The life and inspiring works of the artist who gives your room his name: 6. Donatello ***

Donatello, St. George. Marble. Bargello, Florence. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via WikiCommons.

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386-1466), better known as Donatello, invented neo-classical sculpture (or perhaps it might be more accurate to say he reinvented classical sculpture).

His works, in both marble and bronze, were revolutionary, notably (above) his St. George for the Orsanmichele in Florence and (below) his irrepressible bronze David, commissioned by Cosimo the Elder. Both are iconic heralds of the Italian Renaissance.

Donatello, David. Bronze. Bargello, Florence. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

In the St. George, as one critic has said, ‘you can see life itself stirring vigorously in the stone,’ while the David is cheekily homoerotic.

A sculptor with character and humour

The most amazing Donatello sculpture, however, is the grizzled Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, who Donatello nicknamed ‘pumpkin head’ and talked to it while he was working, as if it were alive. Originally in a niche in Giotto’s bellower can be seen in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence.

Donatello’s grizzled pumpkin. Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File :Zuccone_Donatello_OPA_Florence.jpg

More fun, however, is the Cantoria (1433), or ‘singing gallery’ for the cathedral in Florence, which provided a standing area for the choir.  Here’s a close-up (below). Joyously riotous behaviour from the choristers!

*** 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?

Some years ago we decided to switch from numbers to names in each of our rooms. They celebrate famous Italian artists, 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 a few years ago, and in 2026 we are introducing Sofonisba Anguissola, despite her tongue-twisting name.