Lives of the Artists

by Giorgio Vasari

  One of Donatello’s works was a St Sebastian in wood which he made for a convent at the request of the chaplain, a Florentine, who was a friend of the nuns and of Donatello himself. He brought Donatello the old ugly statue which the nuns already had and begged him to make one like it. So to please the chaplain and the nuns Donatello forced himself to copy it. But even though he imitated an ugly piece of work, he could not help making the statue with his usual excellence and skill. Together with this statue he made many other figures in clay and stucco, and on one end of an old piece of marble which the nuns had in one of their gardens he carved a very beautiful Madonna. Countless works by Donatello are scattered throughout Padua, and he was regarded there by everyone with any discernment as a marvel. However, despite their praise, he made up his mind that he would go back to Florence, saying that if he stayed where he was any longer he would forget all he knew because of their flattery, and that he was only too anxious to return to his own land, where he would be constantly criticized and so would have an incentive for studying and winning even greater glory. So he left Padua and returned to Florence through Venice, where as a mark of his benevolence he left as a gift for the Florentine colony a St John the Baptist in wood. This was executed by him for the Florentine chapel in the church of the Friars Minor, and he did it with the greatest care and diligence. In the city of Faenza he carved in wood two statues, a St John and a St Jerome, which are esteemed as highly as any of his works.

  Subsequently, after his return to Tuscany, Donatello made a marble tomb, decorated with a very beautiful scene, in the parish church at Montepulciano, and, for the sacristy of San Lorenzo at Florence, a marble lavabo on which Andrea Verrocchio also worked; and in the house of Lorenzo della Stufa he made some very lifelike and vivacious heads and figures.

  Donatello then left Florence for Rome in order to imitate as many as possible of the works of the ancient world. While he was studying there he made a stone tabernacle for the Blessed Sacrament, which is now in St Peter’s. On his way back to Florence he passed through Siena, where he promised to make a bronze door for the Baptistry of San Giovanni. He made the wooden model and had almost finished the wax moulds and successfully covered them with the outer shell ready for casting, when a close friend of his, a Florentine goldsmith called Bernardetto di Mona Papera, came by on his way from Rome and was so persuasive in one way and another that, for his own purposes or other reasons, he got Donatello to return with him to Florence. So the door was hardly started, let alone finished. All that Donatello left behind in that city, in the Office of Works of the Duomo, was a bronze figure of St John the Baptist, with its right arm missing below the elbow; and this, it is said, was because he had not been fully paid for it.

  On his return to Florence. Donatello did some work in stucco for Cosimo de’ Medici in the sacristy of San Lorenzo, namely four medallions on the pendentives of the vault, with their grounds in perspective, partly painted and partly in low relief and containing scenes from the lives of the evangelists. For the same place he made two very fine little doors in low relief, showing the Apostles, Martyrs, and Confessors; and over these he made some shallow niches, one containing the figures of SS. Laurence and Stephen and the other SS. Cosmas and Damian. In the crossing of the church in a very practised style he made four saints in stucco, each ten feet high. He also designed the bronze pulpits that contain the Passion of Christ, producing a work of great strength, design, and invention with abundant figures and buildings. However, he was prevented by old age from completing these, and they were brought to perfection by his pupil, Bertoldo. At Santa Maria del Fiore Donatello made two giant figures in bricks and stucco which were placed as ornaments on the sides of the chapels outside the church. And over the door of Santa Croce there is still to be seen a St Louis, standing ten feet high, made by Donatello in bronze. Someone told Donatello that he had bungled this statue and that it was perhaps the worst he had ever done, and he retorted that he had done it deliberately, since the saint himself had bungled when he abandoned a kingdom for a monastery. He also made a bronze head of Cosimo de’ Medici’s wife, which is preserved in the wardrobe of the Lord Duke Cosimo where there are many other of Donatello’s works in bronze and in marble. Among them is a Madonna and Child, a very low relief in marble, which is one of the most beautiful things imaginable, especially as it is framed with miniature scenes by Fra Bartolommeo which, as I shall describe in his Life, are truly astonishing. Duke Cosimo also has from Donatello’s hand a Crucifixion, so beautiful that it seems miraculous, which he keeps in his studio along with innumerable rare antiquities and beautiful medals. And also in his wardrobe is a bronze panel of the Passion of Our Lord, in low relief, containing a great many figures, as well as another panel, again in bronze, containing a Crucifixion. Then in the house belonging to the heirs of Jacopo Capponi, who was a fine citizen and a true gentleman, is a marble carved in half relief with the figure of Our Lady, which is considered to be an outstanding work of art. Antonio de’ Nobili, who was his excellency’s trustee, also owned a Madonna by Donatello, a half-figure carved on marble in low relief and so beautiful that he valued it as much as all his other possessions put together; and it is treasured no less by his son Giulio, a young man of unusual merit and discernment and a friend to all artists and all men of worth. In the house of Giovanbattista d’Agnol Doni, a Florentine nobleman, is a bronze Mercury by Donatello, standing three feet high in full relief and clothed in a curious fashion, which is extremely attractive and no less outstanding than the other works which adorn that beautiful house. Bartolommeo Gondi, who is mentioned in the Life of Giotto, owns a Madonna in half relief, executed by Donatello with so much love and care that it is impossible to find anything better or to imagine any lighter touch in the pose of Our Lady’s head and the graceful clothes that she wears.

