Dancing Putto

While in the Prato pulpit the sculptural symphony of the procession of exultant putti is divided into moments marked off in panels framed by paired pilasters, so as to emphasise the radiating architectural structure and to bring out the relief scene in open light, in the Cantoria it unfolds as a single whole on a plane set back behind the double mosaic-covered colonnettes, so as to create an articulated interior depth, which the luminous vibration of the sculptural decoration and reliefs, fused into the weave of the gold tesserae, brings back to an effect of continuous spatiality. The iconographic motifs, derived from Roman and Ravennate sarcophagi and sculptures (the relationship with a fragment in the Museo Archeologico in Milan is documented), are translated by Donatello into an absolutely new language: for full, rounded relief he substitutes a harsh, incised writing, with sharp cuts of outline on the stiacciato that create energetic rhythms, and outlines and sets off, by contrast, the figural motif within the dense texture of its setting.