Renaissance Sculpture: Characteristics and Key Figures

Renaissance Sculpture: Characteristics

Renaissance sculpture sought to represent reality, but an idealized reality devoid of defects, characterized by calm equilibrium. This reflects Neoplatonic idealism, emphasizing the beauty of forms in nature and the human body (nudes). Moving away from the narrative art typical of the Middle Ages, Renaissance sculpture became a noble art, valued for its own sake.

Great importance was attached to civic sculpture and the artist as an individual, fostering a personality cult.

The Florentine Quattrocento

The great bronze-smith Ghiberti demonstrated excellent command of the art. His sculpture is elegant, detailed, and possesses pictorial effects. His reliefs exhibit depth, landscape, and atmosphere. His main works are the reliefs on two doors of the Baptistery of Florence. One set of reliefs are true pictorial reliefs; the other deserved to be called by Michelangelo, "Gates of Paradise," or "Gates of Glory."

Donatello: A Master Sculptor

Donatello was the most prolific and active of all the sculptors of the Quattrocento. A great artist, he knew and practiced varied techniques. He had a complex artistic personality, stimulated by diverse influences: the classical period (during which man was considered the reason for the universe) (nudes, equestrian portraits), and the Middle Ages, characterized by expressionism that did not shy away from the ugly and macabre.

Donatello developed all genres, including pictorial relief. But his unique contribution consists in schiacciato (flattened relief).

Notable Works by Donatello

• He created the first equestrian portrait of the Renaissance, The Gattamelata in Padua. Inspired by the equestrian statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, it is a clear example of classical influence, evident in the robustness of the horse and the knight, and the balance of proportions. Note the use of the closed line, with the horse's leg supported on a ball, thereby increasing the sense of balance. Finally, this work offers a true psychological analysis of a warrior.
• The celebrated David, the first nude male sculpture in the round of the Renaissance, shows an ephebe, of Praxitelean type, wearing a straw hat. This work introduces the contrapposto.