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St. Mark (Donatello)
Encyclopedia
Donatello's Saint Mark (1411–1413) is a marble statue that stands approximately seven feet and nine inches high in an exterior niche of the Orsanmichele
church, Florence
. Donatello
was commissioned by the linen weavers' guild to complete three pieces for the project. St. Mark was the first of his contributions. The niche itself was not of Donatello's hand, but created most probably by two stone carvers named Perfetto di Giovanni and Albizzo di Pietro. Today, a copy of the statue stands in the original's place, while the real St. Mark is housed inside the church's museum.
pose, or natural pose, is used with Donatello's St. Mark. The saint has more weight on his right leg, his left knee is bent, and his torso is slightly twisted. The style is much more naturalistic than the symmetry and unrealistic nature of art from the Dark Ages. Also Donatello's sculpture differs from medieval works in the way that drapery is used, specifically in that St. Mark's figure is revealed by a realistic draping of linen.
's text The Lives of the Artists, written 140 years after the completion of St. Mark, the linen workers' guild rejected the sculpture because it appeared unnatural when set at street level. This was due to proportion adjustments made for its final resting place in the niche, well above street level. The head and torso were made larger as they would be further away from the viewer.
Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele is a church in the Italian city of Florence...
church, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. Donatello
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...
was commissioned by the linen weavers' guild to complete three pieces for the project. St. Mark was the first of his contributions. The niche itself was not of Donatello's hand, but created most probably by two stone carvers named Perfetto di Giovanni and Albizzo di Pietro. Today, a copy of the statue stands in the original's place, while the real St. Mark is housed inside the church's museum.
Sculpture
Donatello's sculpture is notable for its detailed realism, evidence of the artist's skills. Even the veins of St. Mark's left hand are visible as he holds a text upon his hip. The contrappostoContrapposto
Contrapposto is an Italian term that means counterpose. It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed...
pose, or natural pose, is used with Donatello's St. Mark. The saint has more weight on his right leg, his left knee is bent, and his torso is slightly twisted. The style is much more naturalistic than the symmetry and unrealistic nature of art from the Dark Ages. Also Donatello's sculpture differs from medieval works in the way that drapery is used, specifically in that St. Mark's figure is revealed by a realistic draping of linen.
Proportions
According to VasariGiorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
's text The Lives of the Artists, written 140 years after the completion of St. Mark, the linen workers' guild rejected the sculpture because it appeared unnatural when set at street level. This was due to proportion adjustments made for its final resting place in the niche, well above street level. The head and torso were made larger as they would be further away from the viewer.
Alleged adjustments
Donatello promised to make adjustments, so he covered the statue with a cloth, set the statue in the niche above the street, and without touching the statue for 15 days, once again revealed it to the guild. With its location above the viewer, the proportions looked perfect and the linen weaver's guild accepted the statue.Sources
- USAD - Art Resource Guide
- http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html
- Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists, 1550