Donatello . As far as thefigures are not immediately occupiedwith placing the body of the Lordin the sarcophagus, they abandonthemselves to wildest grief. Thesobbing has given way to raving,the covered faces to convulsivelydistorted features. In Giottos workSt. John throws himself with armswide apart upon the Lord; in theRoman relief the most active figurehurries forward with raised arms —in the Paduan stone - picture twowomen throw up their arms wildly,the third tears her hair, and yet an-other is clutching her temples. Thesefour mourners are, it is true, in thebackground and only partially v
Donatello . As far as thefigures are not immediately occupiedwith placing the body of the Lordin the sarcophagus, they abandonthemselves to wildest grief. Thesobbing has given way to raving,the covered faces to convulsivelydistorted features. In Giottos workSt. John throws himself with armswide apart upon the Lord; in theRoman relief the most active figurehurries forward with raised arms —in the Paduan stone - picture twowomen throw up their arms wildly,the third tears her hair, and yet an-other is clutching her temples. Thesefour mourners are, it is true, in thebackground and only partially in Rome, only the action takesplace in the foreground. But thistime eight strong arms are stillholding the body in the air, overthe sarcophagus, a high, rectangularstone-chest which occupies nearlythe whole lower part of the front is divided into compart-ments and decorated with mosaicsof coloured paste, a style of deco-ration which is also used for thewall behind the figures, as far as. Fig. 117. St. John the Baptist. Venice. S. Maria dei Frari. After a photograph from the original by Alinari Brothers, Florence. (To page 125.; 124 this wall is at all visible; for the relief is cut off immediately above theheads, so that it leaves hardly enough room for the raised hands. Shapeand position explain this manner of composition. An intrinsic contrast tothe bronze-panels with the miracles of St. Anthony does not exist. But thepassion which in the figures of these panels takes the shape of joyful move-ment, is here expressed as a shrill, plain-tive cry, and the harshness of types andforms is transferred, without mitigation, tothe clearness of a life-size scale. It be-comes repulsive. The relief has moreoversuffered, and is covered with thick passages, like the figure at thefoot-end of the bier, whose movementsare perfectly lame, points towards a hurriedcompletion of the work which has almostthe effect of an improvisation. Donatellohas treated a kindr
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdonatello13861466
