Model for a monument to Donatello

The 500th anniversary of Donatello’s birth was celebrated in 1886 throughout Florence. Several monuments were commissioned in homage to Donatello whose sculpture had enjoyed an international revival in the 19th century. One of these, unveiled in 1895 in Santa Croce, Florence, consists of a portrait bust of Donatello framed within a mosaic oculus, draped with acanthus wreaths and a commemorative plaque flanked by two putti below. The competition for this monument, initiated in 1886 by the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, was fierce and none of the original models submitted were deemed suitable. After two further rounds of competition, the Italian sculptor Urbano Lucchesi’s design was finally selected.

Certain compositional similarities between the erected monument and this model, which both include a terracotta portrait bust and a commemorative plaque with two putti, led to the suggestion that the model was a competition entry submitted by Lucchesi. However, the composition and style of this intricately modelled and moulded sketch bears little resemblance to Lucchesi’s winning design - which featured a full-size seated portrait of Donatello - or to the later amended sketch he produced when the Accademia requested he scale back his proposal citing financial concerns.

Although unlikely to be by Lucchesi, this highly finished model is almost certainly a rejected competition entry for the Santa Croce monument, and bears the motto of the Accademia, ‘Tergeminis Tollit Honoribus’ in the architectural frieze. The model is a singularly important example of the late 19th-century revival of interest and appreciation for Donatello’s sculpture in particular and the Renaissance style more generally.