Sem. John Raven C.

Angeles Medieval Philosophy

Philosophy-II June 4, 2019

A. ARTS

Donatello:

Biography:
Donato di Niccolò Bardi, called Donatello, was born in 1386 in Florence, Italy. Little is
known about his life, although many short stories about his life are recorded by Giorgio
Vasari in his Lives of the Artists (1550). In Florence Donatello learned the basics of
sculpting at the Stonemasons' Guild, where he learned other crafts as well. Donatello then
became an apprentice (a person who works to learn a trade) to Lorenzo Ghiberti (c. 1378–
1455). In 1403, at the age of seventeen, Donatello was working for the master on the bronze
reliefs (sculpting from a flat surface) of the doors of the Florentine Baptistery. By 1407 he
had left Ghiberti for the workshops of the Cathedral in Florence.

Remarkable works:
Donatello’s virtuosity in the domain of art specifically on sculpture has bolstered by his
fine and superb works such as:

David (1408; reworked in 1416; now in the Bargello, Florence). Intended to decorate part
of the Cathedral, in 1414 it was set up in the Palazzo Vecchio (a historic government
building) as a symbol of the Florentine republic, which was then engaged in a struggle with
the king of Naples. The David, dramatic in posture and full of youthful energy, possesses
something of the graceful late Gothic (an artistic movement between the twelfth and
fifteenth centuries) feeling of a figure by Ghiberti.
St. Mark on the outside of Orsanmichele, completed between 1411 and 1413; and the seated
St. John the Evangelist for the facade (front) of the Cathedral (now in the Museo
dell'Opera), finished in 1415. These powerful, over-life-sized figures established the
sculptor's reputation. The St. Mark broke with tradition in its classical stance and became
a stunning symbolic portrait of a noble Florentine hero in the republic of Donatello's day.
https://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Donatello.html

NB. His works (usually statues and reliefs) marvel even up to these days because of his
works are prodigiously done in tough materials such as bronze, marble, and tough wood,
and as a sculptor Donatello was the foremost amongst other sculptor to transpire a nude
statue. And so, Donatello of Florence has made his name intractable and prominent in the
history particularly of middle Ages and Renaissance Period.
 B. Literature
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (Summa Theologiae & Summa Contra Gentiles)
One of the renowned personages in the medieval era, an Italian theologian, a prominent
philosopher, and one of the notable doctor of the Church. Was born in Aquino , Naples in Italy.
He was sent in Monte Cassino Benedictine Abbey and later on studied Liberal Arts in the
University of Naples. Aquinas was sent to Paris and cologne for pursuing theology and became
under the tutelage of Albert the Great. Produced and composed significant treatises, commentaries
such as On Being and Essence, On the Trinity, Locus Classicus etc.