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Donatello, 500th anniversary of his birth

Medal
1886 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This medal made by Luigi Frullini in 1886 in Italy commemorates the Italian sculptor Donatello's 500th anniversary of his birth. Dontello was the most imaginative and versatile Florentine sculptor of the early Renaissance, famous for his rendering of human character and for his dramatic narratives. He achieved these ends by studying ancient Roman sculpture and amalgamating its ideas with an acute and sympathetic observation of everyday life. Together with Alberti, Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Uccello, Donatello created the Italian Renaissance style, which he introduced to Rome, Siena and Padua at various stages of his career. He was long-lived and prolific: between 1401 and 1461 there are 400 documentary references to him, some for nearly every year. However, there is no contemporary biography, and the earliest account, in Vasari’s Vite (1550), is confused.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleDonatello, 500th anniversary of his birth (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Iron
Brief description
Medal, iron, Donatello, 500th anniversary of his birth, by Luigi Frullini, Italian, 1886
Object history
This medal accompanied by a note saying "not numbered" - found in A.M.S. (Art Museum Store) 1933". Written on with a group of unnumbered medals RF 96/1279.
Subject depicted
Summary
This medal made by Luigi Frullini in 1886 in Italy commemorates the Italian sculptor Donatello's 500th anniversary of his birth. Dontello was the most imaginative and versatile Florentine sculptor of the early Renaissance, famous for his rendering of human character and for his dramatic narratives. He achieved these ends by studying ancient Roman sculpture and amalgamating its ideas with an acute and sympathetic observation of everyday life. Together with Alberti, Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Uccello, Donatello created the Italian Renaissance style, which he introduced to Rome, Siena and Padua at various stages of his career. He was long-lived and prolific: between 1401 and 1461 there are 400 documentary references to him, some for nearly every year. However, there is no contemporary biography, and the earliest account, in Vasari’s Vite (1550), is confused.
Collection
Accession number
A.26-1997

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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