In the great era of sculpture with shining stars, he who invented the layered carving technique is the legendary representative

Donatello lived in an era when the Italian Renaissance sculpture style was formed and matured. Throughout his artistic career, he created a large number of distinctive works. In this great sculpture era in which he lived, many master artists in Florence created sculptures that have been passed down through the ages. Donatello, who invented the layered carving technique, is undoubtedly a legendary representative of this great era of shining stars.

Written by | Zhang Yi

Introduction: Donatello (real name Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, ca. 1386 – December 13, 1466), the founder of Italian Renaissance sculpture, created many sculptures that reflected the republican ideals of Florence during the Renaissance. His artistic style was a combination of the best of many others, mainly derived from the study of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and the observation and perception of the real human body and the inner world of characters, coupled with the application of the most advanced scientific theories at the time and the rejection and development of traditional medieval art forms. Throughout his artistic career, he created a large number of works of art. The author believes that his various round sculptures and reliefs created using various materials (such as marble, bronze, red clay, wood, etc.) are very distinctive. Since he not only worked in Florence, but also went to Rome, Siena, Venice, Padua and many other regions to create, his creative methods and artistic style had an immeasurable and far-reaching impact on the vast areas of Italy and the creations of later sculptors. Donatello lived in an era when the Italian Renaissance sculpture style was formed and matured. During Donatello’s long life, many great artists in Florence, such as Nanni di Banco (c. 1384-1421), Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), Michelozzo (real name Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi, 1396-1472), etc., all created sculptures that have been passed down through the ages. Donatello is undoubtedly the legendary representative of this great era of shining stars.

1

Early life

Donatello was born in Florence in 1386. His father, Niccolò di Betto Bardi, was a member of the wool merchants' guild in the city. He was educated in the Martelli Family, a famous ancient family in Florence, and later received training as a goldsmith. It is said that he participated in the competition for the casting rights of the famous bronze doors of the Baptistery in 1403, but was unsuccessful. His entry was first collected by the Medici family, but unfortunately it was not passed down; Ghiberti eventually became the only winner of this competition. It is said that he then traveled to Rome with Brunelleschi to investigate and even conduct some archaeological excavations. The two's research on ancient Roman architectural relics and classical sculptures greatly influenced Donatello's later artistic creation; it is particularly worth noting that not only did the sculptures of ancient Rome influence Donatello's later creations, but the balanced proportions of ancient Roman architecture were also reflected in his later sculptures, which eventually became an important feature of Renaissance sculptures. There is also evidence that before 1408 he had worked as an assistant in Lorenzo Ghiberti's studio, an experience that may have given him the opportunity to master the technique of casting bronze sculptures.

Let's start with an early work by Donatello that was not very successful. Readers can see that even a genius master has a growth process. If you are willing to carefully compare the two works in Figure 1 and Figure 1a, you can understand that without the understanding of ancient Greek and Roman art and theory, realism or naturalism may not be able to produce the so-called Renaissance style of sculpture. According to Vasari's records, Brunelleschi once made a sharp criticism of Donatello's early wooden sculpture of Jesus on the cross. He felt that Donatello's work was too realistic and made the suffering Jesus look like a peasant (Figure 1). Donatello, who was criticized, challenged Brunelleschi to make a better sculpture of the same kind. Later, when Donatello saw the work created by Brunelleschi after accepting the challenge (Figure 1a), he was completely stunned. He enthusiastically praised Brunelleschi's work and admitted that the Jesus he created looked like a peasant.

Figure 1. Donatello, Jesus on the Cross, polychrome wood carving, 1407-1408, 168 cm wide, 173 cm high, now on display in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 1a. Brunelleschi, Jesus on the Cross, polychrome wood carving, made between 1410 and 1415, 170 cm high and 170 cm wide, now on display at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Novella in Florence | Image source: Wikipedia

