Two over-lifesize fragments from the horse from the 'Gattemelata' equestrian group by Donatello

In 1444, Donatello was commissioned to sculpt a large bronze equestrian group of the condottiere Erasmo da Narni ("Gattamelata"), the Signori of Venice.  The piece, over eleven feet high and finished in 1453, currently sits in the Piazza del Santo in Padua.  Both horse and rider, inspired by the Statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome and the Greek horses atop the Venetian Church of St Mark's, were a complete unit destined to become the prototype of many subsequent equestrian monuments.

No illustration.