Donato (Donatello): A Summarization

"Saint George" by Donato

"Donato was a master of such merit and so admirable in all he did, that we may safely declare him to have been the first who rendered the art of sculpture and of good design illustrious among the people of modern times. And he is all the more worthy of commendation, because in his day the antiquities now brought to light - the columns, triumphal arches, and vases - had not been discovered and excavated from the earth. Donato was, moreover, the principal cause of the determination to bring the antiquities now in the Palazzo Medici to Florence, and all of which he restored with his own hand.

He was most liberal, friendly, and courteous to all, being ever more careful for his friends than for himself. He attached little value to his gains, but kept what money he had in a basket, suspended by a cord to the roof, and from this all his assistants, as well as his friends took what they needed, without being expected to say anything to him.

He passed his old age cheerfully, and when he became too decrepit to work longer, he was taken care of by Cosimo de' Medici and others of his friends. It is said, that when Cosimo died he bestowed on him a farm, the income from which was of such amount, that Donato might have lived on it most commodiously, but the running of it was so troublesome that he returned its ownership to Cosimo's son, Piero. He instead assigned Donato an income of equal or larger value, which was distributed to him every week while he lived - an arrangement which rejoiced him greatly. 

When he had attained his eighty-third year, he became paralytic, growing worse day by day, till he died on the 13th of December 1466. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, near the tomb of Cosimo, as he had himself commanded. He was accompanied to his grave by all the painters, architects, sculptors, goldsmiths, and nearly all the inhabitants of the city. Nor was it until a long time after that they ceased to compose verses to his honour."

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects: by Giorgio Vasari.)

*A good blogpost on Donato's sculpture of St. George is here.