How was it made? Donatello’s marble carving technique | V&A

Sculptor Simon Smith tells us why marble is ’the Emperor of all stones’ and ’like a slice of the moon’, as he recreates a panel from the 15th-century Prato Pulpit in Italy. The carved pulpit features metre-high dancing cherubs, which Simon copies from photographs – scaling them down to fit his block of marble, while retaining the spirit and joy of Donatello’s original. Watch the shapes appear as Simon uses different chisels and tools to cut and refine the marble, explaining how carving is all about trapping shadows and watching light play across the surface. You can see – and touch – the panel made by Simon in our exhibition Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance. 00:00 The properties of marble 00:26 What is the Prato Pulpit? 01:09 Drawing from photographs 01:56 Traditional vs contemporary chisels 03:16 The difficulties of marble carving 04:22 The claw tool 04:42 Trapping shadows and playing with light 05:29 Filing and pumicing 06:24 The spirit and joy of Donatello’s carving Find out more about the exhibition and book tickets: More ’How was it Made?’ films: