DADDI, BERNARDO (active c. 1312–1348). An apprentice of Giotto, Daddi became the leading artist of Florence in 1337 when his master died. Though Daddi was deeply influenced by Giotto’s naturalism, his images are more graceful and capture more effectively the tenderness and intimacy of human relationships. Daddi specialized in small panels and portable altarpieces meant for private devotion. Among these are his Bigallo Triptych (1312–1348) in the Museo del Bigallo, Florence; the Virgin and Child Enthroned (1338) in the Courtauld Institute, London; and the Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels (1334) at the Uffizi, Florence. The frescoes in the Pulci Chapel at Santa Croce, Florence (c. 1330), which depict scenes from the lives of Sts. Lawrence and Stephen, have been attributed to Daddi and his workshop.
DALMAU, LUIS (active 1428–1461). Painter responsible for introducing the Hispano-Flemish style to Spain. Dalmau became acquainted with the art of Flanders, especially Jan van Eyck’s, in 1431 when King Alfonso of Aragon sent him there to learn the Flemish tapestry technique so a similar industry could be instituted in Valencia. He remained in Flanders until 1436, when he returned to Barcelona. His Virgin of the Councilors (1445; Barcelona, Museo de Arte de Cataluña), painted for the local Town Hall Chapel, is the work with which he inaugurated the Hispano-Flemish mode. It borrows the symmetrical arrangement, postures of the figures, and Gothicized interior from van Eyck’s Madonna of Canon George van der Paele (1434–1436; Bruges, Groeningemuseum) and Ghent Altarpiece (c. 1425–1432; Ghent, Cathedral of St.-Bavon). The Virgin of the Councilors is Dalmau’s only work attributable with certainty to him.
DANAË. The daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, Danaë was confined by her father to prevent her from conceiving the child an oracle predicted would kill him. Jupiter, who lusted after Danaë, appeared to her in the form of a shower of gold. From their union Perseus was born who accidentally killed Acrisius during a javelin-throwing contest. The scene was fairly common in the Renaissance as it provided artists with the opportunity to depict the female nude form. Both Correggio (c. 1531; Rome, Galleria Borghese) and Titian (1554; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) depicted Danaë as a reclining nude figure. Jan Gossart (1527; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) instead rendered her seminude and seated, fascinated by the speckles of gold that fall from above.
DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321). Italian poet who authored the Divine Comedy (1307–1321). The son of a Guelf notary from Florence, Dante fought in 1289 in the Battle of Campaldino, which led to the defeat of the Ghibellines. In 1295, he became a member of the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries, a membership needed to fulfill his posts as diplomat and magistrate. By 1300 the Guelfs divided into two rivaling factions, the Bianchi and Neri, and when the Neri seized power in Florence in 1302, the Bianchi, among them Dante, were exiled from the city. Dante traveled through Italy, and perhaps also Paris and England. He died in Ravenna in 1321.
Dante’s Divine Comedy describes his journey through hell (Inferno), purgatory (Purgatorio), and paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and then his beloved Beatrice. Written in the vernacular, Dante inaugurated a new literary genre and made the Tuscan dialect he used the standard Italian language. Until the 16th century, Dante’s influence on art and culture was clearly felt. The depiction of hell in the Strozzi Chapel at Santa Maria Novella, Florence (1355–1357), by Nardo del Cione is based on Dante’s Inferno and, in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican (1536–1541), Charon, one of Dante’s characters in the same text, mans the boat that takes the souls to the underworld. Other artists celebrated Dante by including his portrait in fresco cycles. In the Villa Carducci at Legnaia (1448), Andrea del Castagno placed him among the illustrious men and women he rendered. In the Stanza della Segnatura (1510–1511), Raphael placed Dante in Parnassus alongside Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, and the Ferrarese poet Ludovico Ariosto.
DAVID (c. 1446–1460; Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello). Rendered by Donatello, this is the first freestanding nude figure to have been created since antiquity. David is shown as the shepherd boy who volunteered to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines by killing their leader, the giant Goliath. In his left hand he holds the stone he delivered with a sling to knock the man down and in his right is the sword he used to sever his head. The figure stands in an exaggerated contrapposto that gives him a marked sway, his left foot resting on the giant’s severed head and his left arm akimbo. His hat, identified as that worn by shepherds, and military sandals, coupled by his soft, rather effeminate body, grant an erotic quality to the work. The wreath around the base of the statue symbolizes victory. The details of this commission are unclear, yet the sculpture was seen in the courtyard of the Palazzo Medici in 1469 during a wedding celebration, which would suggest that Donatello created the work for the Medici. Some art historians in fact believe that the statue may have once served as a fountain in the middle of their courtyard. In Florence, David became a symbol of the strength of the small city-state forced to face its more powerful enemies and was, therefore, the subject of a number of Renaissance sculptures and paintings.
DAVID (1501–1504; Florence, Accademia). Michelangelo received the commission to create a statue of David for one of the buttresses of the Cathedral of Florence below the dome. Since the work was intended to be viewed from below and at a distance, he rendered a colossal figure. When completed, it was so well received that the Florentines felt it should be given a more honorable placement. A group of artists, including Sandro Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Leonardo da Vinci, were appointed to decide where the statue should go. They chose the piazza in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the Florentine seat of government, to stand as symbol of the new republic formed after the Medici’s recent expulsion from the city (1494). In 1527, Medici supporters threw a bench at the statue, shattering one arm and a hand. Giorgio Vasari and Francesco Salviati, then teenagers, recovered the broken pieces so it could be restored.
