Donatello | Page 3

Baptistery,
the Florentines invited all artists to submit competitive designs. After a
preliminary trial, six artists were selected and a further test was
imposed. They were directed to make a bronze relief of given size and
shape, the subject being the Sacrifice of Isaac. Few themes could have
been better chosen, as the artist had to show his capacity to portray

youth and age, draped and undraped figures, as well as landscape and
animal life. The trial plaques were to be sent to the judges within
twelve months. Donatello did not compete, being only a boy, but he
must have been familiar with every stage in the contest, which excited
the deepest interest in Tuscany. A jury of thirty-four experts, among
whom were goldsmiths and painters as well as sculptors, assembled to
deliver the final verdict. The work of Jacobo della Quercia of Siena was
lacking in elegance and delicacy; the design submitted by Simone da
Colle was marred by faulty drawing; that of Niccolo d'Arezzo by badly
proportioned figures; while Francesco di Valdambrino made a confused
and inharmonious group. It was evident that Ghiberti and Brunellesco
were the most able competitors, and the jury hesitated before giving a
decision. Brunellesco, however, withdrew in favour of his younger
rival, and the commission was accordingly entrusted to Ghiberti. The
decision was wise: Ghiberti's model, technically as well as æsthetically,
was superior to that of Brunellesco. Both are preserved at Florence, and
nobody has regretted the acceptance of Ghiberti's design, for its
rejection would have made a sculptor of Brunellesco, whose real tastes
and inclinations were towards architecture, to which he rendered
services of incomparable value.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: First Journey to Rome.]
For a short time Donatello was probably one of the numerous garzoni
or assistants employed by Ghiberti in making the gates, but his first
visit to Rome is the most important incident of his earlier years.
Brunellesco, disappointed by his defeat, and wishing to study the
sculpture and architecture of Rome, sold a property at Settignano to
raise funds for the journey. He was accompanied by Donatello, his
stretissimo amico, [Transcriber's Note: Probably should be
"strettissimo."] and they spent at least a year together in Rome, learning
what they could from the existing monuments of ancient art, and
making jewelry when money was wanted for their household expenses.
Tradition says that they once unearthed a hoard of old coins and were
thenceforward known as the treasure-seekers--quelli del' tesoro. But the

influence of antiquity upon Donatello was never great, and Brunellesco
had to visit Rome frequently before he could fully realise the true
bearings of classical art. It has been argued that Donatello never made
this early visit to Rome on the ground that his subsequent work shows
no traces of classical influence. On such a problem as this the
affirmative statement of Vasari is lightly disregarded. But the
biographer of Brunellesco is explicit on the point, giving many details
about their sojourn; and this book was written during the lifetime of
both Donatello and Brunellesco. The argument against the visit is, in
fact, untenable. Artists were influenced by classical motives without
going to Rome. Brunellesco himself placed in his competition design a
figure inspired by the bronze boy drawing a thorn out of his foot--the
Spinario of the Capitol. Similar examples could be quoted from the
work of Luca della Robbia, and it would be easy to show, on the other
hand, that painters like Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and Piero della
Francesca were able to execute important work in Rome without
allowing themselves to be influenced by the classical spirit except in
details and accessories. Moreover, if one desired to press the matter
further, it can be shown that in the work completed by Donatello before
1433, the year in which he made his second and undisputed visit, there
are sufficient signs of classical motive in his architectural backgrounds
to justify the opinion that he was acquainted with the ancient buildings
of Rome. The Relief on the font at Siena and that in the Musée Wicar at
Lille certainly show classical study. At the same time, in measuring the
extent to which Donatello was influenced by his first visit to Rome, we
must remember that it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to
determine the source of what is generically called classical. The revival
or reproduction of Romanesque motives is often mistaken for classical
research. In the places where Christianity had little classical
architecture to guide it--Ravenna, for instance--a new line was struck
out; but elsewhere the Romanesque had slowly emerged from the
classical, and in many cases there was no strict line of demarcation
between the two. But Donatello was very young when he went to Rome,
and the fashion of the day had not then turned