in the panels of the altar of S.
Antonio in Padua and of the pulpit of S. Lorenzo in Florence. The
casting of the pieces for the Siena font was probably done by
Michelozzo, who is also credited with an important share in the next two
monumental works, in the designing of which Donatello had to face a new
problem--the tomb of John XXIII. in the baptistery (begun about 1425),
and that of Cardinal Brancacci at S. Angelo a Nilo in Naples (executed
in Pisa, 1427). The noble recumbent figure of the defunct on the former,
the relief on the sarcophagus, and the whole architectural design, are
unquestionably due to Donatello; the figure of the pope is the most
beautiful tomb figure of the 15th century, and served as the model on
which Rossellino, Desiderio, and other sculptors of the following period
based their treatment of similar problems. Donatello's share in the
Naples monument is probably confined to the characteristic low relief of
the "Ascension." The baptistery tomb shows how completely Donatello had
mastered the forms of Renaissance architecture, even before his second
visit to Rome. An earlier proof of his knowledge of classic art is his
niche for the "St Louis" at Or S. Michele, now occupied by Verrocchio's
"Christ and St Thomas." Similar in treatment to the "Ascension" relief
is the "Charge to St Peter" at South Kensington, which is almost
impressionistic in its suggestion of distance and intervening atmosphere
expressed by the extreme slightness of the relief. Another important
work of this period, and not, as Vasari maintains, of Donatello's youth,
is the "Annunciation" relief, with its wealth of delicately wrought
Renaissance _motifs_ in the architectural setting.

When Cosimo, the greatest art patron of his time, was exiled from
Florence in 1433, Michelozzo accompanied him to Venice, whilst Donatello
for the second time went to Rome to drink once more at the source of
classic art. The two works which still testify to his presence in this
city, the "Tomb of Giovanni Crivelli" at S. Maria in Aracoeli, and the
"Ciborium" at St Peter's, bear the stamp of classic influence.
Donatello's return to Florence in the following year almost coincides
with Cosimo's. Almost immediately, in May 1434, he signed a contract for
the marble pulpit on the facade of Prato cathedral, the last work
executed in collaboration with Michelozzo, a veritable bacchanalian
dance of half-nude _putti_, pagan in spirit, passionate in its wonderful