idea.  In some measure painting was needed as a preservative for wood statues, otherwise it is difficult to justify the covering of a fine material by paint which cannot do justice to itself, while it must hide the refinements of the carving.  Donatello worked but little in wood.  Crucifixes were commonly made of it, but the material was one which could never receive quella carnosita and morbidezza[184] of marble or metal.  The Greeks limited their use of it to garden and woodland themes:  the Egyptians used it but little, because they had so few trees.  In Donatello’s time it was popular, and came to be regarded as a distinct art.  Thus the Sienese wood-carvers were forbidden to work in stone,[185] but the great masters like Donatello did not strictly adhere to the rules, and did not refrain from invading the art of the woodcarver.  There is a large class of statues derived from the four just described.  One of these, attributed to Donatello, is the St. Jerome at Faenza, also made of wood.[186] Chocolate-coloured paint has been ladled all over the body.  The beard is faint lavender, and the canvas loin-cloth is blue.  The pose and expression are mannered.  It is usual to dismiss it in an offhanded way as a bad and later work; but the modelling shows signs of skill, and until the paint is removed it is useless to make guesses.  Two bronze statuettes of the Baptist[187] are distinctly Donatellesque, and made about 1450, though it is impossible to assign them with certainty to the master himself.  Michelozzo’s versions of St. John at Montepulciano, on the Cathedral altar in Florence, and in the Annunziata, show the influence of Donatello; but the Baptist is a milder prophet, and no longer the hermit.  In the Scalzi at Florence there is a Baptist which is typical of many others of the same character.  The Magdalen was less copied than the St. John.  The version nearest Donatello himself is in London, a large grim bust;[188] in the same collection is a relief of her apotheosis, and the Louvre possesses a similar work.[189] Neither of the latter is by Donatello himself, but they recall his influence.[190] The large Magdalen in Santa Trinita at Florence is a good example of the bottega.

[Footnote 182:  Siena Cathedral, bronze; Berlin Museum, bronze; Frari Church, Venice, wood.]

[Footnote 183:  10, ii. 1423.  On 29, iv. 1423, Donatello received 5 lbs. 3 oz. of wax for modelling the figure.  Luzi, “Duomo di Orvieto,” 1867, p. 406.]

[Footnote 184:  Vasari, i. 147.]

[Footnote 185:  Che niuno maestro di legname possa fare di pietra. Rules of Sculptors of Sienna, 1441, ch. 39.  Milanesi, i. 120.]

[Footnote 186:  In Museum.  From the Capella Manfredi in San Girolamo degli Osservanza outside the town, suppressed in 1866. Cf. two similar statuettes in terra-cotta, Bargello, Nos. 174 and 175.]

[Footnote 187:  Louvre, about 12 inches high, unnumbered.  Museo Archeologico, Venice, No. 8.  Frau Hainauer’s bronze Baptist, signed by Francesco di San Gallo, is interesting in this connection.]