Palazzo Strozzi is opening a new and historical exhibition this march: Donatello, The Renaissance. Until July 31 the visitors will be part of the reconstruction of Donatello’s career as one of the most important and influential masters of Italian art of any age. And he won’t be alone, as the exhibition juxtaposes his work with masterpieces by other Italian Renaissance masters such as Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Raphael and Michelangelo.
The more than 130 works of the artist will be placed not only in Palazzo Strozzi, but also in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, with the intent of celebrating Donatello in dialogue with institutions of Florence and indeed the whole of Italy, in addition to crucial international cooperation, in an effort to expand the debate on this master both in time and in space, in terms of materials, techniques and genres, in order finally to do justice to the artist’s universal dimension.
Following Donatello’s footsteps
Another Palazzo Strozzi’s initiative comes along with Donatello, The Renaissance. It is entitled Donatello in Tuscany and will allow visitors to explore the region in the footsteps of this “master of masters” and his work.
The journey is an opportunity to discover another 50 works by Donatello dotted throughout the region, beginning at Palazzo Strozzi, moving into the city of Florence itself and from there to the provinces of Arezzo, Pisa, Prato and Siena, thanks to a special thematic map linking 16 different sites in a “multi-venue exhibition” concept.
Available free of charge in hardcopy and online, with in-depth explanations and information regarding both the sites and the works of art and with a full complement of illustrations, the Donatello in Tuscany map is an essential tool for exploring and discovering the master’s work in the region.
The itinerary covers 16 points of interest, in Florence: Palazzo Strozzi, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Orsanmichele, the basilica of San Lorenzo, the basilica of Santa Croce, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore (with the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo), the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, the Museo Stefano Bardini and the church of Santa Trìnita; in Arezzo: the Cathedral; inPisa: the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo; in Pontorme: the church of San Martino; in Prato: the Opera del Duomo di Prato (Cathedral and Museum) and the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio; in Siena: the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena (the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo); and in Torrita di Siena: the church of Sante Flora e Lucilla.
For more information about both events, click here.
Picture: Donatello, Madonna col Bambino (Madonna Pazzi), about 1420-1425, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst. Photo Antje Voigt