Padua was a prosperous city with a university, long under the control of Venice, and generally friendly to the Medici and their artists; Cosimo had almost certainly given his blessing to Donatello's stay.Coonin, 169-170. The commission is slightly mysterious; Gattamelata's will specified a relatively modest tomb inside the church, where he was indeed buried. It was unexpected that the Venetian government then ordered a grand public monument for a general who had served them for less than a decade, with rather mixed success.Coonin, 171-172; Seymour, 123-124. The cost, which must have been enormous, was shared by the Venetian government and the family executors, who handled the works, but it is not clear in what proportions.Seymour, 13; Avery, 88.
Padua was a prosperous city with a university, long under the control of Venice, and generally friendly to the Medici and their artists; Cosimo had almost certainly given his blessing to Donatello's stay.Coonin, 169-170. The commission is slightly mysterious; Gattamelata's will specified a relatively modest tomb inside the church, where he was indeed buried. It was unexpected that the Venetian government then ordered a grand public monument for a general who had se,rved them for less than a decade, with rather mixed success.Coonin, 171-172; Seymour, 123-124. The cost, which must have been enormous was shared by the Venetian government and the family executors, who handled the works, but it is not clear in what proportions.Seymour, 13; Avery, 88.