The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2023 - Issue 33

biteexhibition the Dragon’. It involved shallow carving throughout, cre- ating a more striking atmospheric space effect. Donatello’s marble carved relief, ‘The Ascension with Christ Giving the Keys to St Peter’, is one of the finest surviving examples of his work in rilievo schiacciato (shallow relief). In the centre upper part of the relief, it shows the seated Christ, with his head bent in right pro- file and his right hand raised in benediction, presenting the keys with his left hand to St Peter, standing beneath him on the right. The Virgin Mary kneels with her hand outstretched, and ten apostles stand behind her and St Peter. His bronze work created the more than life-size stat- ue of ‘St Louise of Toulouse’ for Orsanmichele, later transferred to Santa Croce and is now in the museum attached to the church. Other fundamental sculptures from the medieval and Renaissance periods include the head of ‘God the Father’ by Beltramino de Zuttis. Don- atello revived classical Roman lettering through inscrip- tions and signatures and possessed a more detailed and wide-ranging knowledge of ancient sculpture than other artists of his day. ‘Tradition and Innovation’ explored the sculptor’s ability to marry ancient inspiration to create a more profound new vision. It included his contribution to the revival of the portrait bust and the expressive intimacy of the moth- er and son relationship in his ‘Virgin and Child’ sculp- tures. His extraordinary innovation in shallow relief carv- ing is present in select pieces such as the small bronze piece ‘Spiritelli with a Tambourine’ created for religious and domestic settings. Another section, ‘Padua and Northern Italy’, looked at Donatello’s ten-year sojourn in Padua and his inter-rela- tionships with and impact on sculptor Giovanni da Pisa and painters Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Schiavone and Marco Zoppo. In this city, Donatello cre- ated the equestrian Gattamelata monument and the ex- ceptional sculpture for the High Altar of the Basilica of St Anthony. The ‘Miracle of the Mule’ enhanced an intricate architectural background with partial gliding on bronze. He experimented with stucco (fine plaster) to produce the large tondi (roundels) for the Old Sacristy in San Loren- zo, Italy, considered one of the most influential buildings of the early Italian Renaissance. It had to be modelled on the spot, working the stucco on nails which helped to keep the moist mixture in place. Donatello left part of the cream-coloured stucco unpainted but coloured the rest with paint and cocciopesto (brick dust), a technique revived from antiquity. ‘Devotion and Emotion’ focused on Donatello’s ability to portray emotions through design and the exploitation of material to inspire religious devotional practice. The ‘Lamentation over the Dead Christ’ bronze relief shows the dead Christ supported by his mother, Mary and encir- cled by mourners, including St John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. Behind them, two mourning women face outwards; the one on the right tearing her hair and the other on the left with her head buried in her hands. The final section, ‘Homage to Donatello’, highlighted his legacy and how his sculpture inspired generations in the later Renaissance, 19th and early 20th centuries. It opens with the marble ‘David’ from the Martelli fami- ly and closes with Alceo Dossena’s marble ‘Virgin and Child’ relief. Donatello’s ‘Madonna del Perdono’ featured half-moon slivers of a deep blue glass set in the back- ground, and he also produced the monumental stained glass window for Florence Cathedral using chiaroscuro Bartolomea Bellano - Lamentation over the Dead Christ