Donatello: Life, Style, and Influence
...ther, Niccolò di Betto Bardi was a Florentine wool carder (Hall artists). It’s not known when Donatello began his art career but it’s believed he learned stone carving from one of the sculptors working for the cathedral of Florence about 1400(Hall artists). His renowned career may be divided into three periods. The first and most influential period comprise the years before 1425, when his work is marked by the influence of Gothic sculpture but also shows classical and realistic tendencies (Donatello). The second period, which took place in the years of 1425 to 1443, is usually characterized by a reliance on the models and principles of the sculpture of antiquity (Donatello). Donatello assisted the distinguished sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti in constructing and decorating the famous bronze doors of the baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence (Hall artists). An associate of the distinguished architect Filippo Brunelleschi, with whom he allegedly visited Rome in order to study the monuments of antiquity (Hall artists). Donatello worked with the Florentine sculptor and architect Michelozzo on a number of projects from 1425 to 1435, including the monument to Bartolomeo Aragazzi (Donatello). Donatello the greatest sculptor before Michelangelo and was the most influential artist of the fifteenth century. Painters and virtually every later sculptor, including Michelangelo, were deeply indebted to him. Most of the later 15th painting in Florence stems from his work, and his influence extended to Venice (Hall artists). The hallmark of the Renaissance is Donatello’s...