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Bernardo Rossellino or Antonio Rossellino

The David of the Casa Martelli, c. 1461/1479

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 19

Medium

marble

Dimensions

overall: 164.6 x 50.4 x 42.4 cm (64 13/16 x 19 13/16 x 16 11/16 in.)
gross weight (figure and pedestal): 975.234 kg (2150 lb.)
gross weight (figure only): 272.158 kg (600 lb.)
gross weight (pedestal only): 703.075 kg (1550 lb.)
pedestal weight (top section): 408.237 kg (900 lb.)
pedestal weight (bottom section): 294.838 kg (650 lb.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.115

Artists / Makers

Bernardo Rossellino (sculptor) Florentine, 1409 - 1464

Antonio Rossellino (sculptor) Florentine, 1427 - 1479

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

Luigi d'Ugolino Martelli [1452-1503], Florence; his son Luigi Martelli [1494-1580], Florence;[1] Martelli family, Florence; sold 28 June 1916 through (Giuseppe Salvadori, Florence) and (French & Company, New York) to Joseph E. Widener;[2] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of Joseph E. Widener; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] The earliest reference to the sculpture is in the private records of Luigi d'Ugolino Martelli, in a list of personal possessions begun in 1488. See memo dated 20 September 1984 from Kent Lydecker, in NGA curatorial files.

[2] Correspondence dated 1914 and 1916 from Salvadori and French & Company to Joseph Widener, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

French & Company LLC
Martelli family
Martelli, Luigi
Martelli, Luigi d'Ugolino
Salvadori, Giuseppe
Widener, Joseph E.

Exhibition History

1985: Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, Detroit Institute of Arts; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Forte Belvedere, Florence, Italy, 1985-1986, no. 55 (English catalogue), no. 92 (Italian catalogues), repros.

2004: Verrocchio's David Restored: A Renaissance Bronze from the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence, National Museum of the Bargello, Florence; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004, fig. 15 (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1892: Bode, Wilhelm von. Denkmäler der Renaissance-Sculptur in Italien. 17 vols. Munich, 1892-1904: 2:pl. 25.

1904: Meyer, Alfred Gotthold. Donatello. Translated by P.G. Konody. London, 1904: 93-96, 146, 149, fig. 86.

1904: Schottmüller, Frida. Donatello, ein Beitrag zum Verständnis seiner künstlerischen Tat. Munich, 1904: 124.

1907: Schubring, Paul. Donatello: Des Meisters Werke in 277 Abbildungen. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1907: repro. 38 (2nd ed., New York, 1921).

1909: Pointner, Andy. Die Werke des Florentiniscen Bildhauers Agostino d'Antonio di Duccio. Strassburg, 1909: 108.

1911: Crawford, 27th earl of (David Alexander Edward Lindsay, also known as Lord Balcarres). Donatello. 2nd ed. London, 1911: 52-55 (1st ed. 1903).

1916: Marquand, Allan. "The Martelli David and the Youthful St. John Baptist." Art in America 4, no. 6 (October 1916): 358-366, fig. 1.

1916: Sirén, Osvald. "Two Florentine Sculptures Sold to America." The Burlington Magazine 29, no. 161 (August 1916): 197-199, pl. A.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 1.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 8, as by Donatello.

1943: Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Quattrocento Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (November 1943): 285 fig. 1, 287.

1943: Swarzenski, Georg. "Some Aspects of Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the National Gallery." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th series, 24 (September 1943): 156.

1948: Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 113, repro., as by Donatello.

1949: L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 334, 336, repro. (as by Donatello).

1949: Planiscig, Leo. "Di alcune opere falsamente attribuite a Donatello." Phoebus 2, no. 2 (1949): 55-59.

1949: Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 66-71, 175, no. 17, as by Donatello.

1951: Pope-Hennessy, John. 'Review: Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art by Charles Seymour." The Burlington Magazine 93, no. 576 (March 1951): 98.

1957: Janson, H.W. The Sculpture of Donatello. 2 vols. Princeton, 1957: 1:pls. 21-25; 2:21-23 (2nd ed. Princeton, 1963: 6, 21-23, pls. 8-9).

1957: Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 18.

1958: Clark, Kenneth. "Donatello." Apollo (December 1958): 225-227.

1959: Pope-Hennessy, Sir John. "The Martelli David." The Burlington Magazine 101, no. 673 (April 1959): 132, 134-139, figs. 18, 19, 21.

1961: Hartt, Frederick. "New Light on the Rossellino Family." The Burlington Magazine 103, no. 702 (1961): 385-392.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 153, as by Donatello.

1966: Seymour, Charles. Sculpture in Italy, 1400 to 1500. Harmondsworth, 1966: 90, 230-235.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 136, repro., as by Donatello.