  Lelio Torelli, the Lord Duke’s chief auditor and secretary, a friend of the noble professions and of the arts and sciences and an eminent jurist, also has a marble panel of the Madonna which is by Donatello.

  But whoever wanted to tell the full story of Donatello’s life and works would have to write far more than I intend in narrating the lives of our artists; for apart from his major works, which I have noted in some detail, Donatello set his hand to the smallest things of his art. For instance, he made coats-of-arms to go on the chimney-pieces and fronts of town houses, a very fine example of which can be seen on the house of the Sommai opposite the tower of the Vacca. He also made, for the Martelli family, a wicker-work chest, shaped like a cradle, to serve as an urn; this is below the church of San Lorenzo since no tombs of any kind appear above, although one can see there the epitaph on Cosimo de’ Medici’s tomb, which, like the others, has its opening beneath.

  It is said that after he had finished the model for the tomb of Pope Martin V, Donatello’s brother, Simone, sent for him to see it before it was cast. So Donatello left for Rome, and he arrived there at the very time that the Emperor Sigismund went to be crowned by Pope Eugene IV. As a result, Donatello had to busy himself along with his brother in preparing the principal decorations for the festival, for which he won great honour and fame. In the wardrobe of the Lord Duke Guido-baldo of Urbino is a very beautiful marble head by Donatello which, it is thought, was given to the duke’s ancestors by Giuliano de’ Medici when he was received at that brilliant court.

  In short, Donatello aimed so high and achieved so much that he may be said to have been one of the first in modern times to shed light, by his practice, judgement, and knowledge, on the art of sculpture and good design. He deserves all the more praise inasmuch as in his time no antiquities had been discovered and unearthed, apart from the columns, sarcophagi, and triumphal arches. And it was largely because of him that Cosimo de’ Medici grew ambitious to introduce to Florence the antiquities which are still in the house of the Medici, all of which he restored with his own hand. Donatello was a man of great generosity, graciousness, and courtesy, more considerate towards his friends than towards himself. Nor did
he ever set much store by money; what he had, he kept in a basket suspended by a cord from the ceiling, and all his workmen and friends could take what they wanted without asking. He was very happy in his old age, but when he became senile and was no longer able to work he had to be assisted by Cosimo and by other of his friends.

