Biographies

Donatello (1386 – 1466) He was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool carder, and probably learned basic stone-cutting as a youth in Flornce. Some time between 1404 and 1407 he became a member of the workshop of , the sculptor of the famous Baptistry doors. A careful student of ancient Roman sculpture, he brought to the religious subjects of his art the kind of individuality that we associate with the Renaissance, becoming the major sculptor of his time in Florence and one of the great figures in the history of this art. His Bronze David was the first large free-standing nude statue of the Renaissance, and his statue of the Padovan general known as Gattamelata (tabby cat) was the first equestrian monument of its kind as well. Lorenzo Ghiberti