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[Sidenote:  First Journey to Rome.]

For a short time Donatello was probably one of the numerous garzoni or assistants employed by Ghiberti in making the gates, but his first visit to Rome is the most important incident of his earlier years.  Brunellesco, disappointed by his defeat, and wishing to study the sculpture and architecture of Rome, sold a property at Settignano to raise funds for the journey.  He was accompanied by Donatello, his stretissimo amico, [Transcriber’s Note:  Probably should be “strettissimo.”] and they spent at least a year together in Rome, learning what they could from the existing monuments of ancient art, and making jewelry when money was wanted for their household expenses.  Tradition says that they once unearthed a hoard of old coins and were thenceforward known as the treasure-seekers—­quelli del’ tesoro.  But the influence of antiquity upon Donatello was never great, and Brunellesco had to visit Rome frequently before he could fully realise the true bearings of classical art.  It has been argued that Donatello never made this early visit to Rome on the ground that his subsequent work shows no traces of classical influence.  On such a problem as this the affirmative statement of Vasari is lightly disregarded.  But the biographer of Brunellesco is explicit on the point, giving many details about their sojourn; and this book was written during the lifetime of both Donatello and Brunellesco.  The argument against the visit is, in fact, untenable.  Artists were influenced by classical motives without going to Rome.  Brunellesco himself placed in his competition design a figure inspired by the bronze boy drawing a thorn out of his foot—­the Spinario of the Capitol.  Similar examples could be quoted from the work of Luca della Robbia, and it would be easy to show, on the other hand, that painters like Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and Piero della Francesca were able to execute important work in Rome without allowing themselves to be influenced by the classical spirit except in details and accessories.  Moreover, if one desired to press the matter further, it can be shown that in the work completed by Donatello before 1433, the year in which he made his second and undisputed visit, there are sufficient signs of classical motive in his architectural backgrounds to justify the opinion that he was acquainted with the ancient buildings of Rome.  The Relief on the font at Siena and that in the Musee Wicar at Lille certainly show classical study.  At the same time, in measuring the extent to which Donatello was influenced by his first visit to Rome, we must remember that it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to determine the source of what is generically called classical.  The revival or reproduction of Romanesque motives is often mistaken for classical research.  In the places where Christianity had little classical architecture to guide it—­Ravenna, for instance—­a