David was a favorite subject in Florence since his triumph against the giant Goliath could be translated to the city’s triumph over its more powerful enemies. Yet, earlier renditions, namely by Donatello (c. 1446–1460) and Andrea del Verrocchio (1470s; both Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello), depicted the figure as a young shepherd boy. Michelangelo’s instead is an adult rendered in the Greco-Roman tradition, his nudity a symbol of his heroism. While the earlier works stressed David’s victory, Michelangelo instead rendered the moment before the confrontation with the giant, capturing the figure’s sense of anticipation. With sling over his shoulder and stone in his right hand, David tenses his muscles, furrows his brow, and gazes intensely at his target. The inspiration was Donatello’s St. George at Orsanmichele, Florence (1415–1417), who also readies for confrontation. Michelangelo’s rendition would influence Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose David in the Palazzo Borghese, Rome (1623–1624), takes the idea one step further by showing the figure pulling the sling to hit his target.
DAVID WITH THE HEAD OF GOLIATH (1610; Rome, Galleria Borghese). This is one of Caravaggio’s last works. The head of Goliath is a self-portrait, and some have suggested that the young David portrays the artist as well, but in his youth. It is an unusual depiction of the subject in that it lacks the heroic qualities of the David figures by Donatello (c. 1446–1460), Andrea del Verrocchio (1470s; both Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello), or Michelangelo (1501–1504; Florence, Accademia). Instead, the shepherd boy is here shown with a pensive, sad expression that may reflect the artist’s mood from repeatedly running from the law. The figures are set against a dark background and pushed to the foreground so as to emphasize the horror of the event. The viewer is repulsed by the bleeding head of Goliath and at the same time awestruck by the scene’s psychological depth.
DAVID, GERARD (c. 1460–1523). Painter from Oudewater, Holland, the son of Jan David, also an artist who was probably responsible for Gerard’s training. In 1484, David became a member of the painter’s guild in Bruges and, when Hans Memlinc died in 1494, he took his place as the city’s leading master. In 1501, David was elected dean of the guild, having already served in its council for several years. His Christ Nailed to the Cross (c. 1480–1404; London, National Gallery) exemplifies his early style, characterized by the use of strong colors, motionless figures, and little emotional content. Once David arrived in Bruges and was exposed to Memlinc’s art, his style changed drastically. His figures became softer and more naturalistic, and his modeling of forms and rendering of space became more rational. His Judgment of Cambyses (1498; Bruges, Groeningemuseum) demonstrates these changes. Here, space is established through the use of the tiles on the floor, the diagonal placement of the figures, and a gradual recession culminating in various adjoining spaces. The story, taken from the writings of Herodotus, shows the arrest, judgment, and flaying of the unfair judge Sisamnes—a fitting subject for a work commissioned for the council room of Bruges’ Town Hall.
After the Judgment of Cambyses, David’s art again underwent a transformation. He shed the excessive overcrowding of his earlier works and gave his figures a certain gentility. His Marriage at Cana (c. 1503; Paris, Louvre) and Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (1505; London, National Gallery), this last painted for Virsch van Capelle, the cantor of St. Donatian in Bruges, feature this softening and delicacy in the appearance of the individuals depicted. David’s most important work is the Altarpiece of the Baptism of Christ (c. 1502–1507; Bruges, Groeningemuseum), a triptych with the donors Jan de Trompes of Ostende, his wife Elizabeth van der Meersch, and their children witnessing the event at either side. David was the last of the great masters from Bruges; after his death, the city lost its artistic preeminence to Antwerp.
DE RE AEDIFICATORIA (c. 1443). A treatise written by Leon Battista Alberti in which he expounded his architectural theories. In this, he was inspired by the first-century engineer Vitruvius who provided the only text on architecture to have survived from antiquity. De re aedificatoria, like Vitruvius’ treatise, comprises 10 books and the headings in both are almost completely alike. In his text, Alberti provided the first proper modern account of the classical orders and advocated the use of a fixed module or its fraction as the basis for devising a building. He equated the harmony of a structure to musical harmony, achieved through the use of numerical proportions as they relate to the intervals of music. Alberti’s intellectualization of architecture elevated the field to the scientific and humanistic realms.
DEATH OF THE VIRGIN (1605–1606; Paris, Louvre). The Death of the Virgin was Caravaggio’s last altarpiece before he fled from Rome after killing a man over a tennis wager. It was commissioned by the papal lawyer Laerzio Cherubini for his chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. According to Christian doctrine, the Virgin Mary did not die. Rather, she fell into a deep sleep and was taken up to heaven to reign as queen alongside her son (the Dormition). Caravaggio, however, presented the scene as an actual death, the Virgin a bloated, decomposing corpse modeled after the body of a prostitute fished out of the Tiber River. She is surrounded by the apostles, who mourn her loss. They are barefoot since the church for which the altarpiece was commissioned belonged to the Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites. St. Mary Magdalen, who was not present at the Dormition, is included as a mourning figure in the foreground. She is there to refer to one of the charitable works the Discalced Carmelites of Santa Maria della Scala performed—the taking in and reforming of prostitutes. The Death of the Virgin was rejected by the fathers of Santa Maria because they felt that the depiction of the Virgin in rigor mortis lacked decorum. Nevertheless, the painting was exhibited for a week and the people of Rome stood in line for hours to see it. At the time, Rubens was in the papal city and, after viewing the painting, he immediately advised his patron, the Duke of Mantua, to purchase it, which the duke did.
