The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-31
By DonateUo.)

of Paris replicas of it may be found
in thousands of households where even
! the sculptor's name is unknown; but
! wherever it is it gives satisfaction and
] furnishes possibly unexpectedly an
artistic qualification which few plastic
/ representations afford. 1t is the little
Saint Cecilia" the profile of a Lovely
! woman, with a sweet expression; but
/ with this simple motive the artist has
/ given a genuine masterpiece that has
stood the test of centuries and remains
today one of the gems Of the world of
| art.
We speak of the man as Donatello,
tand so he is known to. the world. In
truth his name was Donate di Nicolo
di Betti Bardi, and he was the son
of a Wool-comber in Florence, Italy.
where he was born in 1886. Although
the boy could not by heredity lay claim
to any notions of art, his subsequent
taste for it may be explained by the
fact that at an early age he was
taken into the house of the noble
family of the Martelli. who had always
been patrons and lovers of art. AT
any rate, brought up amid the artistic
surroundings in the establishment of
this cultivated family. it is probable
that he imbibed good taste and a love
for the best things. AS to his masters
there is much doubt. and they are al
together a matter of speculation. He
is said to have been a pupil of Bacci di
Lorenzo and to have studied with the
father of the famous Ghiberti, but of
this there is no proof. 1t is certain
that he assisted the great Ghiberti in
casting the marvellous bronze gates for
the Baptistry in Florence and that he
was an intimate of Filippo Brunei
lesco, who. though some ten years
older than Donatello, found the latter
companionable.
IT was to this man Brunellesco that
Donatello brought one of his first eff
forts, crucifix carved in wood, which
did not meet with approval, for the
older man remarked that the lad had
crucified a CONFERENCE.-The Italian for
countryman or peaSant-meaning that
he had missed entirely the significance
of the figure of Christ At this Dona
tello was enraged. and in a fit of boy
ish anger advised Brunellesco to go
and do better. This Brunellesco was
able to do, and. having finished q
similar subject, he invited Donatello to
come and see it. The boy stopped on
his way from market his hands full
of supplies, and at a sight of the
masterpiece he was overcome with
emotion, letting drop his eggs and
cheese. Looking at the exquisite work
he exclaimed: ITO thee it is given to
sculpture a Christ; 1 can only make
peasants" However, with this man
Donatello made a pilgrimage to Rome,
and profited by his comradeship.
On his return to Florence, in 1405, he
entered the crowded studio of Ghiberti,
doing much independent work, and for
seven or eight years he devoted him
self to making large statues, many of
which have achieved Worldwide fame.
He did his famous David" for the
Duomo, or Cathedral of Santa Maria
del Fiore, the authorities of which gave
him many commissions. which included
a Daniel" Joshua" and an old
man. He did likewise st. John
Evangelist for the facade, and he
elaborated with Brunellesco on
statue Of marble covered with gilded
lead. The guilds of Florence at this
time were great patrons of art. and
each strove to Guido the other in pa
triotic art gifts to the city, employing
the first artists in the work. The Guild
of Armorers commissioned Donatello-
to make a statue for the Church of Or
San Michele. His work was the famous
Saint George" and in this he sue
ceeded to a remarkable degree in com
bining nobility of form, youth, sim
plicity, proportion and richness of.
decoration. The statue stands today as
the accepted type VI Tie CIlulCH Iillll-
tant. There followed the well known
marble. David a delicate figure That
is a marvellous conception of power in
apparent weakness.
Donatello did much work for the
cathedral and the Campanile, and exc
cuted many private commissions for
various important patrons, including a
marble lion for the staircase of the
popes house in Santa Maria Novella
Il on tYl1rN
series of tombs, beginning with that
of Pope John XXIII., in the Baptistry
in Florence, a serious design. partly in
bronze and partly in marble In 1923
he was employed by Cosimo and
Lorenzo de Medici to erect a sepulchral
monument for their father and mother
in the sacristy of San Lorenzo, and
Aragazzi, secretary to Pope Martin v,
ordered tomb for himself, which is
said to have been a masterpiece. al
though now it is dismembered and
dispersed about the church. He went