Tours / Donatello and the Renaissance

“Donatello, the Renaissance” is the new exhibition hosted in Florence in the splendid rooms of Palazzo Strozzi.

Donatello was born in Florence and it is here that he created most of his masterpieces, for this reason the exhibition means a lot for the city of the lily which has a strong sense of belonging with the artist. The exhibition starts in Florence and will continue at the Berlin Museums and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
This exhibition traces the immense work and life of Donatello in comparison with his contemporaries. He was one of the earliest known artists of the Renaissance and is regarded as the father of this artistic movement along with Filippo Brunelleschi and Masaccio and made history for his sculptural works in Florence.
The very young Donatello, aged only 20, undertook the sculpture of statues in the Church of Orsanmichele and in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Let's see how this artist began to acquire notoriety in Florence. Not much is known about Donatello's early years, except that he came from a modest family of wool artisans, the most popular trade in Tuscany at the time. He was taken under the wings of the Martelli family, who provided him with an education that allowed him to study. Roberto Martelli, one of his sons, even became one of Donatello's patrons, giving him the resources to begin his first works. It was at the age of 15 that he joined a goldsmith's workshop in Pistoia as an apprentice together with another assistant: Filippo Brunelleschi, who then built the dome of the Cathedral, a challenge for the time. They shared a love for ancient art, which led them to Rome to study the monuments and statues of antiquity. They returned to Florence two years later, and Donatello went to work for a much larger workshop: that of Lorenzo Ghiberti.
We know well that the statues are, in addition to the Duomo, one of the symbols of the city of Florence, due to the large amount that can be found through the Florentine streets and squares. It was he who left the most recognizable mark in Florence, just think of his monumental works with David, San Giovanni Evangelista, San Marco and San Giorgio, as well as the statues of the five prophets on Giotto's bell tower.
He mainly used marble for his statues, and was in constant experimentation, which led him to broaden his techniques and create the stiacciato, a technique of altering the depth of several millimeters to create relief and shadows.
He influenced Michelangelo's sculpture, as can be seen in the Madonna della Scala preserved in Casa Buonarroti.
He later opened a shop with the master Michelozzo. He decided to focus on architecture because he was gifted with this form of art. He received various assignments for the Baptistery, several churches in Rome and for the cathedral of Prato, leaving his imprint on him forever.
The guided tour that we propose will take you to Palazzo Strozzi for a complete visit of the palace and the exhibition. Let yourself be guided by our experts who are passionate about Florence and art. We highly recommend that you see this once in a lifetime exhibition!
It will be a unique opportunity to see works that are found in various European museums that usually do not travel.

Let yourself be guided by our guides who are passionate about Florence and art. We highly recommend that you see this super exhibition once in your life!