  It is said that when Cosimo was about to die he recommended Donatello to the care of his son Piero, who, anxious to carry out dutifully what his father wanted, gave him a farm at Cafaggiuolo which provided an income on which he could live comfortably. This made Donatello very content, since it meant that he was at least saved from the prospect of dying of hunger. All the same he had not held it a year before he returned to Piero and publicly made the farm over to him again, insisting that he did not want to lose peace of mind by having to worry about running a household and being molested by the tenant, a peasant who was always getting in his way and complaining now because the wind had blown away the roof of his dovecot, now because his cattle had been confiscated by the Commune for taxes, or because a storm had destroyed his wine and his fruit. Donatello grew so sick and tired of all this that he said he would rather die of hunger than have to think about so many things. Piero laughed at his simplicity, and then, to free him from his torments, he accepted the farm, as Donatello insisted, and assigned him from his own bank an allowance worth at least as much as the farm had brought him, but paid in cash every week. Donatello was more than satisfied with this arrangement and, as a friend and servant of the Medici family, he lived carefree and happy all the rest of his life, although when he reached the age of eighty he became so palsied that he could no longer work at all, and he had to keep to his bed in a poor little house which he had in the Via del Cocomero, near the nunnery of San Niccolò. He grew worse from day to day and gradually wasted away until he died on 13 December 1466. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, near Cosimo’s own tomb, as he himself had directed, so that just as he had always been near Cosimo in spirit while alive so his body might be near him after death.

  Donatello’s death plunged into mourning the citizens and artists of Florence and all who had known him. Honouring him more after his death than they did while he lived, they buried him honourably in San Lorenzo, and all the painters, architects, sculptors, and goldsmiths, the whole city almost, assisted at his funeral. And for a long time afterwards various verses in different languages were continually composed in his praise, as can be adequately seen in the few examples that I give below.

  Before I come to these epitaphs, however, it would be wrong not to record the following. When Donatello was ill, shortly before he died, some relations of his came to see him. After the usual greetings and condolences they told him that it was his duty to bequeath them a farm that he owned at Prato; and although it was small and yielded very little they begged him for it very insistently. When he heard this Donatello, who had a great sense of fairness, said:

  I am afraid I cannot satisfy you, because it seems only right to me to leave it to the peasant who has always worked it, and who has toiled there, rather than to you, who have not given anything to it but always thought that it would be yours, and now hope to make it so just by this visit. Now go away, and God bless you.

  This is certainly the way to treat relations whose love is given only because of what they gain or hope to gain. Anyhow, Donatello called the notary and left the farm to the labourer who had always worked it and who had certainly behaved better towards him in his need than those relations had done.

  Donatello left his professional belongings to his pupils. These were Bertoldo, a Florentine sculptor, who imitated his work very closely, as can be seen from a very fine bronze battle-scene of men on horseback that is now in Duke Cosimo’s wardrobe; Nanni d’Anton di Banco, who died before him; Rossellino; Desiderio; and Vellano of Padua. But, indeed, it can be said that since Donatello’s death anyone wanting to do good work in relief has been his pupil.

  His draughtsmanship was strong and he made his designs so skilfully and boldly that they have no equal. This can be seen in my book of drawings, where I have both nude and draped figures drawn by his hand, various animals which astound anyone who sees them, and other beautiful things of the same kind.

  His portrait was done by Paolo Uccello, as I described in my Life of Uccello. And these are the epitaphs:

  Sculptura H. M. a Florentinis fieri voluit Donatello, utpote homini, qui ei, quod jamdiu optimis artificibus, multisque saeculis, tum nobilitatis tum nominis acquisitum fuerat, injuriave tempor., perdiderat ipsa, ipse unus, una vita, infinitisque operibus cumulatiss. restituerit: et patriae benemerenti hujus restitutae virtutis palmam reportarit.1

  Excudit nemo spirantia mollius aera:

  Vera cano: cernes marmora viva loqui.

  Graecorum sileat prisca admirabilis aetas,

  Compedibus statuas continuisse Rhodon.

