Donatello was born in Florence, Italy in 1386. Donatello's real name is Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi.

Donato adopted Donatello as a name mainly because his relations all called him that. Donatello was the
son of a wool comber and at the age of 17 he became the assistant to the noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti
and helped him construct and decorate the famous bronze doors at the baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence. Later on in his life he would be associated with the architect Flippo Brunelleschi, with whom he
reputedly visited Rome in order to study the monument of Antiquity.
Donatellos career can be divided into three very distinct periods. The first, which is comprised of the years
before 1425, showed the influence of Gothic, sculpture but also shows classical and realistic tendencies.
Major works in this period of time were St. Mark (Church of OR San Michele, Florence), St. George
(Bargello, Florence), John the Evangelist (Opera del Doumo, Florence), and his Joshua (Campanile of the
Cathedral, Florence).
The second period was 1425 - 1443 and is generally characterized by a reliance on the models and
principles of the sculpture of antiquity. Donatello worked with the Florentine sculpture and architect
Michelozzo from 1425 - 1435. During the time they worked together the made a great deal of sculptures
and projects, including the monument to Bartlolmeo Aragazzi (Cathedral of Montepulciano). In their joint
work Michelozzo made the architectural designs and helped in the making of the bronze castings while
Donatello made most of the statues. From 1430 through 1433 Donatello spent periods in Rome, where he
created a great deal of works, notably the ciborium in the sacristy of the basilica of Saint Peter. It was
decorated with the relief's Worshiping Angels and Burial of Christ. It was while he was in Florence that he
created one of the most noted work during this period, the first bronze David (Bargello, Florence). The
bronze David took five years to construct and was the first nude statue of the renaissance.
In his third and final period of his career Donatello broke away from classical influence in his work and
emphasized on realism and the portal of character and of dramatic action. Great examples of his work in
this period are Miracle of St. Anthony (Sant' Antonio, Padua), Gattamelata (in the square before Sant'
Antonio), and the first bronze equestrian statue since ancient times Judith and Holofernes (Loggia dei
Lanzi, Florence).
The sculpture of Donatello influenced that of Florence and of the rest of the world during the 15 century
and is a major stimulus even today. Donatello died on December 13, 1466 at the age of 88. He had many
students; the most important of these very well could have been Desiderio da Settignano.
A student of Donatello, Andrea del Verrocchio (full name Andrea di Michele di Frenceisco di Cioni) lived
from 1435 - 1488. Andrea is considered to be the second best artist in the early renaissance only to
Donatello. Andrea was trained as a goldsmith (Giuliano Verrocchio), a sculpture (Donatello), a painter
(Alesso Baldovinetti) and later he trained Leonardo, Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi, and Parogino.
Donatello influenced a great many artist but non-as much as Michelangelo, others include Fra Filippo
Lippi, and Maseccio.
I think that Donatello was a great artist and I am deeply inspired most if not all of his work. The only think
that I do not like is the fact that he has done nude sculptures of men, and more, he was the first in the
renaissance to do a nude sculpture of anything. Another thing that I find interesting is the fact that he is
partially responsible for the training of some of the other great artist, Donatello trained Andrea del
Verrocchio, Andrea trained Leonardo, and Donatello inspired Michelangelo.