VECCHIETTA
(b. 1410, Siena, d. 1480, Siena)

Resurrection

1472
Bronze, 54 x 41 cm
Frick Collection, New York

Vecchietta was Donatello's pupil of first rank during Donatello's stay in Siena. However, he began and continued as painter. True to his pictorial inclinations he gravitated towards bronze. He worked for the Cathedral in Siena. In a memorial chapel for his own interment he executed and signed both paintings and sculptures.

In the highly detailed, signed bronze relief of the Resurrection, Vecchietta drew on his experiences as a painter. The piece is both too richly worked and too weighty to have served as a tabernacle door as is sometimes claimed.

The signed and dated Resurrection is related to his works for the Cathedral.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):
Guillaume Dufay: Hymns