DE LA CRUZ, JUAN PANTOJA. See CRUZ, JUAN PANTOJA DE LA.
DELLA ROVERE FAMILY. Originally from Liguria, the della Rovere achieved prominence when Cardinal Francesco della Rovere was elected to the papal throne in 1471 as Sixtus IV. Their social position and wealth were sealed when in 1503 Sixtus’ nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, was elected Pope Julius II. Sixtus had invested his nephew Giovanni with the lordship of Senigallia and this new title made possible Giovanni’s marriage to Giovanna di Montefeltro, the daughter of the Duke of Urbino. As a result, the della Rovere became the rulers of Urbino in 1508 when the Montefeltro line died out. The della Rovere name is closely tied to some of the most important masters of the Renaissance, including Melozzo da Forli, who worked for Sixtus; Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donato Bramante, who were employed by Julius II; Titian, who served Duke Guidobaldo della Rovere; and Federico Barocci, whose protector was Duke Guidobaldo II. See also URBAN VIII.
DELUGE. The theme of the deluge comes from the biblical story of Noah. God, who wanted to purge the world of evil and corruption, commanded Noah, the only righteous individual on Earth, to build an ark based on certain specifications so that he and his family could be saved from the flood. Noah was instructed to take a male and female from each animal species and bring them onto the ark so they could be saved as well. After the flood ended and the waters receded, Noah, his family, and the animals left the ark and repopulated the Earth. The deluge is a fairly common subject in art, with Paolo Uccello’s version in the Chiostro Verde (c. 1450; Florence, Santa Maria Novella) and Michelangelo’s on the Sistine ceiling, Rome (1508–1512) providing some of the most exceptional Renaissance examples. Hieronymus Bosch painted Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat (1500–1504; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen), where the ark came to rest after the flood ended, the drowned corpses strewn about.
DEPOSITION. See DESCENT FROM THE CROSS.
DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. Pontius Pilate granted permission to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to remove Christ’s body from the cross for burial. The Descent from the Cross shows the moment when this task is carried out by the two men. One of the most remarkable examples of this theme is Rogier van der Weyden’s altarpiece of c. 1438 in the Madrid Prado. It shows the Virgin Mary swooning at the foot of the cross, her body echoing that of Christ to denote that his suffering is also hers. The anguish of the others present is clearly denoted in their facial expressions and postures, and particularly their eyes, red and swollen from crying. Gerard David’s version of c. 1510–1515 at the New York Frick Collection is no less dramatic. Here, the Virgin takes Christ’s limp hand and presses it against her face, while Mary Magdalen wipes her tears with the back of her right hand. Jacopo da Pontormo’s rendition for the Church of Santa Felicità, Florence (1525–1528), is a Mannerist version of the event. The figures are still in extreme anguish, yet the cross was omitted from the scene. The circular composition with a void in the center, the harsh combination of colors and lighting, and contorted poses of the figures add to the turbulence of the event, and place this work among the great examples of Mannerist art. Rembrandt painted his Descent from the Cross in c. 1633 (St. Petersburg, Hermitage Museum) with the theatrical lighting effects and emotive components that characterize the Baroque style.
DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO (c. 1430–1464). Italian sculptor from the town of Settignano, a small village near Florence. The dependence of Desiderio’s reliefs on techniques introduced by Donatello suggest that he may have trained with the sculptor. In fact, his Virgin and Child (c. 1460) in the Philadelphia Museum is rendered in relievo schiacciato, a Donatello invention. Desiderio’s overall style, however, differs from Donatello’s in that his figures are more refined and possess a certain sweetness. Owing to this, his approach is usually described as the Sweet Style, which came to dominate the art of the mid-14th century. In 1453, Desiderio was commissioned to create a tomb for the Florentine Chancellor Carlo Marsuppini in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence. Conceived as a pendant to Bernardo Rossellino’s tomb of Chancellor Leonardo Bruni, Desiderio included the same elements as Rossellino: the effigy lying on a bier above the sarcophagus, angels supporting a laudatory inscription, classical pilasters, and lunette with an image of the Virgin and Child. Desiderio is best known for his depictions of children. His Head of a Child in the Washington National Gallery (c. 1460) was inspired by ancient Roman portrait busts, as was his Laughing Boy (1453–1463) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Figures laughing or smiling are in fact characteristic of Desiderio’s art. These works exemplify the master’s ability to manipulate marble to achieve the proper light and dark effects.
