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Chap. X. DONATELLO’S S. GEOKGE. 279 the figures which have been usually taken as a test of Donatello’s power, the best known is perhaps the S. George of Orsanmichele. Firmly poised on his two legs and resting his hands on the shield that guards him, he suggests to the spectator a feeling of conscious firmness and security. A relief of S. George encountering the Prince of darkness adorns the pedestal of the niche ori ginally occupied. by the statue; and affords a perfect example of the modern art to which Vasari alludes. So vigorous is the action, so fleshy are the forms that they recal to mind the pencil studies of Leonardo da Vinci, whilst the polish of the marble and the gentleness of the kneeling female illustrate anew the sculptor’s capacity when he controlled his habitual exuberance of spirit. Michael Angelo could not have treated more perfectly than Donatello has done, the large planes of drapery which cover part of the armour of the statue. In this particular indeed, we may recognize another favorable feature in a style sufficiently remarkable already. Pro vidence has seldom gifted one mortal with a combination of qualities which may be found isolated in many; and Donatello was not one of the most favoured in this re spect. But whilst his manner reveals much that deserves moderate applause, it has clearly many qualities of value. He frequently sacrificed the perfection of the whole for the elaboration of parts; but some of these parts were not unfrequently marked with the stamp of undoubted progress. His draperies are an evident proof that he possessed an innovating spirit. Whilst Ghiberti did nothing more than continue the abuse of superfluous festooned garments; and often made a figure but a peg on which to hang a tunic; whilst, in this, the great author of the gates of S. Giovanni failed to maintain the simple maxims of Giotto and Orcagna, Donatello, mindful of the laws of sculpture, sought ever to remind the specta tor that, beneath the cloth, there moved and breathed a human body; and he carried out this necessary law of statuary by defining the under forms and by a judicious