The V&A is presenting what is said to be the UK’s first major exhibition focusing on the work of the Renaissance master, Donatello. Part thematic, part chronological, the exhibition features a collection of around 130 objects by Donatello and his contemporaries, and includes sculpture, paintings, drawings, and metalwork, with many of the works being displayed in Britain for the first time.
The exhibition draws from V&A’s own collection of Renaissance sculpture (the largest outside of Italy) as well as featuring loaned pieces from overseas. Several works have been brought over from Italy specifically for the exhibition, including the gilded bronze reliquary bust (pictured) of San Rossore, the patron saint of Pisa, which was designed to contain what was believed to be the skull of the saint, and has been lent by the city’s Museo Nazionale di San Matteo. The show seeks to present Donatello’s work within the context of the early Renaissance period in which he lived, and there are examples both of work which inspired the artist, and which were influenced by him.
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