Friends of Florence launch restoration of Donatello’s Gattamelata

Two leading U.S.-based non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving Italy’s cultural heritage, Friends of Florence and Save Venice, are joining forces to support the restoration of one of the Renaissance’s most celebrated masterpieces: Donatello’s equestrian statue of Gattamelata in Padua.

On October 8 and 9, after being surrounded by scaffolding for nearly three years, the bronze monument will be carefully removed from its pedestal in front of the Basilica of Saint Anthony. The operation will allow conservators to carry out the final diagnostic studies ahead of a full restoration.

The complex lifting and transfer of the sculpture — which depicts the 15th-century condottiere Erasmo da Narni, known as Gattamelata, on horseback — will take place in two stages. On Wednesday, October 8, the statue will be lowered to the ground and moved to the nearby “Ex Museo Civico” in Piazzetta Kolbe. The following day, October 9, technicians will separate the horse from its stone base and transport it to the same location.

This will be only the third time in history that the monument has been taken down from its pedestal. The first occurred in 1917, when it was moved to Rome for safekeeping during World War I; the second in 1940, at the start of World War II, when it was hidden in the Abbey of Carceri d’Este until 1945.

Created by Donatello between 1447 and 1453, the Gattamelata was commissioned by the family of the condottiere with the approval of the Venetian Senate and installed in front of the Basilica several years later. It was the first monumental bronze equestrian statue of the Renaissance, a work that redefined the very idea of public sculpture in Europe.

The new restoration project, coordinated by the Pontifical Delegation of the Basilica of Saint Anthony, is made possible thanks to the ongoing commitment of Friends of Florence and Save Venice — organizations that have long supported major conservation efforts in Florence, Venice, and across Italy. Their collaboration on the Gattamelata marks a new chapter in the preservation of Donatello’s legacy.

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