The Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York will host twenty-three early Renaissance sculptures from 20 February through 14 June 2015 in an exhibition entitled Sculpture in the Age of Donatello. On loan from the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo while it undergoes restoration, the works were made for the Duomo (Cathedral) of Florence in the first decades of the fifteenth century by the city’s leading sculptors, including Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Luca della Robbia, and others. The extraordinary loans include statues and reliefs by Nanni di Banco and Donatello from the cathedral’s side entrance known as the ‘Porta della Mandorla’; two larger-than-life seated evangelists made by the same sculptors for the facade; two of Donatello’s life-size figures and three of the hexagonal reliefs carved by Luca della Robbia, all from the campanile (bell tower). Two bronze heads made by Donatello to adorn his cantoria (singing gallery) in 1439 will also travel to New York.
Donatello, Prophet Habbakuk (or “Lo Zuccone”), c. 1423-35, marble, Museo dell’ Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Nanni di Banco, Young Prophet (Isaiah?), c. 1406-1409, marble, Museo dell’ Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Donatello, St. John the Evangelist, c. 1409-1411, marble, Museo dell’ Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Donatello, The Sacrifice of Isaac (details), c. 1421, marble, Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Luca della Robbia, Music, c. 1431, marble, Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Donatello, Head from Cantoria, bronze c. 1433, Museo dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence