Zuccone (Statue of the Prophet Habakkuk) 1425

This is Donatello's Zuccone, or Statue of the Prophet Habakkuk, made sometime in the early 15th century from marble. Look closely, and you'll see that the material, marble, has had a big impact on how this figure appears. Stone is heavy, cold, and hard, and Donatello has worked directly with these qualities. He’s taken away material to reveal the form, and has retained a sense of the stone’s weight and density. Consider how the drapery falls in thick folds, each one requiring labor to be hewn from the block. Donatello was a master of his craft, expertly using chisels and rasps to coax out the lifelike details of Habakkuk's face and robes. There is such skill involved that we marvel at the final result, a statue with so much expression and humanity. Thinking about material and making helps us see the value in craft traditions and the amount of work involved in making a statue like this, challenging our traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.