Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance

Fabulous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the Renaissance master Donatello.

This show is beautifully designed to replicate Florentine squares and loggias and gives a wonderful sense of space, both to move around and to think about the work. The descriptions and commentary are intelligent but lightly done making them quick to read and understand.  

The arrangement sets up amazing conversations between objects but partly leaves you to discover them for yourself. They have two panels of an external pulpit from Prato, shown here, and throughout the show descriptions refer to it.

The show doesn’t dwell on what isn’t here but uses what is to tell the story. In the last section on the legacy there are pieces which do refer to famous things which aren’t here. A clever way of doing it.

I realised that, like others around me, I was gazing at objects with a sense of awe. Go and give yourself time to really look in detail as particularly the low reliefs are packed with detail and narrative.

Closes 7 June 2023


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