Donatello . n in his completeness. The fine arts of the Greeks considered body and head of equalimportance. That was in keeping with their civilisation and disappeared 23 with it. In Hellenist, and even more so in Roman art, this balance be-came shaky; the christian middle-ages had destroyed it completely, andneither the Pisani, nor the later trecentists were able to recover it. EvenGhiberti had only approached it now and then, as it were by chance;Ouercia had done so with far more energy, without however mastering itas completely, as Donatello did in his St. George. Since classic days nohuman
Donatello . n in his completeness. The fine arts of the Greeks considered body and head of equalimportance. That was in keeping with their civilisation and disappeared 23 with it. In Hellenist, and even more so in Roman art, this balance be-came shaky; the christian middle-ages had destroyed it completely, andneither the Pisani, nor the later trecentists were able to recover it. EvenGhiberti had only approached it now and then, as it were by chance;Ouercia had done so with far more energy, without however mastering itas completely, as Donatello did in his St. George. Since classic days nohuman image had been created so entirely in one piece! Was Donatello himself conscious of the fact that, by doing so, he wasalmost directly continuing the work of antique — To strive afterthis was certainly in accordance with the spirit of the time, and the ardentdesire of becoming once again the peer of the classics could only takeone shape in the case of a great sculptor of sure aim: the conception. Fig. 17. Florence. Campanile. East-front. (To page 28.) of organic life in the completeness of its appearance. That such innerconnection really exists between these early works of Donatellos and theideal of antique plastic art, is most clearly evinced by the heads of thesestatues. For they prove, that Donatello, notwithstanding his enthusiasmfor the animation of the accidental model, was, in its selection andrendering, always concerned with the beauty of youth and manhood; andthrough it all gleams, sometimes more and sometimes less, an antique typeof ideal. This appUes already to the soft features of the prophet on theleft of the cathedral door — less so to his very individual counter-part onthe right —but quite unmistakably to the wreathed head of the marbleDavid in the Bargello (Fig. ii). In this case the following of the antiquehas proved even harmful. The eyes which stand widely apart and haveno pupils; the round, smooth shape of the face, and the pointed mouthwith
Size: 2202px × 1135px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdonatello13861466
