Marmoreal Pride

The statue of St. Mark was built in 1413 by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, also known as Donatello. It was commissioned by the linen drapers’ guild to decorate the guild's niche of Orsanmichele in Florence. Built as a grain market in 1337, Orsanmichele was converted into a church in 1404 for Florence’s trade and craft guilds. St. Mark was one of Jesus disciples who dedicated his life to spread the message of Christianity throughout the world. It is not really clear why Donatello chose St. Mark as a representative figure for the guild but this post is about the statue itself, not St. Mark as a person.

The face of Orsanmichele

Donatello presents us St. Mark in a standing completely naturally. With his weight on the right leg and the slight bend in the left knee this pose reminds us of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and is also known as “contrapposto”. St. Mark looks alive, as if he could walk away any second. This can be seen not only in the way he stands but in the whole realistic composition of the statue. It is the way the clothing allows us to get an idea of the body underneath, the detailed hands and feet, and above all the individual and specific face Donatello shows us of St. Mark. It seems as if he is seeing further and seeing past us. He expresses an internal focus, an awareness of himself and his surroundings. In creating this 7 feet and 9 inches tall marble statue, Donatello revived the classical ideas of ancient Rome and Greece and joined them with the tenets of the Renaissance. In class we spoke about the pride and the strong beliefs the residents of the Italian City States felt. With his statue of St. Mark, Donatello built a figure that shows the Florentines a sense of their own dignity for their city. St. Mark was kind of a mirror, who ennobles them to rise to their own ideas and by that to individuality and self-reflect.

Donatello who also was in favor of the Medici family, did not only mirror the emerging individualism in that time period, but determined a change in artistic taste. The highly stylized and unnaturally perfect and sometimes lifeless Gothic style was replaced by a more natural and realistic movement. We also saw that development in the works of Giotto.

Donatello, by the way, didn’t just showed us the civic pride in terms of St. Mark, he also demonstrated his own confidence in ignoring the demand of the guild members to change the proportions of the statue. They wouldn’t believe Donatello that he had to shorten St. Mark’s legs and to enlarge his hands to make it seem proportionate from the proper angle. Donatello just pretended to work on the adjustments but did nothing for two weeks. Once the statue was properly situated in the niche, the guild members were pleased.

Sources:

http://www.helium.com/items/2392311-artwork-analysis-st-mark-by-donatello

http://www.artble.com/artists/donatello/sculpture/st_mark

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/donatello-saint-mark.html (It is another really good video from the Khan Academy. It’s worth watching it!)