DEUTSCH, NIKLAUS MANUEL (1484–1530). Swiss painter, engraver, and stained-glass designer from Bern who also had a career as statesman, mercenary, and poet. Deutsch’s profession as artist only spans a decade (1514–1524), and his style is closely linked to that of Hans Baldung Grien in that, like Grien, he depicted macabre scenes, as included in the Temptation of St. Anthony (1520; Bern, Berner Kunstmuseum), a work filled with grotesque demonic creatures. His Judgment of Paris (1524; Basel, Kunstmuseum) presented an opportunity to render the female nude, which in Deutsch’s case is distinctly Northern in its oversimplification of anatomical details and rounded abdominal area. The emphasis on decorative patterning and linearity are also elements common to his art.
DI SOTTO IN SÙ. A ceiling painting technique whereby figures are heavily foreshortened to appear to be floating above the viewer. Andrea Mantegna used the technique on the ceiling of the Camera Picta in the Ducal Palace in Mantua (1465–1474), and Melozzo da Forli introduced the method to Rome in his apse frescoes in the Church of Santi Apostoli (1481–1483; fragments now in Rome, Vatican Pinacoteca and Palazzo Quirinale). In Venice artists learned to exploit the technique to achieve greater veracity. Paolo Veronese showed the underside of the parading horses in the Triumph of Mordecai (1556; Venice, San Sebastiano), paving the way for the illusionistic ceilings of the Baroque era, including Giovanni Lanfranco’s Virgin in Glory (1625–1627; Rome, Sant’ Andrea della Valle) and Pietro da Cortona’s Glorification of the Reign of Pope Urban VIII (1633–1639; Rome, Palazzo Barberini). See also ONE-POINT LINEAR PERSPECTIVE.
DIANA. Goddess of the hunt, the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and twin sister of Apollo. Diana’s main trait is that she values her chastity. The crescent moon she wears on her head is one of her attributes, as are the nymphs and hunting dogs that accompany her. Among artworks that depict the goddess are Francesco Albani’s Triumph of Diana (c. 1618; Rome, Galleria Borghese), which refers to the triumph of chastity; Domenichino’s Diana and the Hunt (1617; Rome, Galleria Borghese), based on an episode in Virgil’s Aeneid; and Benvenuto Cellini’s Diana lunette relief, a sensuous nude meant as part of the décor in the Palace of Fontainebleau and now at the Louvre in Paris. Titian painted Diana and Actaeon (1559; Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland), the myth in which the hunter accidentally surprised the goddess at her bath. In retaliation, she transformed him into a stag to be mauled by his own dogs.
DOBSON, WILLIAM (c. 1610–1646). English artist who in 1641 succeeded Anthony van Dyck as court painter to Charles I of England. Dobson’s style is closely related to that of van Dyck but also shows an awareness of Titian, whose works in the royal collection he copied. During the civil war in England, Dobson was in Oxford where the king set up a temporary court. There he created a number of portraits. Among his best are the royalist Endymion Porter (c. 1643; London, Tate Gallery) and The Painter with Sirs Charles Cottrell and Balthasar Gerbier (c. 1645; Guildford, Albury Park). These works feature the same loose brushwork, shimmering fabrics, and lively compositions as the portraits by van Dyck and Titian.
DOGE. The word doge is from the Venetian dialect and translates to duke. The doge was the chief magistrate of the Republic of Venice, an elected official who served for life. The office was first established in 697 when the scattered settlements in the area pulled together and elected Paoluccio Anafesto to govern their newly formed city. Since the 12th century, the election of the doge was carried out by a committee selected by the Great Council, the governing body of Venice. One of the doge’s tasks was to participate in a ceremony that took place each year on Ascension Day. Followed by a procession of clerics and nobles, he would go out on a ceremonial barge and toss a ring into the Adriatic to symbolically enact the ancient ritual of the marriage to the sea. With this, the doge asserted Venice’s preeminence as a maritime power.
DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE (1340–1438). The Doge’s Palace was the seat of government in Venice. In this region, fortifications were not necessary since the Adriatic Sea provided protection from invasion. Therefore, the Doge’s Palace, unlike the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena or the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, is not a fortified structure. In fact, it is quite inviting in that the lower story is an open arcade, a sort of promenade for Venetians to take shelter from the elements. Above this lower story is a second arcade with narrower openings surmounted by quatrefoils. The upper level is a solid block covered in a diamond pattern and capped by flamelike elements. As in Venetian art of the period, the structure commingles Western with Eastern elements. The arcades, quatrefoils, and pointed windows of the upper story were all inspired by the French Gothic style. The flamelike elements that cap the building, however, add an Islamic flavor. This hybrid design is the result of Venice’s ties with the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern world.
DOME. Domes are hemispherical vaults, first introduced in large scale by the Romans. The architects of the Byzantine era pioneered an effective method of construction entailing the use of pendentives that transfer the weight of the dome to the piers below. This new method allowed for more extensive unobstructed interior expanses, as well as the enclosure of a square opening with a circular dome. In the Renaissance, dome construction achieved its greatest technical heights when Filippo Brunelleschi devised the double-shelled dome at the Cathedral of Florence (1420–1436). The dome became a standard feature of religious architecture, with Donato Bramante’s Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, Rome (c. 1502–1512), and Michelangelo’s final design for New St. Peter’s (1564) providing some of the most exceptional examples. Domes provide a surface on which mosaics or frescoes that depict important religious narratives can be rendered. An example of a dome mosaic is the one attributed to Coppo di Marcovaldo in the Baptistery of Florence, which depicts the Last Judgment and the lives of Christ, St. John the Baptist, and the Patriarch Joseph (13th century). A frescoed dome is Giovanni Lanfranco’s Virgin in Glory at Sant’ Andrea della Valle, Rome (1625–1627).
