ARS 102 Renaissance to Modern: Module 2 Video 4

• Donatello's Mary Magdalene

• Savonarola

I just wanted to show you, and hopefully you have in your head, a memory of some of the
Donatello sculptures that we've looked at just to show you how things can change stylistically,
even within the work of one artist within their career.

If you can believe it, this is a work by Donatello, who we've seen before. This is his depiction
of Mary Magdalene from the mid-century—from the middle of the Quattrocento. That is,
approximately the year 1455. Also, a major difference here is that this is actually a wood
sculpture, and so of course, Donatello was able to achieve different effects in wood than he was
able to achieve in marble—in carving marble for example.

Donatello's Mary Magdalene

But I wanted to make the point - and I'm contrasting here Donatello's Mary Magdalene with the
David—what a difference here in a depiction of the body. With the enormous changes that take
place in region states like Florence by the mid-century, and even within the work, we can see an
enormous stylistic change on the part of some of these artists.

Donatello. Mary Magdalene. 1454 - 1455. Artstor, library-artstor- Donatello. David. Artstor, library-artstor-
org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039930205 org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/asset/LESSING_ART_1039490463
If you read in your text, you'll also read about huge changes in the work of Botticelli, who then
really veers away from these kind of Neoplatonic paintings that I've been telling you about.
Notice here that Donatello depicts Mary Magdalene as a repentant figure. She is very
emaciated. Notice that she is in a kind of almost pleading pose here, or posture, she prays,
she's pleading for her own... for leniency for her own sins, right? She asks for... she is
repentant. And also pointing to the number of sacrifices that this biblical figure made for her
faith, that is, for her faith in Christ.

Notice that Donatello depicts her as an ageing woman. Notice that the refined clothing that
we've seen—also Donatello's earlier work, beautiful draperies, very sumptuous garments—is
here replaced by basically rags, by these ragged clothes showing Mary Magdalene as really an
impoverished figure.

So, we're not looking at classical form here anymore. And it's really quite remarkable because
Donatello was really not afraid to try very different kinds of styles, very different elements, also
very different kinds of material in terms of his work.

Now this brings us to the question, why? Why this enormous change? Why would you veer
away from this kind of serene, beautiful depictions of very classically influenced human
bodies? Well, we do have an answer, and that is because there were major cultural changes in
Florence beginning in the mid Quattrocento, which also led to the decline of the Medici family
beginning in the mid-century and then accelerating beyond that.

Savonarola
This was due to the rise of certain other figures, who became very powerful in Florence and in
society—like Girolamo Savonarola. And perhaps you've heard already about Savonarola. Now
Savonarola agitated against pagan subjects—what he called pagan subjects—and against nudity
in art.

Savonarola was in the Dominican Order, and in fact, he was an abbot of San Marco. In the year
1498, famously—and perhaps this is how you've already heard about Savonarola—he
organized what was called the Bonfire of Vanities which took place in 1498. And in fact, it
became a regular practice, culminated in the Bonfire of Vanities, that so-called heretics began
to be burned in public. Now think about this. This is serious stuff. I mean, these are public
executions and burning, you know, burning to death is an extremely painful death as well.

So, this was an absolutely, I think, vicious campaign to turn back what Savonarola called pagan
developments in culture. Now we know that Savonarola was a real enemy of the Medici, he
agitated against the Medici and their influence, and he got people to listen to him.

He also got people in Florence to begin to turn against these ideas of refinement, to reject their
riches, to reject elegant taste and wealth, and as I said, to burn some of these things in big
bonfires. So, Bonfire of the Vanities not only meant the burning of actual people, but the
burning of fine clothes and textiles, the burning of books, and also the burning of art—which
always should raise a flag in anyone's head.

When art and books start to be burned you know that a society is in trouble, because any kind
of free exchange of ideas is essentially ending in that kind of violent act. However, we can say
the famous saying what goes around comes around.
And that certainly was the case for the abbot Savonarola, because ultimately Savonarola
himself was hanged and burned at the stake as a heretic himself. So again, to end this chapter
about the rise and fall of Girolamo Savonarola and his ilk, is that a backlash that he cultivated
against the Medici, against Neoplatonic ideas, against humanist ideas, and this flourishing of
culture in Florence, was successful for a time.

The Bonfire of the Vanities did happen in 1498. But ultimately, the backlash also came back
against him. He himself was burned at the stake and he himself was ultimately denounced as a
heretic.

Image Citations
Donatello. Mary Magdalene. 1454 - 1455. Artstor, library-artstor-
org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1039930205

Donatello. David. Artstor, library-artstor-

org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/asset/LESSING_ART_1039490463