ork, Isiah, which was to be installed in a cathedral in Florence.
While Banco's Isiah was not very decorative and Gothic in style, Donatello's David represents a break in tradition. Donatello decided not to present David as a bearded king playing a harp, as many of his predecessors had done, but instead to cast David as a handsome and lean young man. Many art historians consider Donatello's David to be the superior of the two commissions because of the sculptor's scrupulous attention to detail. For example, the sword which David carries has a carved round handle, his hat is decorated with delicately winding leaves, and the shield at his feet is adorned with crest-like designs. Thus, Donatello's work, even in his 20s, demonstrated that he had already acquired the technical skills only attributed to the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance.
In 1415, Donatello was again hired to sculpt another religious statue, this time that of St. George. The members of the armourers' guild paid the sculptor to carve the image of the knighted saint because the saint was worshipped as the protector of the guild. Donatello took two years to complete his 6' 10" sculpture in the round of St. George, and its uniqueness quickly set him apart from other artists. With Giotto now dead, the patrons were looking for an artist that could compete with the late sculptor's sturdy, stable figures. Donatello's figure was sturdy, stocky, but also lifelike and humane. The St. George marble is proud and tall, but also serene and at ease with the spoils of victory. Thus, Florentines quickly realized the greatness of Donatello's work, and, indeed, he was constantly employed from the time his statue, St. George, was finished in 1417 (Ceysson 13-14).
This piece was significant because it represented a departure from Gothic style art (Olson 48) and marked the beginning of a new era in art, the Renaissance. While the style of the work is reminiscent of G...