Both works have been preserved in Florence, although in different churches, but it still gives us the opportunity to carefully compare the two works. We can see that Brunelleschi's work inherits the shape of Jesus in the painting of the Florentine master Giotto (see Figure 1b). Compared with Donatello's work, the Jesus in Brunelleschi's work is obviously a more idealized human being. The length of his outstretched arms is exactly equal to the length of his body. This is exactly the ideal human proportion described by the ancient Roman writer, architect and engineer Vitruvius (real name Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, about 80 BC-15 BC) in the third volume of his "De architectura". At the same time, it also follows the rules of human anatomy. As a sculpture, the shape of Jesus created by Brunelleschi leaves a certain space between his bent legs and the cross behind him. The slightly left face of the saint is full of sympathy for human suffering, and the sculptor made it elegant and restrained, which can attract the viewer's attention for a long time. Because of this, people can feel its elegance and artistic tension when observing this work from almost any angle in front of the wall where the sculpture is placed. Brunelleschi's work not only inherited the European medieval art tradition and ancient Roman art theory, but also combined them with realism and contemporary science. We can see that this way of artistic creation will undoubtedly affect Donatello's taste. Brunelleschi later competed for a series of architectural projects such as the dome of the Florence Cathedral and basically turned to architecture and became a great man of the Renaissance. I don't know whether this is luck or loss for Donatello. For a strong man, a great competitor should inspire his fighting spirit and become stronger.

Figure 1b. Giotto, Christ on the Cross, tempera painting, created between 1290 and 1300, 578 cm high and 406 cm wide, now on display at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Novella in Florence | Image source: Wikipedia

2

Marble sculpture from the early 15th century for the Florence Cathedral

2.1. Introduction to Florence Cathedral

Anyone who has been to Florence will be deeply impressed by the city's magnificent cathedral, which began construction in 1296 and was designed by the famous architect and sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240-1310). Thanks to the emergence of the genius architect Filippo Brunelleschi, the cathedral finally completed the original design of the dome, which was far ahead of its time, in 1436, marking the end of the entire cathedral construction project. As the project progressed, the decoration of the cathedral has been progressing slowly, and its facade decoration was not finally completed until 1887, but the decoration of the church reached a climax in the early fifteenth century. As an important sculptor in the city, Donatello was undoubtedly invited to participate in it and left us several important works.

2.2. Marble Statue of David

The marble round sculpture of David is one of Donatello's earliest sculptures (Figure 2). He was commissioned by the Opera del Duomo in Florence to place it on the top of a buttress above the church. However, after the work was completed, it was not large enough to achieve the expected viewing effect, so it was never placed anywhere in the church. In 1416, it was moved to the Palazzo dei Gigli in the Florentine Republic Government, which is now called the Sala dei Gigli. Donatello also made some modifications to this work to reduce its religious characteristics and make it more suitable for the secular image and symbolic role of David as the guardian of the Florentine Republic. The inscription on the statue's base reads: "God always comes to the aid of those who fight to defend their country, no matter how powerful their enemies are (Pro patria fortiter dimicantibus Etia adversus hostes terribilissimos Dii prestant auxilium)." This sculpture clearly follows some Gothic art style features, especially in the treatment of folds and David's standing posture, but the handsome and elegant face of the young David reveals the atmosphere of the Renaissance era. Donatello was undoubtedly influenced by classical sculpture art, and also revealed the artist's pursuit of natural beauty. The static elegance of the whole sculpture is likely influenced by Ghiberti, who was working as an assistant in Ghiberti's studio for a long time during this period.

Figure 2. Donatello, David, marble sculpture, made in 1408, 189 cm high, now on display in the Florence Police Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

2.3. Seated statue of Saint John the Evangelist

The seated statue of Saint John the Evangelist shown in Figure 3 was created slightly later than the marble statue of David. It was also made for the Florence Cathedral, which was under construction at the time. When Donatello created this work, he took into account the fact that the statue would be placed at a higher position on the front wall of the church and people could only look up from below. Therefore, he shortened the legs of the seated Saint John and lengthened the upper body, so that people who looked up from outside the church would feel that the person they saw in the statue was more in line with the proportions of a normal person in reality.

Figure 3. Donatello, St. John the Evangelist, marble sculpture, made in 1410-1411, 210 cm high, now on display in the Florence Cathedral Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

According to the New Testament, St. John the Evangelist was one of Jesus' twelve disciples. After Jesus' death, he was considered a pillar of the Jerusalem Church. In medieval or contemporary art works, he was usually portrayed as a young man, but the sculptor portrayed John as a wise elder with a long beard. It is particularly noteworthy that the saint created by Donatello is an idealized realist figure. The shape of the saint is basically derived from the shape of the seated statue of the senator in the ancient Roman Senate. Except for the folds of the clothes, the entire sculpture is almost completely free from the influence of the medieval Gothic style, making the viewer feel that he is facing a saint with a noble heart, full of wisdom and firm faith. Donatello's work undoubtedly influenced the creation of Michelangelo's famous seated statue of Moses more than 100 years later (Figure 3a).

