Donatello . ith the statuettes of the cathedral door, but the attitudeis still so uncertain and so far removed from Donatellos conception ofstatuesque art, that it is better here to ignore this figure altogether. Notso the St. Peter at Or San Michele (Fig. 8), which is mentioned as a workoriginally commissioned from Donatello and Brunelleschi together. Therecord of this statue, though not authenticated, is not altogether untrust-worthy and mentions the St. Peter together with the St. Mark. Butthe St. Peter supplies no new information about Donatello as a limnerof statues. At the best it takes
Donatello . ith the statuettes of the cathedral door, but the attitudeis still so uncertain and so far removed from Donatellos conception ofstatuesque art, that it is better here to ignore this figure altogether. Notso the St. Peter at Or San Michele (Fig. 8), which is mentioned as a workoriginally commissioned from Donatello and Brunelleschi together. Therecord of this statue, though not authenticated, is not altogether untrust-worthy and mentions the St. Peter together with the St. Mark. Butthe St. Peter supplies no new information about Donatello as a limnerof statues. At the best it takes a position in the above-described develope-ment as a precursor of the St. Mark, still considerably fettered by the head and drapery are pettily elaborated, in a style thatcorresponds with Nanni di Bancos to an extent that amounts to a surrenderof personal style. Since it is moreover probable, that this master exercisedthe greatest possible influence on Donatellos first manner and that he. Fig. 19. St. John the Baptist. Museum. (To pages 32 and 37.) 26 actually employed him as as-sistant for his four Saints ofOr San Michele, the St. Petershould only be mentioned in thisconnection. The insipid treat-ment of the hands speaks al-ready against the possibility ofan entirely personal work ofDonatellos. The wooden figure of theCrucifix in S. Croce (Fig. 15),which should certainly be in-cluded in the works of this earlyperiod, is more important. Thiswas already recognized by Va-saris contemporaries, who makethis Christ the subject of thefirst among the numerous Do-natello anecdotes. In doing so,they contrast this work with theart of Brunelleschi who, theysay, has worthily representedthe Saviour in the Crucifix ofthe Gondi Chapel at S. MariaNovella — whereas Donatelloswork is merely a study of thenude from a naked in the competition for thedoor of the Baptistery, it wasjust his realism that made Bru-nelleschi dangerous to Ghiberti— and no
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