Word: donatello
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...Saint-Gaudens. Smith's work was the climax of a tradition of open, sheet-metal sculpture that began in 1912 with Picasso's tin guitar; Saint-Gaudens, at the end of the 19th century, epitomized the academic tradition of public speech through bronze casting, whose roots wound back to Donatello and Verrocchio...
...delicacy, an adoring pursuit of the nuance, which coexists with his fondness for declamation. He had no embarrassment, of course, in quoting his quattrocento idols: that was the natural use of a heritage. He took from Pisanello, Laurana, Cellini and Desiderio da Settignano; the pose of Farragut is Donatello's St. George without a shield. Still, any academic hack can redo a prototype; Saint-Gaudens' peculiar gift was to shadow these massive and well-known shapes with the tiny subliminal events of a dreaming hand. In 1880 he could give Dr. Henry Shiff's bronze beard a labile, gratuitous beauty...
Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo discussed the shortcomings of the Hegelian dialectic over sun dried tomato and chicken wraps with Shredder...
...saint is so popular he doesn't even need a name. The Basilica del Santo is the resting place of St. Anthony - known simply as il Santo - a humble 13th century Franciscan monk. The massive church, with its mixture of Christian and Islamic influences, brims with artwork by Donatello and Titian, and annually attracts 4 million visitors and pilgrims. Surprising gothic thrill: one of the relics on display is Anthony's calcified tongue and jaw. Just down the road lies the Prato della Valle, the so-called field with no grass that's now a vast piazza of fountains...
...critics (not necessarily venal ones, either) and patrons (no more stupid than the ones we have today) lined up, jostling to kiss the artists' nether parts. The artists were laden with gold medals, garlands and titles of honor. They were seen as tradition incarnate, worthy successors to Rubens, Donatello and Titian. Powerful systems of taste enforcement--ministries of fine arts, academies, salons--underwrote the promise of their immortality...