Donatello (c. 1386-1466 CE), full name Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, was an Italian Renaissance artist best known for his sculptures such as the striking bronze figure of David now in the Bargello museum of his native Florence. Donatello was influential in popularising the classicizing style where Renaissance artists looked to the surviving works of antiquity for inspiration. The sculptor was particularly interested in giving his art a sense of perspective. Other works by Donatello which influenced later artists include his marble Saint Mark for the Orsanmichele in Florence, the shallow bronze relief panels for both the baptistery of Sienna and the altar of Sant' Antonio Basilica in Padua, and the Gattamelata equestrian statue in Padua.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 1386 - 1466The life of the Italian Renaissance artist Donatello.
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c. 1386The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello is born in Florence.
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1401The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello is involved in a fight with a German youth in Pistoia.
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1404 - 1407The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello is an apprentice or assistant to Lorenzo Ghiberti.
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1408 - 1412The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello produces several sculptures for the cathedral of Florence.
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c. 1415The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello completes his sculpture of Saint George for the Orsanmichele in Florence.
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1420 - 1450The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello sculpts his bronze David in Florence.
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c. 1425The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello completes his Saint Louis of Toulouse for the refectory of the San Croce church in Florence.
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1425 - 1429The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello works on his panels for the baptistery of Sienna.
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1425 - 1434The Italian Renaissance artists Donatello and Michelozzo di Bartolomeo share workshops in Pisa and Florence.
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1446 - 1453The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello creates his bronze panels for the high altar of the Basilica Sant’ Antonio in Padua.
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c. 1453The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello completes his equestrian statue of Erasmo da Narni, the Gattamelata (‘honeycat’) in Padua.
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c. 1456The Italian Renaissance artist Donatello sculpts his wooden statue of a penitent Mary Magdalene.
