Donatello, the Renaissance

An Italian journey – as a blockbuster Donatello show arrives in Florence, this week’s Apollo Art Diary highlights exhibition around the world that trace the story of art in Italy.

With some 130 sculptures, paintings and drawings arriving in Florence from more than 50 museums across the world and including many that have never been lent before, this is an unprecedented – and probably never to be repeated – exploration of the Renaissance master. Divided between the Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo Nazionale del Bargello (19 March–31 July), the exhibition includes famous masterpieces, such as his David sculptures in marble and bronze, and works that have never been seen in public institutions before, such as the Banquet of Herod from the baptismal font in Siena, to reveal how Donatello developed his abilities to imbue stone and metal with unparalleled pathos. Making plain Donatello’s colossal influence on the art of the quattrocento and beyond, the exhibition also includes works by contemporaries and disciples, ranging from Brunelleschi to Caravaggio. It is the product of long collaboration with the Staatliche Museums Berlin and the V&A in London, where versions of the show will travel later this year and next. Find out more from the Palazzo Strozzi’s website.

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