Donatello

Donatello, who lived from about 1386 to 1466, is presented here as the leading sculptor before Michelangelo and the most formative artist of the fifteenth century. Painters of the period and nearly every sculptor who followed him, Michelangelo included, drew on his example. Much of the Florentine painting produced in the later decades of the century grew out of his work, and his influence reached Venice. The forceful manner he developed carried a new strain of humanism that became a defining mark of the Renaissance.

Dr. Charles Avery, a specialist in European sculpture, offers a short overview of the artist's life and output. The book is written for general readers, travelers in Italy, and students. It examines Donatello's work across several materials and in the different Italian cities where he worked.

It also places that work within the political, social, and religious conditions of its time, the setting in which his contribution to Renaissance sculpture needs to be understood.