David with the Head of Goliath 1470–80 Bartolomeo Bellano Italian This is a key work in the early Renaissance development of bronze statuettes in northern Italy. Its creator, Bartolomeo Bellano, was a disciple of Donatello’s, as is documented by a payment in connection with that master’s Judith Slaying Holofernes (ca. 1459, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence).[1] His independent work began with a bronze statue of Pope Paul II in Perugia (1466?–?67, now lost) and a series of Old Testament subjects in relief for the choir screen of the basilica of San Antonio (Il Santo) in Padua (1484?–?90), which featur

David with the Head of Goliath 1470–80 Bartolomeo Bellano Italian This is a key work in the early Renaissance development of bronze statuettes in northern Italy. Its creator, Bartolomeo Bellano, was a disciple of Donatello’s, as is documented by a payment in connection with that master’s Judith Slaying Holofernes (ca. 1459, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence).[1] His independent work began with a bronze statue of Pope Paul II in Perugia (1466?–?67, now lost) and a series of Old Testament subjects in relief for the choir screen of the basilica of San Antonio (Il Santo) in Padua (1484?–?90), which features small-scale figures standing out in high relief from their backgrounds. As we know from Giorgio Vasari’s biography, he went on to execute a number of small metal figures for the pope and for others, and he has been recognized as one of the earliest Italian sculptors to make a specialty of bronze statuettes.[2]David with the Head of Goliath has long been admired as one of Bellano’s masterpieces in bronze.[?3] Its debt to Donatello’s famous nude David (ca. 1455, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence) is reflected in the hero’s pose with hip swung out and one arm akimbo and the gigantic head of Goliath at his feet. Bellano dressed David in a short tunic with many pleats?—??Wilhelm von Bode once described the sculptor’s boldly chiseled drapery as like crumpled paper.[4] The youthful victor’s accessories include a gorget decorated with a head, probably of Medusa, in a classical allusion; boots rolled down to the calf; and a shoulder bag, whose strap crosses the right shoulder. His weapons are a sling, still weighted by a stone, and a large sword. Having hit his foe with a projectile?—??stones scattered on the base give a sense that the battle has just taken place?—??David triumphs over his dead opponent. The triangular gash in the giant’s forehead indicates the cause of death, while the curved blade is clearly the implement that was used to lop off

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