Donatello: Sculptor
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Donatello: Sculptor Details
From Publishers Weekly In this erudite, lavishly illustrated monograph, Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello emerges as an innovator who was more radical in his artistic solutions and highly individual religious iconography than is generally assumed. Pope-Hennessy, a leading authority on Italian Renaissance art, surveys the full range of Donatello's accomplishments: his marble David in Florence, the strong humanistic expression of his reliefs and statues, works in gilt bronze and pigmented wood and the low marble relief technique ( stiacciato ) Donatello pioneered, achieving unprecedented effects of animation and expressiveness in almost mystical compositions. The restoration and cleaning of many of Donatello's major works in recent years is reflected in this volume's magnificent color photographs, which radiate the majesty and vividness his sculptures possessed in the 15th century. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Library Journal Unsurpassed among early Renaissance sculptors, Donatello's formal and expressive genius continues to engage both popular appreciation and scholarly scrutiny. Pope-Hennessy's superbly illustrated articulation of the artist's oeuvre is graced by lucid stylistic analyses, compelling connoisseurship, the perceptive interpretation of the documents, and a commanding grasp of the relevant scholarship. The result is a masterful formulation of Donatello's work and chronology. While the essay is an exemplar of the disappearing genre of sophisticated yet accessible art historical exposition, the author's reluctance to evoke sufficiently the sculpture's dramatic essences will lessen the volume's appeal to general readers. Some scholars, too, may blanch at the minimal consideration of iconographic content and social context. This work nonetheless recommends itself as a grand, if traditional, synthesis by a master of the discipline.- Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New YorkCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more See all Editorial Reviews
Reviews
One of Sir Pope-Hennessy's best books.