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Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello, the Della Robia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction — John Shaqi

Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello, the Della Robia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with IntroductionHurll, Estelle M. (Estelle May)

History

Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello, the Della Robia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction

Name: Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello, the Della Robia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction
Author: Hurll, Estelle M. (Estelle May)

Hurll, Estelle M. (Estelle May)

Sculpture, Italian

For many years the civic life of Florence centred in the Piazza della
Signoria, where stands the old gray stone palace called the Palazzo
Vecchio. Of some of the important events which took place here in the
fifteenth century we may read in George Eliot's "Romola." It was here
the Florentines gathered on all occasions of public interest, whether
connected with the political or the religious affairs of their city.

In front of the Palazzo Vecchio is a stone platform called the
_ringhiera_, and it was on this that the Marzocco was set up as a
stimulus to patriotism. The lion sits on his haunches in an attitude
of grave dignity. In this position he is much more alert than a
crouching lion, and less aggressive than the rampant lion. His duty is
to guard the honor of the city, and his pose is much like that of the
watchdog. With his right paw he supports a shield on which the
Florentine lily is engraved. We are reminded of our own national eagle
holding the shield of the stars and stripes.

In such a figure we do not look for a close resemblance to nature. The
subjects of heraldic art are treated in a decorative way with a
certain stiffness of form. The device of the lily is not an actual
picture of the flower, but a kind of floral diagram, or what we call a
conventionalized form. So, too, the lion is of a formal or emblematic
type. Yet there is a certain expressiveness in the face of the old
fellow which makes us like him. Like the winged lion of St. Mark's in
Venice, he has made many friends.

Il Marzocco is carved out of soft gray stone which the Italians call
_pietra serena_. It is believed to have been made by Donatello, and it
stands on a beautiful carved pedestal. Like the same sculptor's statue
of St. George it was deemed too precious to leave exposed in the open
air, and was therefore removed to a museum. A bronze copy now stands
in its place on the platform of the old palace.


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS

The Diacritical Marks given are those found in the latest
edition of Webster's International Dictionary.


EXPLANATION OF DIACRITICAL MARKS.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century: A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello, the Della Robia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction

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