From a pencil sketch to cherubs dancing in stone – recreating a Donatello work
Carved by the Italian sculptor Donatello over a decade in the 15th century, the marble reliefs on the outside pulpit of Prato Cathedral in Tuscany are celebrated for their rich, emotive depiction of dancing cherubic figures set in stone. In this short video from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the UK sculptor Simon Smith talks the audience through his process of recreating these reliefs for the exhibition Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, on display at the museum from February to June 2023. Starting with a pencil sketch before working with a series of ever-finer tools to ‘nibble away’ at the stone, Smith offers an immensely satisfying glimpse into how one of history’s great sculptors created dazzling, emotive scenes from just stone, shadow and light.
videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
videoNature and landscape
After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint
15 minutes
videoArt
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes
videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes
videoArt
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
videoFilm and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoArchitecture
A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power
17 minutes