FROM FEBRUARY TO JUNE THIS YEAR the Victoria & Albert Museum is staging the UK’s very first major exhibition exploring the achievements of Donatello (c.1386-1466), one of the most significant sculptors of all time. Turning out early Renaissance masterpieces at a time when Britain was still tearing itself apart during the Wars of the Roses, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known as Donatello, revolutionised Italian sculpture. This 130–piece exhibition inside the V&A’s massive Sainsbury Gallery includes many sculptures never before seen in Britain.
As I walked downstairs with curator Peta Motture, she pointed to a marble carved around 1408 when the artist was only in his 20s. This was originally commissioned to adorn Florence’s Duomo (Cathedral). “As you can see, he has retained a
