DONATION
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DONATION
for a livelihood. Brunellesco's occupation was archi-
tecture; Donatello, though understanding the inter-
relation of the two arts, always, whether in conjunc-
tion with Brunellesco or, as later, with Michelozzo,
made sculpture paramount. It is hard to place his
work chronologically. While still a mere boy, he
carved the wooden crucifix in Santa Croce, Florence.
On his return from Rome to Florence he was engaged
for years on the statues for Giotto's belfry and the
buildings then in progress. For the Campanile he did
"The Baptist", "Jeremias", "Habakkuk", a group
representing Abraham and Isaac, and the famous
" David " called the " Zuccone ' ' (Bald-head) , so lifelike
that Donatello is said to have himself cried to it,
"Why don't you speak?"; for the Duomo, "St. John
the Evangelist ' ' and ' ' The Singing-gallery " ; for Or San
Jlichele, "St. Peter" and "St. Mark", and the "St.
George", which he executed at the order of the Guild
of Armourers — Donatello's most ideal and perfect
work. The socle-relief of "St. George and the Dra-
gon and the Iving of Cappadocia's Daughter" is
absolutely Greek m simplicity and plastic beauty.
Other fine reliefs are the bronze doors for the sacristy
of San Lorenzo; the medallions for the ceiling; and the
"Annunciation" in the same church, with its noble
figures of the Blessed Virgin and the archangel. In
the Loggia de' Lanzi is the somewhat ill-proportioned
group of "Judith and Holof ernes". The marble
"David" in the Bargello, uniting the delicacy of the
adolescent "Baptist" of Casa Martelli with a classic
fashion of wreath-bound hair, seems a link between
two of the phases in Donatello's development. Purely
Renaissance and yet conceived in the antique spirit
are the "Amorino" (Cupid) and the bronze "David"
of the National Museum, Florence. Both are in-
stinct with life and the potent vitality of youth, jubi-
lant or contained. Pope John XXIII, a personal
friend of the sculptor, died in Florence, 1419. Dona-
tello made his tomb, a recumbent portrait-statue in
the baptisterj-. In the Duomo of Siena he performed
the same office for Bishop Pecci. In Siena also he
made several rare statuettes and reliefs for the chris-
tening-font of San Giovanni. At Prato, for the open-
air pulpit of the Duomo, he carved the casement with
groups of playing children (jmtti). He is believed to
have been in Rome again in 1433. A tabernacle of
the Blessed Virgin in St. Peter's is said to be by Dona-
tello, and also the tombstone of Ciiovanni Crivelli in
Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. In 1443 he went to Padua
to build the choir-gallery, and remained there some
ten years. First he carved his "Christ on the Cross",
the head a marvel of workmanship and expression;
then statuettes of the Blessed Virgin, St. Francis of
Assisi, St. Anthony, and other saints; also a long
series of reliefs for the high altar. While in Padua
Donatello was commissioned to make a monument to
the Venetian Condottiere (General) Gattamelata
(Erasmo de' Nami), and he blocked out the first great
equestrian statue since classic times. The last known
statue of Donatello is "St. Louis of Toulouse" in the
interior of Santa Croce.
Donatello became bedridden in his latter years, and some of his works were completed by his pupils. Piero de' Medici provided for him. Donatello had always been lavish with his fellow-workers and assis- tants, and took no forethought for himself. His char- acter was one of great openness and simplicity, and he had an ingenuous appreciation of his own value as an artist. Unassuming as he was, his pride of craft and independence of spirit would lead him to destroy a masterpiece at one blow if his modest price were hag- gled over. He was buried beside his patron Cosirao de' Medici in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Donatello was a thorough realist and one of the first modellers with whom character and personality in the subject meant more than loveliness. His Apostles and saints were generally close likenesses of living
persons. He had a vivid faculty for individual traits
and expression and a method of powerful handling
that makes it impossible to forget his creations. In
such figures as the "Baptist" and the "Magdalen" of
the baptistery of Florence he apparently studied
emaciation for its anatomic value. HLs busts of con-
temporaries (such as that of Nicolo da Uzzano,
"Youth with Breastplate", etc.) look like casts from
Ufe. One of the most graceful pieces is the "San Gio-
vannino", a relief of a child, in sandstone, in the Bar-
gello, Florence. Minor works are the "Marzocco"
(original in the National Museum, Florence) — the lion,
the emblem of Florence, with the fleur-de-lys florencee
shield — and the Martelli escutcheon on the staircase of
their house.
LfBKE, History of Sculpture (tr. London, 1872); Perkins, Handbook of Italian Sculpture (New York. 1SS31; Rea. Dona- tello (London, 1900); Balcarres. Donatello (London, 1903); Mt'NTZ, Lcs Precurseurs de la Renaissance (Paris, 1900); Vasari, Lives of the Painters (tr. London, ISSl).
M. L. Hand LEY.
Donation (in Canon Law), the gratuitous trans- fer to another of some right or thing. When it consists in placing in the hands of the donee some movable object it is known as a gift of hand {donitm manuale, an offering or ablatio, an alms). Properly sjjeak- ing, however, it is a voluntary contract, verbal or written, by which the donor expressly agrees to give, without consideration, something to the donee, and the latter in an equally express manner accepts the gift. In Roman law and in some modern codes this contract carries with it only the obligation of trans- ferring the ownership of the thing in question; actual ownership is obtained only by the real tradiiio or handing over of the thing itself, or by the observation of certain juridically prescribed formalities (L. 20, C. De pactis, II, 3). Such codes distinguish between conventional (or imperfect) and perfect donation, i. e. the actual transfer of the thing or right. In some countries the contract itself transfers ownership. A donation is called remunerative when inspired by a sentiment of gratitude for services rendered by the donee. Donations are also described as inter vivos if made while the donor yet li\es, and causA mortis, when made in view or contemplation of death; the latter are valid only after the death of the donor and until then are at all times revocable. They much re- semble testaments and codicils. They are, however, on the same footing as donations inter vivos once the donor has renounced his right to revoke. In the pur- suit of its end the Church needs material aid ; it has the right therefore to acquire such aid by donation no less than by other means. In its quality of a perfect and independent society the Church may also decide under what forms and on what conditions it will accept donations made to works of religion (dona- tiones ad pias causas) ; it pertains to the State to legis- late for all other donations.
History of Eccle.siastical Donations. — Even before the Edict of Milan (313) the Church was free to acquire property by donation either as a juridically recognized association (eoUcgiu)n) or as a society de facto tolerated (note that the right to acquire property by last will and testament dates only from 321 in the reign of Constantine). Nevertheless, the Church was held to observe the pertinent civil legislation, though on this head it enjoyed certain privileges; thus, even before the tradiiio, or handing over, of the donation to a church or a religious institution, the latter acquired real rights to the same (L. 23, C. De sacrosanctis eccle- siis, I, 2). Moreover, the itixinuatio or declaration of the gift before the public authority was required only for donations equivalent in value to 500 sniidi (nearly twenty-six hundred dollars) or more, a privilege later on extended to all donations (L. 34,30, C. De dona- tionibus, VIII, 53). Finally, bishops, priests, and deacons yet under parental power were allowed to dis-