1968: Pope-Hennessy, John. Essays on Italian Sculpture. London and New York, 1968: 24, 65-71, figs. 63, 64, 67 (detail).

1968: Schlegel, Ursula. "Problemi intorno al David Martelli." In Donatello e il suo Tempo. Atti dell’VIII Convegno internazionale di studi sul Rinascimento. Firenze-Padova, 25 settembre-1 ottobre 1966. Florence, 1968: 245-258.

1973: Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: [94] repro, 102.

1980: Parronchi, Alessandro. Donatello e il Potere. Florence and Bologna, 1980: 101-115, 129-134, figs. 45, 46b.

1982: Herzner, Volker. "David Florentinus." The Burlington Magazine 24 (1982): 63-142.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 629, no. 973, repro., as by Donatello.

1985: Cropper, Elizabeth. "Prolegomena to a New Interpretation of Bronzino's Florentine Portraits." In Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth. Andrew Morrogh, ed. Florence, 1985: 152-155, fig. 2.

1987: Lydecker, John Kent. "The Domestic Setting of the Arts in Renaissance Florence." Ph.D. dissertation, The John Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1987: 132-133.

1988: Krahn, Volker. Bartolomeo Bellano: Studien zur Paduaner Plastik des Quattrocento. Munich, 1988: 7.

1989: Civai, Alessandra. "Donatello e Roberto Martelli: nuove acquisizioni documentarie." In Cammerer, Monika, ed. Donatello Studien. Munich, 1989: 253-262.

1989: Wildmoser, Rudolf. "Das Bildnis des Ugolino Martelli von Agnolo Bronzino." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 31 (1989): 181-214.

199: Olszewski, Edward. "Prophecy and Prolepsis in Donatello's Marble David." Artibus et Historiae 18, 36 (1998): 78 n. 35.

1990: Civai, Alessandra. Dipinti e sculture in casa Martelli: Storia di una collezione patrizia fiorentina dal Quattrocento all'Ottocento. Florence, 1990: 126 fig. 4.

1991: Donato, Maria Monica. "Hercules and David in the Early Decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio: Manuscript Evidence." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 54 (1991): 83-98.

1991: Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 201.

1993: Pope-Hennessy, Sir John. Donatello Sculptor. New York, 1993: 156.

1993: Rosenauer, Artur. Donatello. Milan, 1993: 314-315, no. 86.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 212, repro.

1995: Butterfield, Andrew. "New Evidence for the Iconography of David in Quattrocento Florence." I Tatti Studes in the Italian Renaissance 6 (1995): 116 n. 8.

1995: Coonin, Arnold Victor. The Sculpture of Desiderio da Settignano. Ann Arbor, 1995: 64-85.

1995: Rubin, Patricia Lee. Giorgio Vasari: Art and History. New Haven and London, 1995: 350 n. 152.

1999: Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.

2000: Caglioti, Francesco. Donatello e i Medici: storia del David e della Giuditta__. 2 vols. Florence, 2000: 1:167 n. 61, 211 n. 244, 251-253, 322; 2:figs. 254-255.

2001: Warren, Jeremy. "Bottega di Severo da Ravenna, Davide." In Augusti, Adriana, et al, eds. Donatello e il suo tempo: il bronzetto a Padova nel Quattrocento e nel Cinquecento. Exh. cat. Musei Civici, Padua, 2001: 162.

2003: Bremer-David, Charissa. "French & Company and American Collections of Tapestries , 1907-1959." Studies in the Decorative Arts XI, no. 1 (Fall-Winter 2003-2004):44.

2007: Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Milan, 2007: 63-64, fig. 35.

2009: Krahn, Volker. "Pastiche or Fake? A 'Donatello' by Medardo Rosso." Apollo (June 2009): 40-47.

2010: Collareta, Marco. "Painting and its sisters: Bronzino and the art system." In Bronzino: Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici. Carlo Falciano and Antonio Natali, eds. Florence, 2010: 199.

2010: Falciani, Carlo, and Antonio Natali, eds. Bronzino: Artist and Poet at the Court of the Medici Florence, 2010: 199.

2011: Coonin, Arnold Victor. "Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano and the Martelli." In Connors, Joseph, Alessandro Nova, Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Gerhard Wolf, eds. Papers from a colloquium held at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Max-Planck-Institut, and at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence, May 9-12, 2007 on occasion of the exhibition in Florence dedicated to Desiderio da Settignano. Venice, 2011: 43-60, repro. 49, 54, 55, 349, pl VI, as by Donatello.

2013: "Vasari and the National Gallery of Art." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 48 (Spring 2013): 12, repro.

2017: Dickerson III, C.D. "The Sculpture Collection: Shaping a Vision, Expanding a Legacy." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 56 (Spring 2017): 6-7, repro.