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Donatello, 'Pazzi Madonna', c.1420

 


Upon the advent of perspective in Quattrocento Florence, the eye of Donatello fixed on the use of one point perspective, echoing many other artists of the time. In this extremely tender relief of the Virgin and Child, the artist is using Brunelleschian principles to render space effectively. The two figures are contained within a well proportioned, box-like space - instead of the complicated perspectival backgrounds artists were often rendering at this time (Ghiberti's bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery for instance), here there is no distraction from the intimate family moment. Our eye, using the orthogonals of this box, is concentrated on the faces of the Virgin and Christ, and to their inseparable, unblinking connection. 

Donatello pioneered the technique of riliveo schiacciato which is expertly shown in this piece. This was a flattened relief, a system of carving creating effects through minute variations of surface modelling and extremely shallow cutting. Forms seem to be almost drawn rather than carved. Arguably this style was therefore closer to painting than sculpture. But despite almost drawing on the marbled surface Donatello has still achieved depth to his piece. Moreover, the forms are not unclear or jumbled, but the strength of outline of the figures gives equal strength to the fierce emotions depicted. Perhaps the most known example of this manner is Donatello's Saint George and the Dragon (1416), this technique of low relief praised by Vasari and key in subsequent developments of perspective. This piece is not displayed in the Donatello exhibition currently at the Victoria and Albert Museum (11th Feb-11th June 2023) but the Pazzi Madonna is an equally fine example of this technique, whilst also displaying the emotions of a mother loving her child, clutching him with both hands, reluctant to let him go. 

But the eye of Donatello looked back as much as it looked forward. His pioneering techniques using marble recall the classical friezes of the ancient world. The two holy figures are without halos, instead focusing on carving emotion rather than an overtly religious image. The elongation of Mary's hands could event recall Byzantine prototypes. The use of the box perspective links to portraits being created in Donatello's own time, often marriage or family portraits where the figures were contained in a box-like interior. On display in the Palazzo Pazzi in Florence, the use of the box would have extended the space of the room where it was displayed. Probably framed in a tabernacle, this would have been used for private devotion. But due to the emotional tenderness to the scene, it could possibly represent familial love. The foot of Christ rests on the base on the parapet, a literal foothold into both the realm of the divine and earthly. Coupled with the passionate gaze of the two faces pushed together, the idea of the protection of family lineage also rings true. And Mary's melancholy gaze perhaps foreshadows the ultimate fate of her son and the Passions he will soon face.  

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