Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Donatello's Old Lady Magdalene

This wooden sculpture was originally housed in the Florence Baptistery. It is a creation of Donatello's old age. She was originally brightly painted with gilded hair. Though smaller than life, this statue fills the room.





8 comments:

Wormwood's Doxy said...

Girlfriend has some AMAZING biceps. You wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her in a fight...

Counterlight said...

Old yes.

Frail, certainly not!

Anonymous said...

She's creepy!

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

She has had Great Beauty!

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

She has had Great Beauty!

Counterlight said...

"She's creepy!"

"She has had Great Beauty!"

You're both right.

Mike in Texas said...

Counterlight ... When we were in Florence about a year ago, the Donatello David was lying on its back and under restoration (with a fascinating video presentation about what was happening). We were able to watch as a woman cleaned off part of his sword millimeter by millimeter.

Is he still lying down? Or have they stood him back up again?

Counterlight said...

Mike,
David is standing again. The restoration was completed 2 weeks before I arrived in Florence. They found a lot of traces of gilding in places on the statue. Behind the original in the Bargello is a full size copy now gilded in all the parts indicated by the restoration research.
If that's what it originally looked like, then it's shocking.
I'm glad they gilded the copy and not the original.