Figure 3a. Michelangelo, Moses, marble, created around 1513-1515, 235 cm high, now on display in the Church of St. Peter in Vincoli, Rome | Image source: Wikipedia

It is worth noting that at almost the same time when Donatello was making the Seated Statue of St. John, Nani de Banco was also making a Seated Statue of St. Luke of almost the same size for the Florence Cathedral (Figure 3b), whose shape was derived from the Seated Statue of the Roman Senate. Unlike Donatello, although the sculptor knew that the statue would be placed at a higher position on the outer wall of the cathedral, he only shaped the image of St. Luke according to the natural proportions of the human body in the real world, and he did not elongate the saint's upper body and neck. Today, these two statues are still placed at a higher position in the museum, but if you look closely, the statue made by Nani de Banco is also very eye-catching, reflecting the republican spirit of Florence in the early Renaissance.

Figure 3b. Nani dei Banco, Saint Luke, marble, 1408-1415, height 208 cm, now on display in the Florence Cathedral Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

3

Statue in the niche of St. Michael's Church

3.1. The exterior wall and niches of St. Michael’s Church

The Church of San Michele (Orsanmichele), which began to be built in 1337, was originally built as a grain market in Florence. Between 1380 and 1402, the building was converted into a dedicated church for all the handicrafts and trade guilds in Florence. The first floor was a church, the second floor was an office, and the third floor was used as a city granary to store grain needed for Florence's wars. One of the greatest features of this church is the numerous niches made on its facade. According to the laws of the Republic of Florence, each major guild must create a statue of the patron saint of its guild in its niche. Since the niches are very close to each other, it allows people to compare and comment on the statues of saints in these niches, and also encourages each guild to try to hire good sculptors to create excellent statues if its financial resources permit. Because of this, this church eventually became a sculpture temple in the Renaissance in Florence. It gathers the great sculptures of almost all the great sculptors in the early Renaissance in the city, and is an indispensable part of understanding the history of sculpture art.

3.2. Saint Mark

Donatello's statue of St. Mark was sponsored by the Florentine Linen Cloth Merchants Guild (Arte dei Linaioli e Rigattieri) and made specifically for the niche of the San Michele Church belonging to the guild. St. Mark is the patron saint of the guild. The statue was probably created between 1411 and 1413, but it may be slightly later. Its height is nearly 2.5 meters, slightly taller than a real person (Figure 4). This statue should be the first time that Donatello showed his revolutionary nature in the field of sculpture. He perfectly combined his meticulous observation of life with his research on classical Greek and Roman sculptures, completely getting rid of the traditional medieval sculpture style. With this work, he surpassed all independent portrait sculptures created by predecessors since the Middle Ages. Careful people will notice that almost at the same time as Donatello made the sculpture of St. Mark, but perhaps a little earlier, Nani di Banco completed a standing statue of Saint Philip (Figure 4b) under the sponsorship of the Florentine Shoemakers Guild (Arte dei Calzolai). The two statues share some similarities, such as their stance in the ancient Hellenistic contrapposto, and both sculptors were undoubtedly influenced to some extent by ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, but a closer look reveals many differences in details that reflect the rapidly changing tastes of the most avant-garde sculptors in Florence in the early fifteenth century.

