Who was Donatello?
Q: Who was Donatello?
A: Donatello was an Italian sculptor during the Renaissance. He lived in Florence and worked with several assistants in stone, bronze, wood, clay, and wax.
Q: Where did he work?
A: Donatello worked in Rome, Sienna and Padua as well as Florence. He also worked for the Church, for Cosimo de' Medici, and for various city authorities.
Q: Who was his teacher?
A: When Donatello was older, he studied with Filippo Brunelleschi the architect. He also helped the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti to make statues for the Battistero di San Giovanni.
Q: What inspired his work?
A: Donatello's work was inspired by ancient sculpture. He was the first sculptor of his time to celebrate the human body, an idea that had died out after Greek and Roman times.
Q: What is his best-known work?
A: His life-size statue of David is his best-known work. The David is the first known free-standing nude statue made since antiquity.
Q: What type of artist was he?
A: Donatello was a realist; an artist whose sculpture showed subjects as real people with naturalism and showing of human feelings being influences on him.
Q: How many statues did he make for Florence Cathedral?
A: Between 1415 and 1426, he made five statues for Florence Cathedral (also known as Duomo).
