DONATELLO
(b. ca. 1386, Firenze, d. 1466, Firenze)

St Stephen and St Lawrence

1428-35
Polychrome terracotta, 215 x 180 cm
Old Sacristy, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence

Chronologically close together and perhaps the first works executed for the Sacristy are the two arched reliefs in polychrome terracotta above the doors, in which, especially between St Stephen and St Lawrence, the dramatic force of the disputation reaches a disturbing pitch. The pliability of the material, terracotta and stucco, was in itself suitable for creating a charged and uneasy atmosphere.