Donatello

Donatello (c. 1386–1466) was the greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance and one of the most influential artists in Western history. Born Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi in Florence to a wool carder's family, he trained in Lorenzo Ghiberti's workshop while the master was creating the famous bronze doors for Florence's Baptistery.

Donatello did things no sculptor had done since antiquity. His bronze David (c. 1440s), now at the Bargello in Florence, was the first freestanding nude male sculpture since the Roman era. It's small (just over five feet) and enigmatic, with David standing over Goliath's severed head wearing only a hat and boots. He also invented schiacciato (shallow relief carving), a technique that creates the illusion of depth in almost flat marble surfaces.

His Gattamelata (1453) in Padua was the first large equestrian bronze since antiquity, modeled after the Marcus Aurelius statue in Rome. Donatello's late works, including the gaunt wooden Mary Magdalene (c. 1455), show a raw emotional intensity that wouldn't be matched until Rodin four centuries later. Michelangelo's David (1504) was a direct response to Donatello's version, both an homage and a challenge.