the Gattamelata portrait achieved, Colleoni provided funds in his will
for his own statue. Since both Donatello and Verrocchio executed their
statues after the deaths of their subjects, neither artist knew personally
the individual he portrayed. The result is a fascinating difference of in-
terpretation (like that between their two Davids) as to the demeanor
of a professional captain of armies. Verrocchio placed the statue of the
bold equestrian general on a pedestal even higher than that Donatello
used for Gattamelata so that viewers could see the dominating, aggres-
sive figure from all major approaches to the piazza (the Campo dei
Santi Giovanni e Paolo). In contrast to the near repose of the Gat-
tamelata steed and rider, the Colleoni horse moves in a prancing stride,
arching and curving its powerful neck, while the commander seems
suddenly to shift his whole weight to the stirrups and rise from the
saddle with a violent twist of his body. The artist depicted the figures
with an exaggerated tautness—the animal’s bulging muscles and the
man’s fiercely erect and rigid body together convey brute strength. In
Gattamelata,Donatello created a portrait of grim sagacity. Verroc-
chio’s Bartolommeo Colleoni is a portrait of merciless might. Niccolò
Machiavelli wrote in his famous political treatise of 1513,The Prince,
that the successful ruler must combine the traits of the lion and the
fox. Donatello’s Gattamelata approaches the latter, whereas Verroc-
chio’sBartolommeo Colleonitilts toward the former.Painting
In 15th-century Italy, humanism and the celebration of classical
artistic values also characterized panel and mural painting. The new
Renaissance style did not, however, immediately displace all vestiges
of the Late Gothic style. In particular, the International Style, the
dominant mode in painting around 1400 (see Chapter 19) persisted
well into the century.GENTILE DA FABRIANOThe leading Florentine master of
the International Style was Gentile da Fabriano(ca. 1370–1427),
who in 1423 painted Adoration of the Magi(FIG. 21-17) as the552 Chapter 21 ITALY,1400 TO 150021-17Gentile da Fabriano,Adoration of the Magi,altarpiece from Strozzi Chapel, Santa Trinità, Florence, Italy,- Tempera on wood, 9 11 9 3 . Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Gentile was the leading Florentine painter working in the International Style, but he successfully blended naturalistic
details with Late Gothic splendor in color, costume, and framing ornament.
1 ft.