‘Life itself stirring vigorously in the stone’
Donatello, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via WikiCommons.
Celebrating Italian artists who inspired Watermill bedroom names: 4: Donatello
The Watermill’s bedrooms are named after famous Italian artists* and we thought it would be fun to tell you more about them in a series of short articles. We’ll also make sure that there’s a copy of their stories in their bedrooms here, for you to enjoy during your stay. Today, it is the turn of Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386-1466), better known as Donatello.
It’s appropriate that the Donatello bedroom is next to the Brunelleschi, because for some years Donatello was Brunelleschi’s apprentice and he accompanied him on the celebrated trip to Rome at the turn of the 15th century, where they rediscovered the secrets of classical architecture and sculpture, triggering the Italian Renaissance
Donatello, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Donatello’s sculptures, in both marble and bronze, were revolutionary, notably his St George for the Orsanmichele in Florence (left) and his irrepressible bronze David, commissioned by Cosimo the Elder. They herald the Renaissance in sculpture.
The David is cheekily homoerotic, while one critic has said that in St George that you can see ‘life itself stirring vigorously in the stone.’
The originals of both of them can now be seen in the Bargello’s Donatello Room.
My favourite Donatello sculpture, however, is the grizzled Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, who Donatello nicknamed ‘pumpkin head’ and talked to it as if it were alive while he was carving it. It can be seen in the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo in Florence.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zuccone_Donatello_OPA_Florence.jpg
*Who wants a number on the bedroom door when they could be staying in Botticelli, Bronzino or Brunelleschi? Or Gentileschi, Ghirlandaio or Ghiberti? Or one of another half-dozen famous Italian artists, from Alberti to Vasari?
The artists they celebrate are mainly from the Renaissance and mainly men, because (a) the early Renaissance is our favourite artistic period and (b) because few women were painting professionally in those days, and even fewer have become famous. At Lois’ insistence we included Artemesia Gentileschi on our list, and next year we will be introducing Sofonisba Anguissola, despite her tongue-twisting name. Look out for more stories about the artists whose names are celebrated in Watermill bedrooms in coming blogs.
You can find out more about the Watermill and our convivially creative weeks by clicking here.