Figure 4. Donatello, St. Mark, marble sculpture, made between 1411 and 1413, 236 cm high, now on display in the Museum of San Michele in Florence | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 4a. Donatello, St. Mark (partial) | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 4b. Nani di Banco, Saint Philip, marble sculpture, made between 1410 and 1412, 250 cm high, now on display in the Museum of San Michele Church in Florence. This photo is an old photo of the sculpture in a niche on the outer wall of the church. Image source: Wikipedia

Today, the original statue has been moved to the museum. We can see from a close look that the marble statue made by Donatello is relatively thin. Although it cannot be seen from the niche placed high above the ground, it should actually be regarded as a deep relief. This is because the Linen Clothes Merchants Guild is not very wealthy financially, so the stone provided to the sculptor is relatively small in volume; while Nani di Banco used a relatively large piece of stone, so the sculptor could carve it more casually according to his needs. The folds of the clothes worn by the saint are carved very deeply, and all the details of the clothes can be seen from a close look. Because Saint Philip is the patron saint of the shoemaker's guild, the sculptor deliberately let him pull up his robe to reveal the shoe on his left foot. It is also the action of pulling up the robe that makes the clothes on Saint Philip more or less distant from his body, and the viewer cannot clearly feel the body of the saint from the surface of the clothes, so the whole statue still retains some characteristics of medieval Gothic statues. Perhaps Donatello created the statue for Saint Mark, the patron saint of the Linen Clothes Merchants Guild. He dressed the saint in close-fitting, light linen clothing, which allows people to clearly feel the saint's body and movements. An interesting point is that Donatello also gave the saint a shawl made of coarse fiber fabric, and the viewer can clearly feel the visual reflection and contrast created by the sculptor's realistic treatment of two different fabrics.

Donatello's meticulous observation of life is not only reflected in the saint's clothes, but also in his spiritual outlook. St. Mark is portrayed as a spirited and wise elder. Although he stands still, people can feel the vitality contained in his slightly twisted body and muscles through his thin linen clothes; and the face of St. Mark, which the sculptor created with realistic techniques, also shows the saint's energetic inner world. His eyes are straight and his eyebrows are slightly raised, plus the wrinkles on his forehead, so that the viewer can deeply feel his wisdom. The sculptor's realistic facial shaping seems to allow people to feel his inner world's perseverance, peace and self-confidence through his pupils; for those who understand the history of the Florentine Republic, this statue of St. Mark, which was ordered by a secular guild, shows the confidence and pride of the awakened city citizens themselves in the early stage of the revival of the secular city after the long medieval religious rule.

The body modeling derived from classical art, coupled with the deep observation of real people and the expression of naturalistic techniques, makes Donatello's sculpture the earliest human sculpture with the spirit of the Renaissance in Florence. It is actually a celebration of the human dignity that has reawakened from the European Middle Ages. This combination of classical human sculpture modeling and realistic naturalistic sculpture techniques also foreshadows the coming of a new era in the field of sculpture and even the entire visual art world. Although traditional Gothic art will continue for some time, the new art form will gradually change people's tastes and eventually form an irresistible and powerful trend.

3.3. St. George

I personally think that the statue of St. George and the relief on the front of the pedestal are Donatello's most outstanding works in his youth (Figure 5 and Figure 5a). It is the first portrait sculpture that fully reflects the aesthetics and humanistic ideals of the Renaissance, and it is also my favorite sculpture of Donatello. The sculptor was commissioned by the Florentine Armor and Weapon Manufacturing Guild to create this work for the guild in the niche on the outer wall of the Church of San Michele in Florence. The original statue has been moved to the Florence Police Museum today, and a replica is now placed on the outer wall of the church. Through the armor and cloak of the figure, we can fully feel the human body full of youthful vitality and infinite vitality. It is a reproduction of the ideal human body in ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. The figure with legs apart seems to have just stopped and stared ahead. St. George's facial expression is calm, strong and confident, which reminds people of the kind of fortitude, simplicity and high-spirited qualities unique to the citizens of the Roman Republic. Undoubtedly, the sculptor used the face of the figure to show the spiritual outlook of the ideal citizens of the Florentine Republic in the humanistic ideal. They are young, handsome, fearless of hardships, full of vigorous vitality, and ready to defend the Republic at any time and defeat the invading foreign enemies on the battlefield. In order to increase the realistic atmosphere of the sculpture, Donatello originally made St. George hold a spear in his right fist, and a sheathed sword is hung on the metal belt wrapped around his waist. Although we can only see marble sculptures in museums today, if you look closely, you can still see the traces of these metal weapons fixed on the statue.

