2023-07-19 12:40:06
The testament handwritten by Donatello (1386-1466) was found in the State Archives of Florence, a document which has remained unpublished until now and which reveals some details on the donations made by the great artist among the fathers of the Florentine Renaissance.
The next issue of the magazine “Paragone Arte”, explains the State Archives in a press release, will publish an article entitled “Donatello’s alleged testament: an inter vivos donation”, signed by Silvia Sinibaldi and Simone Sartini. The essay is based on the discovery of an unpublished deed of donation, dated 1460, between Donatello and Giovanni di Buonaiuto Lorini Cavalloni.
It is a deed of donation “inter vivos post mortem” which certifies the donation by the artist in favor of Giovanni, doublet maker of the people of San Niccolò of Florence, of a house used as a mill, with annexed piece of land and wood , located in the village of Figline di Prato, valid from the death of the donor. In the deed Donatello also appointed the aforementioned Giovanni as his attorney, even after his death.
Following in-depth research in the heraldic and genealogical collections of the State Archives of Florence, it was possible to reconstruct the type of parental relationship that existed between Donatello and Giovanni: the latter turned out to be the son of an older sister of the master.
Giovanni’s family, the Lorinis and then the Cavallonis, held the patronage of a chapel in the church of San Niccolò Oltrarno, known as “del Crocifisso” due to the presence of a wooden crucifix attributed to Michelozzo: the article reconstructs, broadly speaking, also the debate on the attribution of this work, placing it in relation to the genealogical discoveries mentioned above.
Further research has finally made it possible to trace the house of Donatello in the village of Figline di Prato and that of the Lorini Cavalloni in via di San Niccolò in Florence. The results of these unpublished investigations will be presented next autumn at the State Archives of Florence.
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