FEMALE NARRATOR:
The white marble panel on the wall in front of this audio point dates from about 1428 to 1430 and was made in Florence. It shows Christ ascending in majesty, giving the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to St Peter, as the Virgin Mary and the apostles look on in wonder, awe and grief. The rectangular panel is almost half a metre, or 18 inches, high and a little over a metre, or 3 feet, wide. The panel shows one of the finest examples of the technique of carving in rilievo schiacciato, or ‘squashed relief,’ by Donatello, the sculptor who’s credited with inventing it.

The figure of Christ dominates the centre of the panel. He appears to be hovering within a mandorla, an almond-shape made up of clouds, and is surrounded by four small angels. To Christ’s right, the stocky, bearded figure of St Peter reaches up to accept the keys to Heaven. To Christ’s left is his mother, Mary. Unusually, Donatello has portrayed her as an elderly woman, her head and body swathed in a cloak, with only the profile of her careworn face and one outspread hand visible. She kneels, with her face upturned towards her son. The triangular positioning of Christ, Mary and St Peter at the centre of the panel invites the viewer to join the group as a spectator. So does the grouping of the apostles, facing Christ in an arc. Behind St Peter, the first apostle has his arm outstretched towards the risen Christ and his head turned back to his companions as if he is urging them to witness the miraculous sight. Behind him, barely sketched on the surface, is another apostle. The next figure has his eyes downcast and his hands raised, the palms towards Christ – perhaps in denial, perhaps overcome by emotion. The fourth is shown in strong profile, his hands lifted to chest height, his body half-concealing another who is carved in lower relief.

Standing behind Mary on the left of the panel are more apostles, each carved in successively shallower relief. Their faces are gaunt and hollow-eyed as they look up at Christ. Partly concealed behind the third of these apostles are the smaller, fainter figures of two more. The main figures are carved in a relief of no more than two centimetres in depth, but the drapery of their cloaks and the detail of their faces are magnificently carved to suggest fully three-dimensional forms.

Donatello’s technical genius is shown in the way he uses ever-shallower relief to suggest an extreme depth of perspective. A pair of angels stands to the far left of the panel, their arms around each other. By carving them smaller and in a lower relief than the apostles and Christ, Donatello suggests that they are behind the main group. A line of trees stands on rolling hills behind these angels, diminishing in size and becoming fainter as they recede towards the horizon, where the tiny city of Jerusalem is lightly sketched.