Renaissance Period

Early Renaissance (1400-1479)

Giotto di Bondone Donatello di Niccolo di Betto Bardi

Giotto di Bondone
• He was the pioneer in the new movement
whose sovereignty in painting is unparalleled
after several centuries.
• He was born in July 1266 in Florence, Italy
• He was the first of the Italian masters to draw
from nature-an artistic revolution that became
fundamental today.
• Giotto became a pupil of
Cimabue, an Italian painter
and mosaic designer.
• When Cimabue went to
Assisi, Giotto as with him.
• They painted large frescoes
in the newly built Basilica
of Saint Francis, of Assisi.
 The Legend of Saint Francis

Homage of a Simple Man St. Francis Giving his Dream of the Palace
Mantle to a Poor Man
Scrovegni Chapel or
The Arena Chapel

The Last Judgement

1334, he was designated as
Magnus Magister or “ Great
Master”.
He was also appointed as
head architect and chief of
public works in Florence.
In 1337, Giotto dies in
Florence
“Father of the Renaissance”
Donatello di Niccolo di Betto Bardi
• One of the greatest Florentine
Sculptors and considered as
one of the most influential
artists of the fifteenth century.
• He was born around 1386 in
Florence, Italy.
• His father, Niccolo was a
member of the Florentine Wool
Combers Guild. This gave
young Donatello the status as
the son of a craftsman, thus
paved a path for him to work in
trades.
Donatello di Niccolo di Betto Bardi

• He was educated in the

house of the Martelli family.
• He received his artistic
training in goldsmith’s
workshop where he learned
metallurgy and fabrication
of other substances.
• He worked for Lorenzo
Ghiberti, a well-known
sculptor and goldsmith.
• Under Ghiberti, Donatello
received commissions to
work for the Florentine
Baptistery.
• Donatello began to develop
his own style of realistic and
highly emotional sculptures.
Donatello di Niccolo di Betto Bardi

• In 1408, he returned to
Florence to work in the
Cathedral of Florence. In the
same year, he carved the first
David.
• A year later, he worked on the
marble sculpture of St. John the
Evangelist, which is a colossal
seated and disproportional
figure of the saint.
Donatello di Niccolo di Betto Bardi

• His next project was the statue

of St. Mark, which is displayed
inside the museum of the
Orsanmichele Church.
• A copy of the sculpture now
stands in the church’s niche
along with other sculptures.
 Donatello’s Marble Sculpture

St. John Evangelist St. Marl (copy) St. Mark (original)

• This sculpture established Donatello’s reputation.
• His life-sized figures and other works show a stance away
from a Classical techniques.
 • Around 1440, he created
the second David.
• Cosimo de’ Medici, an art
patron, commissioned the
statue.

David (1408-1409) David (ca 1440)

His artworks, stood out from others because he expanded the
Gothic style and began to create expressive sculptures.

Gothic sculpture, showing melchizedeck,

Donatello’s non-Gothic style
Abraham with his son, Isaac, and Moses
• He was able to create artworks
that show emotions such as
sorrow or suffering and joy.
• He completed the wooden
sculpture, the Penitent Magdalene
in 1455.
• The expressive sculpture shows
the repentant Magdalene as a
haggard old woman.
• He died on December 13, 1466 in
Florence and was buried in the
Basilica of San Lorenzo.
Penitent Magdalene (453-1455)
The Resurrection Pulpit
(1465)