a business partnership with the artist Michelozzo. It has been suggested that the two artists could divide the labor on commissions, with Michelozzo working on architectural elements, and Donatello on sculpture, or that Michelozzo's skills were needed as Donatello moved in to the medium of bronze-casting or that Michelozzo's skills as a financial manager were needed. The latter is the most likely reason, because Michelozzo seems to have had the role of finance manager.
Although the power of the guilds was strong, and artists were told what
subject matter to create, and he had to watch the bottom line, Donatello
was still able to be creative. His bronze David of c. 1440 
was
the first large scale, sensuous nude male since classical antiquity, and
his equestriam monument of Gattamelata in Padua was the first equestrian
monument of a non-royal, showing the elevation of the individual during
the Renaissance.
Donatello not only worked for the Duomo and the guilds, but also for
private patrons, such as Lorenzo de'Medici, a member of a politically powerful
family of bankers in Florence. Donatello worked right up until his death
in 1466, and his bottega finished his last commission, a pair of huge bronze
tabernacles in the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. One of his students,
Bertoldo went to work for the Medici, and helped to train the young Michelangelo.
<--------
Click here to view an Italian Home Page devoted to
Donatello!
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