ars-videndi:Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi; Florence, c.1386 - 1466),The Dead Christ, 1
ars-videndi:Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi; Florence, c.1386 - 1466),The Dead Christ, 1447-50, bronze, 58 x 56 cm. From the high altar of Basilica di Sant'Antonio, PaduaThe group called the Altare del Santo was composed altogether of twenty-nine pieces of sculpture. Seven free-standing bronze statues (Madonna Enthroned with Child, St Francis, St Anthony, St Daniel, St Justina, St Louis, St Prosdocimo), four bas-reliefs in bronze with the miracles of St Anthony; four bas-reliefs in bronze with the symbols of the Evangelists, this bas-relief of the Dead Christ supported by angels, twelve reliefs with Musician Angels, and a relief in Nanto stone depicting the Entombment. At the end of the 16th century Donatello’s altar was taken to pieces to make way for another by Gerolamo Campagna and Cesare Franco, which included Donatello’s Crucifix. In 1895, the present altar was designed as a reconstruction of Donatello’s altar, though it is an arbitrary one only, and the introduction of the bronze Crucifix is a falsification in 19th-century taste.Modern critics have repeatedly sought to arrive at a reconstruction which most closely resembles Donatello’s ideal.(wga.hu) -- source link