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

Burial of Christ

1460-65
Bronze
San Lorenzo, Florence

This relief is on the Passion Pulpit. The scene of the burial of Christ is flanked by two men who are standing on the right and left before the framing columns, but who here in relationship to the main event suggest the impression of spatial depth to a particular degree. In addition, they serve as starting points for the semi-circular composition that meets the central motif. The proportions between the individual figures are related to their spatial positions, and the three-dimensional accentuation of the modelling is reduced correspondingly.

It is probable that the work would not have been completed until after the death of Donatello, by his assistants Bellano and Bertoldo and according to his designs.