John the Baptist

myminifactory

The young fellow appears to be tall and slender for his years, as if he had extended his limbs by running extensively in the open air. His face is somewhat serious, but perfectly childish in its features. The lips are parted in a half smile, indicating a sense of innocence and curiosity. He has a good forehead, which suggests an independent thinker with a keen mind. We are impressed by him as a straightforward character, a boy to like and trust without hesitation. It would be too much to say that he shows the makings of a great man in his early years. It is enough that he is an honest, healthy boy with a mind of his own, full of wonder and discovery. He may not be conventionally pretty, but he is very interesting to behold. The hair on his head is his most charming feature, waving in little tendrils over the top of his head. He is not plump enough for his figure to show fine curves, but rather his modeling is on rather severe lines, as if in keeping with his character. Certain well-understood signs reveal who he is and what he represents. The circle around his head is the halo, the symbol of a sacred character, while the skin garment fastened at the shoulder reminds us of the strange clothing worn by John in the desert. The tall cross beside him is the emblem of the prophet, as a forerunner of the crucified one. Donatello's art covered a wide range of subjects, but none was he more at home than in representing children. He has been called "the poet of child-life" due to his unique ability to capture their essence. There are interesting points of comparison between this young fellow and the Musical Angels of the altar at Padua. St. John the Baptist is evidently a real little boy, transferred to stone just as he was in life. The piping angels, on the other hand, are child ideals, without counterpart in real life. St. John's large ear, with its irregularly bent rim, and his straight upper lip, are features such as an artist must certainly have copied, not invented. The angel faces, on the other hand, are molded in the perfect curves which originate in the imagination of the artist. Donatello was, above all things else, a close student of human nature. Sometimes, indeed, he chose very unattractive models, and reproduced them so faithfully that the realism is almost painful. His artistic eye was always open to new impressions. Perhaps one day as he walked through the streets of Florence, he noticed among the children playing there this little fellow with the long neck and pensive face. "Ecco," said he to himself, "il Giovannino." The child's face and bearing had a quaint seriousness precisely suited to his character. It is wonderful how the sculptor's art has made the little boy seem actually alive in the bas-relief. The hair is executed with the skill peculiar to Donatello, and seems to grow from the head. Such studies from real life - genre studies, as they are called - were lessons which prepared the artist for higher works of idealism. The little St. John may have been the original material for some of the angel figures. His image has been frozen in time, a testament to Donatello's skill and artistry.