Figure 5. Donatello, Standing Statue of St. George and Bas-relief on the Pedestal St. George slaying the dragon, marble sculpture, made between 1416 and 1417; the statue is 209 cm high; the bas-relief on the pedestal is 50 cm high and 172 cm wide; now on display at the Florence Police Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5a. Donatello, Statue of St. George (partial) | Image source: Wikipedia

3.4. Introduction of new technology and the beginning of modern relief

On the front of the pedestal under the statue of St. George, Donatello made a small bas-relief with the theme of St. George slaying the dragon (Figure 5b). The sculptor introduced the perspective invented by Brunelleschi into relief for the first time. It was also the first time that he practiced the layered carving method (Stiacciato) invented by himself to enhance the depth effect of the landscape. The so-called layered carving method is a relief carving technique that uses increasingly shallow and flat carvings with only a few millimeters of protrusion near the horizon of the relief surface to increase the depth of perspective and further enhance the atmosphere of the scene. It was invented and popularized by Donatello.

Figure 5b. Donatello, St. George slaying the dragon, marble relief, St. George statue base, height 39 cm, width 120 cm | Image source: Wikipedia

The invention of the layered carving technique is undoubtedly Donatello's major contribution to the art of sculpture. It gives the relief, which originally had only a plane effect, a three-dimensional sense of depth. The invention of this technique, coupled with the use of perspective techniques, greatly enhances the expressiveness of the relief in terms of landscape depth. We can compare the bas-relief works under the niche of the Quattro Santi Coronati sculpture, which is very close to the statue of St. George on the outer wall of the Church of San Michele (Figure 5c and Figure 5c-1). It was made by Nani di Banco for the Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname, and the entire work was completed only one year earlier than Donatello's work. However, due to the use of traditional techniques, the bas-relief still gives people a sense of lack of depth despite the deep carving. The layered carving method invented by Donatello in relief undoubtedly made it possible for the relief of the Renaissance to surpass the ancient Greek and Roman and all relief works before the 1410s in terms of the expressiveness of landscape depth. Donatello himself was undoubtedly the advocate of this technical invention (see Figures 5b and 5d). He also influenced sculptors including Ghiberti, who cleverly used this technology in many of the reliefs on the Gate of Paradise he created (see Figures 5e and 5f), enabling Florence to achieve brilliant achievements in relief creation in the first half of the 15th century.

Figure 5c. Nani di Banco, The Coronation of the Four Saints, marble sculpture, made between 1414 and 1416, the statue is 203 cm high. The four saints in the sculpture are now on display in the Museum of San Michele in Florence. The portrait replica and the original bas-relief are still on display on the outer wall of San Michele. Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5c-1. Nani di Banco, relief of carpenters and stonemasons at work, relief of the front of the pedestal of the Crowned Four Saints | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5d. Donatello, Herod's Banquet, bronze gilt relief, 60 cm high, 60 cm wide, part of the baptistery of San Giovanni in Siena, now on display in the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Siena | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5e. Ghiberti, Creation of Adam and Eve (part of the Gate of Paradise), bronze gilt relief, made between 1425 and 1452, 80 cm high and 80 cm wide, now on display in the Florence Cathedral Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5f. Ghiberti, Esau and Jacob (part of the Gate of Paradise), bronze gilt relief, made between 1425 and 1452, 80 cm high and 80 cm wide, now on display in the Florence Cathedral Museum | Image source: Wikipedia

Donatello's marble relief Madonna in the Clouds uses layered carving to create a continuous natural space and the various subtle changes between the clouds flowing in the depth and different characters (Figure 5g). It is undoubtedly one of Donatello's most influential works. The sculptor inherited the traditional side portrait technique of Florentine painting. The Virgin Mary has a solemn and slightly sad face, showing that she has foreseen the inevitable tragic future of the baby Jesus. Donatello made many Madonna reliefs throughout his life, and there are countless such works from his studio. There is no doubt that his Madonna reliefs were deeply favored and sought after by the public at that time. They also deeply influenced the later Renaissance reliefs. Even Michelangelo, who claimed to learn only from nature and classics, studied Donatello's Madonna relief in private when he was young. The Madonna of the Stairs he made in his youth is a model of Donatello relief (Figure 5h).

