Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART: Cantoria

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART
Preferred Title: 
Cantoria
Image View: 
Detail, relief decoration on one of the five large consoles (brackets) supporting the gallery
Creator: 
Donatello (Italian sculptor, ca. 1386-1466)
Location: 
repository: Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Florence, Tuscany, Italy)
Location Note: 
Piazza del Duomo, 9
GPS: 
+43.772333+11.256222
Date: 
1433-1439 (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Italian
Style Period: 
Fifteenth century; Renaissance
Work Type 1: 
sculpture (visual work)
Work Type 2: 
choir loft
Classification: 
Sculpture and Installations
Material: 
marble
Technique: 
carving (processes); construction (assembling)
Measurements: 
348 cm (height) x 570 cm (length)
Subjects: 
decorative arts; music; putti; singing; dancing
Description: 
In 1431 the Opera del Duomo commissioned Luca della Robbia to erect a large marble Cantoria (singers' gallery) over the entrance to the north Sacristy in the Cathedral. Two years later, Donatello was commissioned to design another Cantoria to be placed over the south Sacristy where it could form a counterpart to Della Robbia's. Both were completed in 1439. On the occasion of the marriage of Ferdinando de' Medici in 1688 the two structures were found to be too small to accommodate all the singers, and they were removed. Not until 1891 were the two cantorie reassembled in the museum, after having been kept dismantled at the Bargello. There are numerous models for the dancing putti in classical Roman art. It is more than likely that Donatello saw some of them during his trip to Rome and had them in mind when he started work shortly after his return. The mosaics are inspired by Roman Cosmati work. (Source: Web Gallery of Art; http://www.wga.hu/index.html)
Collection: 
Archivision Adjunct Module D: World Art
Identifier: 
7A1-DB-MD-C-A28
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.