DOMENICHINO (DOMENICO ZAMPIERI; 1581–1641). Domenichino was a member of the Carracci School. He first studied with the Flemish artist Denis Calvaert in Bologna, transferring to the Carracci Academy in c. 1595 to train with Ludovico and Agostino Carracci. In 1602, he went to Rome where he became one of Annibale Carracci’s most important assistants. There he befriended Monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi, who promoted his career and with whom he may have collaborated on a treatise on painting.
Domenichino’s Christ at the Column (1603; private collection) he rendered soon before moving into Agucchi’s home. It shows Christ after the Flagellation without his tormentors—an idealized iconic image exemplary of Domenichino’s classical decorum. In 1609, Domenichino worked alongside Guido Reni in the Oratory of Sant’ Andrea, Rome, painting the Martyrdom of St. Andrew. His first signed altarpiece is the Last Communion of St. Jerome (1614; Vatican, Pinacoteca), painted for the Congregation of San Girolamo (Jerome) della Carità, an image based on Agostino Carracci’s famed painting of the same subject that Domenichino must have seen in 1612 when he briefly returned to Bologna. Having completed his own version, Giovanni Lanfranco accused him of plagiarism. In these same years, he also decorated the Polet Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome (1612–1614), for Pierre Polet with scenes from the life of St. Cecilia. St. Cecilia was also the subject of his c. 1617 painting (Paris, Louvre) of the saint playing a viola while a putto holds her music score.
Domenichino was also an accomplished portraitist and landscapist. Remarkable examples of his portraiture are Monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi (early 1620s; York, Art Gallery) and Pope Gregory XV and Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi (1621–1623; Béziers, Musée des Beaux-Arts). Among his landscapes are the scenes from the legend of Apollo in the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati (1616–1618) and Diana at the Hunt (1617; Rome, Galleria Borghese) commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Domenichino moved to Naples in 1631 to work in the Cappella del Tesoro in the Church of San Genaro, a commission that was to occupy him for about a decade. He died in Naples in 1641, believed to have been poisoned by local artists who, out of jealousy, had threatened his life and reputation.
DOMINIC, SAINT (1170–1221). Born in Calaruega, Spain, St. Dominic was educated in the University of Palencia and appointed canon of Osma in 1199. In 1203, he accompanied the bishop of Osma to Languedoc where he preached against the heresies of the local Albigensians, a religious sect condemned by the papacy. In 1208, the Albigensians murdered the papal legate Peter of Castelnan and, in retaliation, Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against them. Saint Dominic followed the papal army and preached to the heretics in the hopes of converting them. In 1214, Count Simon IV of Montfort, who headed the crusade, gave Dominic a castle at Casseneuil where he and six of his followers established the Dominican Order. Two years later, the order received papal approval. Dominic spent the rest of his days traveling in Italy, Spain, and France, attracting new followers and establishing new Dominican houses. He died in Bologna where he went to convoke the first general council of his order. He was canonized in 1234.
DOMINICAN ORDER. The Dominican Order was established by St. Dominic in 1214 when he gathered a group of priests in the castle at Casseneuil in Languedoc owned by Count Simon IV of Montfort, who headed a crusade against the Albigensians whose religious inclinations the papacy deemed heretical. In 1216, the saint traveled to Rome to obtain papal approval for the order, which was duly granted. Unlike the self-sufficient medieval monastic orders, the Dominicans were a mendicant group that relied on charity. Their main purpose was to convert the Albigensians and to preach the word of God in the vernacular language. In 1229, the papacy established the Inquisition and the Dominicans were assigned to carry it out. This is what earned them the name Domini canes, the Lord’s dogs who fight heresy. They are depicted in Andrea da Firenze’s Guidalotti Chapel at Santa Maria Novella (1348–1355) in the Dominican church of Florence as ferocious dogs who chase the wolves of heresy. Among the most important Dominicans is St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in history.
DONATELLO (DONATO DI NICCOLÒ BARDI; 1386–1466). The most innovative sculptor of the 15th century. Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool carder. He is documented in 1404–1407 in Lorenzo Ghiberti’s workshop, assisting in the execution of the east doors (1403–1424) of the Baptistery of Florence. Donatello was Filippo Brunelleschi’s friend, and the two traveled together to Rome to study the remains of the ancients—a visit that would affect both masters deeply. The knowledge Donatello gained allowed him to render his St. Mark at Orsanmichele (1411–1413) for the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, the Florentine Guild of Linen Drapers and Peddlers, as a powerful ancient philosopher type in contrapposto—a natural, believable stance. To compensate for the fact that the statue would be viewed from below and at a distance, Donatello elongated the figure’s proportions and exaggerated its anatomical features, the earliest Renaissance master to do so. The St. George (1415–1417), also for Orsanmichele, he executed for the Arte dei Corazzai e Spadai, the Guild of Armorers and Swordmakers. Appropriately, the figure once wore a helmet and held a sword. Shown moments before the confrontation with the dragon, the saint’s anticipation is read plainly in his anxious expression. At the base of the statue, St. George is shown slaying the dragon, a relief Donatello rendered in the relievo schiacciato technique he invented.
