Follower of Donatello

Follower of DONATELLO (Florence, 1386- 1466) ; XIX century.
"Madonna and Child".
Bronze.
Measurements: 19,5 x 14,5 cm.
The Virgin appears represented with idealized but human features, of melancholic and recollected expression, while the Child is integrated in a natural way in the maternal gesture, reinforcing the affective reading of the iconography. The delicacy of the modeling, especially in the facial profiles and in the folds of the mantle, demonstrates a clear desire to emulate the Donatello language, in which form is subordinated to emotional and spiritual expression. The figures are arranged in a barely suggested space, where depth is constructed through minimal gradations of relief. The stiacciato, a technique that consists of an extremely low, almost pictorial relief, allows the creation of a subtle spatial illusion through imperceptible variations of the surface, modulated with great refinement.
It is part of the historicist trend that characterized the European sculptural production of this period, marked by the conscious recovery of the great masters of the Renaissance. In this case, the reference to Donatello is not merely thematic, but profoundly formal and technical, especially evident in the use of stiacciato (or schiacciato), emblematic sculptural resource of the Florentine master.