Donatello | Page 8

alone in the room with it, we find every motionless
limb imbued with vitality and the essentials of movement. The Moses
undoubtedly springs from the St. John, transcending it as Beethoven

surpassed Haydn. In spite of nearly unpardonable faults verging on
decadence, it is the greater though the less pleasing creation of the two.
The St. John surveys the world; the Moses speaks with God.
[Illustration: Alinari
MARBLE DAVID
BARGELLO, FLORENCE]
The fourth statue made for the Cathedral proper is contemporary with
the St. John. The marble David, ordered in 1408 and completed in 1416,
was destined for a chapel inside the church. The Town Commissioners,
however, sent a somewhat peremptory letter to the Domopera and the
statue was handed over to them. It was placed in the great hall of the
Palace, was ultimately removed to the Uffizzi, and is now in the
Bargello Museum. The David certainly has a secular look. This ruddy
youth of a fair countenance, crowned with a wreath, stands in an
attitude which is shy and perhaps awkward, and by his feet lies the
head of Goliath with the smooth stone from the brook deeply
embedded in his forehead. The drapery of the tunic is close fitting,
moulded exactly to the lines of his frame, and above it a loose cloak
hangs over the shoulders and falls to the ground with a corner of cloth
looped over one of the wrists in a familiar way.[12] It would be idle to
pretend that the David is a marked success like the St. John. It neither
attains an ideal, as in the St. George, nor is it a profound interpretation
of character like the Habbakuk or Jeremiah. Its effect is impaired by
this sense of compromise and uncertainty. It is one of the very rare
cases in which Donatello hesitated between divergent aims and finally
translated his doubts into marble.
[Footnote 12: Cf. Madame André's prophet and figures on Mandorla
door.]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Statues of the Campanile.]

We must now refer to a group of statues which adorn the Campanile,
the great Bell tower designed by Giotto for the Cathedral. Not counting
the numerous reliefs, there are sixteen statues in all, four on each side
of the tower, and in themselves they epitomise early Florentine
sculpture. Donatello's statues of Jeremiah, Abraham, and St. John the
Baptist offer no difficulties of nomenclature, but the Zuccone and the
Habbakuk are so called on hypothetical grounds. The Zuccone has been
called by this familiar nickname from time immemorial: bald-head or
pumpkin--such is the meaning of the word, and nobody has hitherto
given a reasoned argument to identify this singular figure with any
particular prophet. As early as 1415 Donatello received payment for
some of this work, and the latest record on the subject is dated 1435.
We may therefore expect to find some variety in idea and considerable
development in technique during these twenty years. Donatello was not
altogether single-handed. It is certain that by the time these numerous
works were being executed he was assisted by scholars, and the
Abraham was actually made in collaboration with Giovanni di Bartolo,
surnamed Il Rosso. It is not easy to discriminate between the respective
shares of the partners. Giovanni was one of those men whose style
varied with the dominating influence of the moment. At Verona he
almost ceased to be Florentine: at Tolentino he was himself; working
for the Campanile he was subject to the power of Donatello. The
Prophet Obadiah, which corresponds in position to the St. John Baptist
of Donatello on the western face of the tower, shows Rosso to have
been a correct and painstaking sculptor, with notions much in advance
of Ciuffagni's; noticeable also for a refinement in the treatment of
hands, in which respect many of his rivals lagged far behind. Judging
from the inscription at Verona, Rosso was appreciated by others--or by
himself:[13] he is, in fact, an artist of merit, rarely falling below a
respectable average in spite of the frequency with which he changed his
style.
[Footnote 13: On the Brenzoni tomb in the Church of San Fermo:
"Quem genuit Russi Florentia Tusca Johañis: istud sculpsit opus
ingeniosa manus."]
* * * * *

[Sidenote: St. John the Baptist.]
Rosso does not compare favourably with Donatello. Obadiah is less
attractive than St. John the Baptist, its pendant. The test is admittedly
severe, for the St. John is a figure remarkable alike in conception and
for its technical skill. Were it not for the scroll bearing the "Ecce Agnus
Dei," we should not suggest St. John as the subject. Donatello made
many Baptists--boys, striplings and men young and mature: but in this
case only have we something bright and cheerful. He is no mystic; he
differs fundamentally from the gloomy ascetic and