From 1415 until 1435, Donatello also worked on a series of prophets for the niches at the top of the Campanile of the Cathedral of Florence, each made to interact with viewers 30 feet below. His Zuccone (1423–1425; Florence, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo) is one among them. Instead of the conventional bearded old prophet, this figure relies on ancient Roman orator types with toga and opened mouth as if speaking. Donatello’s figure is emaciated, as if caught in a moment of revelation, his features deeply carved so his expression may be perceived clearly from a distance. Also expressive are Donatello’s Cantoria (1430s–1340s) for the Cathedral of Florence (Florence, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo), the bronze David (c. 1446–1460; Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello), the Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata (c. 1445–1453; Padua, Piazza del Santo), and the scenes in the high altar of San Antonio in Padua (1444–1449).
Donatello eventually abandoned his reliance on classical principles to further explore the psychological depth of his subjects. His Mary Magdalen (1430s–1450s; Florence, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo) is an emaciated, toothless figure with sunken cheeks—a vivid portrayal of the woman who lived in the wilderness for four decades and engaged in prayer and penance. His Judith (c. 1446–1460; Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) seems in a trance as she decapitates Holofernes out of duty. Donatello’s technical abilities and mastery at conveying meaning provided inspiration for Michelangelo, who, like his predecessor, understood the value of considering the physical and psychological interaction between art and observer.
DONI TONDO (c. 1503; Florence, Uffizi). The Doni Tondo is the first known painting by Michelangelo, created after he saw Leonardo da Vinci’s cartoon for the Madonna and Child with St. Anne exhibited in the Monastery of Santisima Annunziata, Florence, on which he based his composition. The Doni Tondo depicts the Holy Family as three solid figures who form a pyramid, with the Virgin sitting on the ground, silhouetted against St. Joseph and the Christ Child. Behind them are the young St. John the Baptist and five nudes sitting on a low, semicircular wall. The painting was commissioned by Angelo Doni, a prosperous Florentine weaver, perhaps on the occasion of his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi. Certainly, the work can be related to marriage as it portrays Joseph and Mary as the model Christian couple. Also, the tondo (circular) format is associated occasionally with nuptials. It has been suggested that the crescent wall on which the nudes sit may refer to the Strozzi coat-of-arms, composed of three crescent moons, and that the nudes in the background possibly represent Mercy, Kindness, Humility, Modesty, and Patience—the five Virtues enumerated by St. Paul in Colossians III:12–17 and essential to maintaining harmony in marriage. The men have stripped so they may clothe themselves with these Virtues, as per St. Paul’s instructions. Some scholars date the work somewhat later than c. 1503 and explain the presence of the Baptist as reference to the Doni’s first four sons, all named after the saint, who died in infancy. The solidity of the figures, their well-defined contours, and precise description of all the elements within the work reflect Michelangelo’s sculptural approach to painting.
DORIA, ANDREA (1466–1560). The foremost admiral of his era. Andrea Doria was a member of one of the oldest and most powerful families of Genoa. As a young adult, he served in the papal guard under Innocent VIII. In 1522, he joined the French forces of Francis I against the imperial army. But when the French gave commercial priority to Savona over Genoa, Andrea instead pledged his loyalty to Emperor Charles V. In 1528, with the help of the imperial army, Andrea drove the French out of Genoa, established a new republican constitution and declared himself its dictator. In 1547–1549, Andrea was able to suppress effectively the conspiracies against him carried out by the Fieschi and Cibo families. In 1559, once more with the aid of Charles V (before his death in 1558), he recovered Corsica for Genoa. Andrea’s sumptuous palace became the locus of artistic activity, led by Perino del Vaga. Among the most notable artists to contribute to the renovation and decoration of Andrea’s residence were il Pordenone and Domenico Beccafumi.
DORMITION. According to Christian doctrine, the Virgin Mary did not die but rather fell asleep peacefully in the presence of the apostles and was carried by angels up to heaven (the Assumption), where she was crowned queen. Jacopo Torriti represented the Dormition of the Virgin (c. 1294) in his mosaic at Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. Fra Angelico combined the Dormition and Assumption (c. 1432) in an altarpiece now housed in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, and Hugo van der Goes’ rendition of the subject (c. 1481; Bruges, Groeningemuseum) shows the Virgin experiencing a vision of her son who has come to receive her into heaven as she lies in her bed in her final moments on Earth. Finally, Caravaggio opted for a realistic rendition of death (1606; Paris, Louvre) by showing the Virgin as a bloated, decaying corpse. See also DEATH OF THE VIRGIN.
DOSSI, DOSSO (GIOVANNI DE LUTERI; c. 1490–1542). Artist from Ferrara who became court painter to Alfonso I d’Este, along with his brother Battista Dossi. His works often portray complex subjects that rely on fantasy and his style is closely linked to that of the Venetian masters in their colorism and light effects. After 1520, Dosso’s paintings became more sculptural, often borrowing poses from Michelangelo’s works in Rome and ancient statuary, which suggests a visit to the papal city. His best-known work is Melissa (1520s; Rome, Galleria Borghese), based on a scene from Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, the Ferrarese poet who, like Dosso, served the d’Este duke. Other paintings by Dosso include his Holy Family with the Young St. John the Baptist, a Cat, and Donors (c. 1512–1513; Philadelphia Museum of Art), the Three Ages of Man (c. 1515; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), and the Allegory of Fortune (c. 1530; Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum).
DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA (active 1278–1319). Duccio was the leading figure of the Sienese School of painting. Little is known of his training. That he was temperamental is attested by the number of fines levied against him for various transgressions, including refusal to swear fealty to a civic official, declining to take part in the war of Maremma, and engaging in witchcraft. Unlike his contemporary Giotto who rejected the Maniera Greca, Duccio followed this tradition, bringing it to its ultimate refinement. In 1285, he received from the Confraternity of the Laudesi a commission to paint an altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, called the Rucellai Madonna due to its location in the church’s Rucellai Chapel. Two other works of this period are attributed to him, the Crevole Madonna (1283–1284; Museo dell’Opera del Duomo) and the Madonna del Buonconvento (c. 1295; Buonconvento, Museo d’Arte Sacra della Val d’Arbia). Duccio may have been in Paris in 1297 where a “Duch de Siene” is documented, which would have given him firsthand knowledge of the French Gothic style. In 1302, he received payment for an altarpiece depicting the Virgin and Child in majesty for the Cappella dei Nove in the Sienese Palazzo Pubblico, now lost. In 1308 he was to repeat this theme in his most important commission, the Maestà Altarpiece (1308–1311; Siena, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo), for the main altar in the Cathedral of Siena. The round stained glass (1285–1308) in the apse of the cathedral, also designed by Duccio, depicts scenes from the life of the Virgin, the four Evangelists, and Sts. Bartholomew, Ansano, Crescenzio, and Savino, significant to the Sienese. Duccio ranks among the most important masters of the Proto-Renaissance era and is recognized for having established the Sienese School of painting. As the teacher of Simone Martini, he provided the impetus for the development of the International Style.
DUQUESNOY, FRANÇOIS (1597–1643). Flemish sculptor from Brussels who spent most of his career in Rome. Duquesnoy was trained by his father, Jerome, who was also a sculptor. In 1618, he moved to Rome, and became close friends with Nicolas Poussin and Andrea Sacchi. Together, these three masters did much to advance Baroque classicism in the papal city. Duquesnoy’s St. Susanna (1629–1633) in the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, Rome, is one of his most famous works. Inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s St. Bibiana and an ancient statue of Urania then in the Capitol, Giovan Pietro Bellori praised Duquesnoy’s figure and declared it the canon for the depiction of clothed saints. Duquesnoy’s St. Andrew (1629–1633) is one of four works commissioned by Urban VIII for the crossing (where the nave and transept cross) of St. Peter’s, executed under Bernini’s direction. This commanding figure leans on the cross of his martyrdom, extends his left arm, and looks up to the heavens where he will be granted salvation. His dramatic gesture, flowing drapery, and emotive restraint define the work as classicist. Duquesnoy died a premature death in 1643.
DÜRER, ALBRECHT (1471–1528). Albrecht Dürer stands out from among the Northern artists of his era not only for his mastery but also for the fact that he viewed art as much more than a manual craft and for his own self-image as innovator. While little documentation exists to reconstruct the careers of many of his contemporaries, Dürer left written records of his activities, including a diary and letters. Dürer was the son of a Hungarian goldsmith after whom he was named and who settled in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1455. After receiving training from his father, Dürer entered the studio of Michael Wolgemut (1486) to complete his studies. The Self-Portrait in silverpoint he created two years earlier, at the age of 13 (Vienna, Albertina), demonstrates that he was a child prodigy. This would be the first among several self-portraits, each presenting the artist in a novel manner. In the 1493 self-portrait in the Louvre, Paris, Dürer presented himself as the bridegroom, the eryngium flower in his right hand then considered an aphrodisiac. The tasseled headdress Dürer wears refers to the customary binding of tassels by bride and groom to express fidelity. The prickly eryngium, a symbol of Christ’s Passion, coupled with the inscription above that states that Dürer’s affairs are ordained on high, asserts a divine source for his artistic genius. The 1500 self-portrait (Munich, Alte Pinakothek) goes a step further as Dürer presents himself as a frontal Christ-like figure to denote that art comes from the hand of a creator. His art philosophy parallels that of Leonardo da Vinci, who also likened the creative genius of artists to that of God, the creator of the universe. With this, Dürer paved the way for the humanistic world of the Renaissance to enter the North.
In 1492, Dürer set out to Colmar to work with the engraver Martin Schongauer. By the time he arrived, Schongauer was dead, so Dürer instead worked with the engraver’s brother Georg in Basel. There he received a number of commissions for engravings, a field in which he greatly excelled. Among the works he executed were the woodcut frontispiece for the Epistolae Beati Hieronymi (published in 1492 by Nicolaus Kesler), which shows a St. Jerome and his lion, and illustrations for an unpublished edition of the comedies of Terence (Basel, Kupferstichkabinett; some question the attribution to Dürer).