  Nectere namque magis fuerant haec vincula digna

  lstius egregias artificis statuas.2

  What many skilled hands once did for sculpture, Donatello has accomplished alone. To the marble he has given life, emotion, movement. What more can nature give, save speech?1

  The world remained so full of Donatello’s works that it may be said with confidence that no artist has ever produced more than he did. He delighted in everything, and so he tried his hand at everything, without worrying whether what he was doing was worthwhile or not. Nevertheless, this tremendous activity of Donatello’s, in every kind of relief, full, half, low, and the lowest, was indispensable to sculpture. For whereas in the good times of the ancient Greeks and Romans sculpture was brought to a state of perfection by many hands, he alone by his many works restored its magnificence and perfection in our own age. Artists should, therefore, trace the greatness of the art back to him rather than to anyone born in modern times. For as well as solving the problems of sculpture by executing so many different kinds of work, he possessed invention, design, skill, judgement, and all the other qualities that one may reasonably expect to find in an inspired genius. Donatello was very determined and quick, and he executed his works with the utmost facility, always accomplishing much more than he promised.

  All his work on hand he left to his pupil Bertoldo, chiefly the bronze pulpits in San Lorenzo, which were then for the greater part polished by Bertoldo and brought to their present state.

  I must not omit to mention that the very learned and Very Reverend Don Vincenzo Borghini, whom I have mentioned in another connexion, having collected in a big book innumerable designs by outstanding painters and sculptors, ancient as well as modern, has very appositely written in the margin, where there are two pages facing each other with drawings by Donatello and Michelangelo Buonarroti, these two Greek phrases: for Donatello: ’H Δωνατòς Boναppωτíßει; and for Michelangelo: η Boναppωτòѕ Δωνατíßει. In Latin, they read as follows: Aut Donatus Bonarrotum exprimit et refert, aut Bonarrotus Donatum. And when translated, they run: Either the spirit of Donatello moves Buonarroti, or that of Buonarroti first moved Donatello.

  LIFE OF PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA

  Painter of Borgo San Sepolcro, 1410/20–92

  ONE of the worst things that can happen to a man is for him to work and study hard in order to benefit others and make his own name and then be prevented by sickness, or perhaps death itself, from finally completing what he has begun. All too often he leaves behind him works that are nearly finished or that are shaping well, only to have them usurped by presumptuous donkeys trying to dress themselves up in the noble skin of a lion. Admittedly, time is said to be the father of truth, and sooner or later it reveals the truth; nevertheless, it can happen that for some while the one who has done the work is cheated of the honour due to him. And this was what happened to Piero della Francesca of Borgo San Sepolcro. He was regarded as a great master of the problems of regular bodies, both arithmetical and geometrical, but he was prevented by the blindness that overtook him in his old age, and then by death, from making known his brilliant researches an
d the many books he had written, which are still preserved in Borgo, his native town.1 The man who should have done his utmost to enhance Piero’s reputation and fame, since Piero taught him all he knew, shamefully and wickedly tried to blot out his teacher’s name and to usurp for himself the honour which belonged entirely to Piero; for he published under his own name, which was Fra Luca dal Borgo,2 all the researches done by that admirable old man, who was a great painter as well as an expert in the sciences I mentioned.

  Piero della Francesca was born at Borgo San Sepolcro, which has since grown into a city; he was given the name Francesca, after his mother, because his father died while she was pregnant, and it was she who brought him up and enabled him to reach the eminence to which his destiny called him. In his youth Piero applied himself to mathematics, and although when he became fifteen it was decided that he should be a painter he nevertheless always kept up his earlier studies. Indeed, it was because of his accomplishments both as a mathematician and a painter that he was employed by Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the earlier duke of Urbino, for whom he made many very beautiful panel pictures with little figures, which have for the most part come to grief on one or other of the many occasions when that state has been ravaged by war. However, some of Piero’s writings on geometry and perspective have been preserved there, and these show that he was in no way inferior in those sciences to anyone of his own or indeed of any other time. And this is illustrated by all his works, which are full of perspectives, and especially by a vase he drew on a system of squares, showing the mouth and base from the front, the back, and from the sides; in this amazing piece of work he drew every little detail with great subtlety, foreshortening in a very graceful way the curves of all the circles.