Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance is the first major UK exhibition to explore the exceptional talents of the Renaissance master, Donatello. It explores the artist and his impact on both the cultural and artistic development of this crucial time in the history of art.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The exhibition explores Donatello’s innovations, collaborations and inspirations within the artistic and cultural context of fifteenth-century Italy, and his influence on subsequent generations of artists.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Considered one of the great sculptors, Donatello (c.1386-1466) used a full range of sculptural materials and techniques, including marble, bronze, wood, terracotta and stucco, he contributed to major commissions of church and state; was an intimate of the Medici family and their circle in Florence, and was highly sought after in other Italian centres.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The exhibition showcases works never seen before in the UK including Donatello’s early marble David and bronze Attis-Amorino from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, as well as the reliquary bust of San Rossore from the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, Pisa, and bronzes from the High Altar of the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

For the first time, the V&A’s shallow relief of the Ascension with Christ giving the keys to St Peter is displayed alongside the Madonna of the Clouds from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Desiderio da Settignano’s Panciatichi Madonna from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, providing an exclusive opportunity to see these works together.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Through exceptional loans, the exhibition offers visitors a unique vision of Donatello’s genius, focusing primarily on Donatello’s lifetime and immediate followers, the exhibition combines a thematic approach with chronology, considering the inter-relationship between sculpture, paintings, drawings and goldsmiths’ work.

Installation shot of ‘Donatello Sculpting the Renaissance’ at the V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Key works by Donatello are complemented by carefully selected works by Donatello’s contemporaries and followers that explore and expand on the sculptor’s major place within the development of Renaissance art. Comprising around 130 objects, the exhibition incorporates a significant number of objects from the V&A’s own collections including the most extensive holdings of Italian Renaissance sculpture outside Italy notably from the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries.

For more information and tickets, visit the V & A website here

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