Editing Donatello (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Donatello, giuditta che decapita oloferne, 1453-57, 03.jpg|thumb|Relief on the base of ''[[Judith and Holofernes (Donatello)|Judith and Holofernes]]'' and the signature on the cushion above, 1453–57, [[Palazzo Vecchio]], Florence]]

Donatello's output was so varied and individual that his influence can be seen in all Florentine sculpture in the 15th century, and well beyond Florence. But he shared important elements of his style, in particular his revival of classical forms and styles, with the other outstanding sculptors of his generation, Ghiberti, [[Jacopo della Quercia]], Luca della Robbia and others. Many younger sculptors assisted him, though his workshop relationships are not very well documented, and recent scholarship has cast doubt on many 19th-century claims (some from Vasari) of other sculptors as "pupils" of Donatello.<ref>Seymour, 139 ([[Mino da Fiesole]]), 140 ([[Desiderio da Settignano]]); Coonin, 217.</ref>  Regular assistants in Donatello's later years included [[Bartolomeo Bellano]] (from Padua) and [[Bertoldo di Giovanni]].<ref>Olson, 90; Coonin, 236-237.</ref>

When he died, the "sweet style" that he had helped to produce decades before, dominated in the work of Florentine sculptors; his "late style, with its boldness of imagination and execution, probably overawed them and seemed incomprehensible and inaccessible".<ref>Avery, Chapter 5.</ref>  Only many years later did [[Verrocchio]] and [[Antonio del Pollaiuolo]] explore similar expressive effects.<ref>Avery, 96.</ref>  His periods in Padua and Siena left behind trained bronze-founders and sculptors who made these cities, especially Padua, significant centres in their own right;<ref>Avery, 96.</ref> indeed, in Padua his presence had a great effect on local painting also.<ref>Hartt, 238.</ref> Bartolomeo Bellano was back in Padua by 1469, and remained the leading sculptor there, handing the role over to his pupil [[Andrea Riccio]] (c. 1470 – 1532) in due course.<ref>Seymour, 202-203.</ref> 

[[Desiderio da Settignano]] may have acted as a younger colleague, and was the main other sculptor who could execute shallow reliefs in a way comparable to Donatello. He died in 1464 at just 34, cutting off a very promising career.<ref>Coonin, 212, 240.</ref> The shallow relief style was not much used by other sculptors, though [[Michelangelo]]'s early ''[[Madonna of the Stairs]]'' (c. 1490) is an essay in it.<ref>Coonin, 136.</ref>  [[David (Michelangelo)|Michelangelo's ''David'']] (1501) is both "an ode and a challenge to Donatello".<ref>Coonin, 243-244, 243 quoted.</ref>