Creative ingenuity in renaissance sculpture

In this video, Marietta Cambareri, Senior Curator of European Sculpture, and Jetskalina H. Phillips, Curator of Judaica, Art of Europe, discuss sculptors in Renaissance Florence.

The two experts tell the story of how Donatello and Luca della Robbia inspired painters and others working with various materials, and contributed to the flowering of Renaissance art and creative ingenuity.

Donatello, or Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (c. 1386 – 13 December 1466), was born in Florentine, Italy. He is one of the most innovative sculptors in the history of European sculpture.

Donatello studied classical sculpture. He used this to develop a complete Renaissance style in sculpture.

He worked with stone, bronze, wood, clay, stucco, and wax. He especially developed the technique of flattened relief to create an illusion of space that was important to early Renaissance artists.

Luca della Robbia (1399/1400–1482) was an Italian sculptor from Florence.

Although Della Robbia is a prominent sculptor in stone, he worked mainly in in terracotta after developing his technique in the early 1440s

Della Robbia is famous for his colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary. The vibrant, polychrome glazes made his creations both more durable and expressive.