Figure 5g. Donatello, Madonna in the Clouds, marble relief, made around 1425-1435, 33.1 cm high, 32 cm wide, now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 5h. Michelangelo, Madonna of the Steps, marble sculpture, made around 1490, 56.7 cm high, 40.1 cm wide; now on display at the Casa Michelangelo Museum in Florence, Italy | Image source: Wikipedia

3.6. Nani di Banco’s Assumption of the Virgin and the end of Gothic relief art

The Assumption of the Virgin is a large relief created by Nani di Banco for the Porta della mandorla on the north side of Florence Cathedral (Figure 6). The idea came from the relief of the same name by the Florentine master Orcagna (about 1308-1368, whose real name was Andrea di Cione) (Figure 6a), which was obviously Gothic, but the Virgin was shown as an older woman. Nani's work is a triangular deep relief, and the figures are taller than the real people. For example, the young Virgin Mary is more than 2 meters tall, and there is an almond-shaped ring frame around her body. This ring frame is not only the origin of the name of the entire gate, but also suggests the glory of the Virgin in heaven. If we look closely, we can notice traces of the gilded metal roses that the Virgin once held in her hands, which hint at the church’s name, Santa Maria del Fiore, which was granted by the secular government of Florence, the Congregation of Elders, in 1421. Nani and his assistants completed this large relief in eleven pieces, but the entire work was probably pieced together after Nani’s death in 1421.

Figure 6. Nani di Banco, Assumption of the Virgin, marble relief (part of the almond-shaped door of Florence Cathedral), made between 1414 and 1421, 5 meters high and 4 meters wide, with the seated statue of the Virgin Mary more than 2 meters high, located in Florence Cathedral | Image source: Wikipedia

Figure 6a. Organia, a combination of reliefs of the Lamentation of the Virgin and the Assumption of the Virgin, marble with lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlays, completed and signed in 1359, now on display in the Church of San Michele | Image source: Wikipedia

In the relief work in Figure 6, Nani di Banco puts a crown on the Virgin Mary who has just ascended to heaven. This artistic expression is different from traditional Christian classics and traditional Christian art expressions. For example, we can compare it with the Assumption of the Virgin Mary relief made by Organa for the Church of San Michael in 1359 (Figure 6a). Nani di Banco's work was obviously influenced by the latter. The two have many similarities. For example, the figure in the lower left corner of the relief is Saint Thomas, who is raising his hand to take the Holy Girdle from the Virgin Mary, and in the lower right corner of the sculpture, opposite Saint Thomas, there is a tree and a bear. The tree should symbolize the earthly place where the Virgin Mary ended her earthly life and ascended to heaven, namely the Valley of Jehoshaphat, but art historians' interpretation of the bear is very uncertain. For example, in Vasari's first edition of the "Biography", he interpreted the bear as a symbol of the devil, but when he published the biography for the second time, perhaps out of uncertainty, he deleted his original interpretation.

Although the marble sculpture group "Coronation of the Four Saints" (Figure 5c) made by Nani di Banco between 1414 and 1416 shows the sculptor's inheritance and understanding of ancient Roman sculptures, in the marble relief of the Assumption of the Virgin shown in Figure 6, although Nani injected some naturalistic elements in the details, in general, this relief clearly belongs to the category of Gothic art style. The sculptor brought the gorgeous and beautiful decorativeness of the Gothic art form to the extreme. Even today, when we stand under the almond-shaped door of the Florence Cathedral, we can still feel the shocking charm it exudes. It has been nearly 600 years since the sculptor created this work. With the passage of time, people's artistic tastes have undergone several changes and have undergone tremendous changes. Objectively speaking, at the beginning of the Renaissance, the Gothic relief art from the old era also created great works. Artistic development is not the result of linear evolution, and the creation of great works is not necessarily entirely the application and understanding of new science and technology. There should be other more complex factors behind the change of artistic taste. Due to Nani's untimely death, his reputation and this work did not receive the attention they deserved for a long time. Not only did Vasari attribute the author of this work to Jacopo della Quercia (c. 1374-1438), but no more remarkable works of Gothic relief appeared in Florence during the Renaissance.

About the Author

Zhang Yi is an art historian, consultant to the Clock and Ancient Musical Instruments Department of the Hermitage Museum in Russia, consultant to the French Pendulum Clock Gallery, consultant to the Guangdong Clock Collection Research Professional Committee, and also a mathematician and logician.

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