In 1494, Dürer returned to Nuremberg to marry Agnes Frey, the daughter of a respected coppersmith—a union arranged by his father. Through his childhood friend, Willibald Pirckheimer, he became acquainted with the city’s leading humanists who came to respect not only his artistic but also intellectual abilities. To perfect his skills, Dürer began drawing from Andrea Mantegna’s mythological engravings. One of these drawings, the Death of Orpheus (1494; Hamburg, Kunsthalle) shows the artist’s desire to surpass the Italian master by adding greater contrasts of light and dark, movement, and drama than in the original work. A trip to Venice in 1494 provided further opportunities to study the works of the Italians. The result was a richness of texture and tonality never before seen in prints. Examples include Dürer’s Hercules at the Crossroads (c. 1497–1498) and Four Witches (c. 1497), both works exhibiting classicized figures with convincing details of anatomy and areas darkened with heavy crosshatchings to enhance their nude forms. Dürer’s famed woodcuts of the Apocalypse (1497–1498) are a tour de force of dramatic intensity and action.
By 1496, Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, was granting commissions to Dürer, including the Dresden Altarpiece (c. 1496; Dresden, Kunstsammlungen), a work depicting the Madonna adoring the sleeping Christ Child in a three-quarter format, flanked by architecture, and set against a landscape in the manner of Giovanni Bellini. He also painted for the Elector the Adoration of the Magi (1504), a work inspired by Leonardo’s (1481; both Florence, Uffizi) of the same subject. Dürer took a second trip to Italy in 1505–1507, where he informed his friend Pirckheimer in a letter that he was taking lessons in one-point linear perspective. In Venice he painted the Rozenkranz Madonna (1505–1506; Prague; National Gallery) for the Church of San Bartolomeo, commissioned by the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the association of German merchants in Venice. While there, he had the opportunity to meet Giovanni Bellini, who by now was very old, as Dürer’s letters to Pirckheimer reveal.
Of the paintings Dürer created after his Italian trip, the Adoration of the Holy Trinity (1508–1511; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) is the most impressive. Painted for the chapel in an almshouse in Nuremberg founded by Matthew Landauer, from whom Dürer received the commission, the work borrows from St. Augustine’s City of God where individuals from all ranks of society, here Landauer included, come together to adore the Trinity. Dürer also began work on a theoretical treatise on art soon after his return from Italy, a work he completed in 1523. He also entered in the service of Emperor Maximilian I. Dürer’s last major painting commission was the Four Apostles (1526; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) for the town council of Nuremberg. The last of his years the artist devoted to his writing efforts. In 1525, he published The Teaching of Measurements with Rule and Compass and, in 1527, he issued an essay on The Art of Fortification while also working on his Four Books on Human Proportions. Pirckheimer had this last text published in 1528, after Dürer’s death. Dürer’s influence on art was vast. Not only did he influence German masters but also Flemish, French, Spanish, and Italian artists.
DYCK, ANTHONY VAN (1599–1641). Anthony van Dyck was a child prodigy who by 14 was executing portraits for important patrons. The son of a prosperous cloth merchant from Flanders, van Dyck’s career was overshadowed by that of Peter Paul Rubens, who some believe to have been his teacher. In fact, wherever van Dyck went, Rubens had already been. In 1621, he arrived in Italy where he had the opportunity to study the works of the Venetians, and particularly Titian. In the 1630s, he was in England, working as court painter to Charles I. When Rubens died in 1640, van Dyck went back to Antwerp hoping to take his place as head of the Flemish School. The archdukes of Flanders wrote to King Philip IV of Spain that van Dyck was arrogant and undependable, thereby ending his aspirations. There was reason for the archdukes to speak of the master in these terms. In Italy, he was called the pittore cavalieresco (cavalier painter) because of his many servants, expensive wardrobe, and refusal to associate with anyone in a lower social rank. In England, he entertained frequently and lavishly, excesses that may have hastened his death.
In 1620, van Dyck painted the portrait Isabella Brant (Washington, National Gallery) of Rubens’ first wife. Perhaps the work was intended as a gift for Rubens and Isabella prior to van Dyck’s trip to Italy. The loose brushwork, choice of palette, elaborate costume, and red background drapery to emphasize the sitter are all Rubensian elements. The portraits Cardinal Bentivoglio (1622; Florence, Palazzo Pitti) and Elena Grimaldi (1625; Washington, National Gallery) van Dyck painted in Rome and Genoa respectively. The first shows the cardinal in deep thought after having read a letter. The second stresses the sitter’s social standing as she is sumptuously dressed and accompanied by a slave boy who holds a parasol over her. In Sicily, van Dyck was commissioned to paint a series of works for the Oratory of the Rosary in Palermo, including the Madonna of the Rosary, to commemorate the recovery in 1624 of the remains of St. Rosalie. In England, he painted for Endymion Porter, a member of the royal court, one of his most admired works, Rinaldo and Armida (1629; Baltimore, Museum of Art), based on Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata. Van Dyck’s Lady Digby as Prudence (1633; London, National Portrait Gallery) also belongs to this period, as does Le Roi à la Chasse (Portrait of Charles I) (1635; Paris, Louvre), one of the most remarkable royal portraits ever rendered. Van Dyck revolutionized portrait painting in England. Before him, miniaturist Elizabethan portraiture was the norm and, though Paul van Somer, also from Antwerp, and the Dutch Daniel Mytens were in London in the second decade of the 17th century and brought their realistic mode to England, it was not until van Dyck entered the scene that English portraiture was finally infused with life.