Victoria & Albert Museum to stage first major UK exhibition to explore the work of the Renaissance master Donatello, including artworks never seen before in the UK.

Opening February 2023, Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance will be the first major UK exhibition to explore the exceptional talents of the Renaissance master, Donatello. It will offer a fresh vision of the artist and his impact on both the cultural and artistic development of this crucial time in the history of art. Arguably the greatest sculptor of all time, Donatello (c.1386-1466) was in the vanguard of a revolution in sculptural practice in the early Renaissance.

The exhibition will explore Donatello’s innovations, collaborations and inspirations within the vibrant artistic and cultural context of fifteenth-century Italy, and his influence on subsequent generations of artists. Featuring many works that have never been on display in the UK, including Donatello’s early marble David and bronze Attis-Amorino from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, as well as the spectacular reliquary bust of San Rossore from the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, Pisa, and bronzes from the High Altar of the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua. For the first time, the V&A’s exquisitely carved shallow relief of the Ascension with Christ giving the keys to St Peter will be displayed alongside the Madonna of the Clouds from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Desiderio da Settignano’s Panciatichi Madonna from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, providing an exclusive opportunity to see these works together.

Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance is the last in a series of exhibitions made possible through collaboration with Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Each institution has drawn on its own collections and curatorial expertise to stage three distinct but complementary exhibitions, offering a celebration of Donatello’s life and work in three parts, the first to be devoted to the artist for nearly forty years. Location: Sainsbury Gallery, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Date: 11 February – 11 June 2023. Price: £20/ Concessions available.