The Miracle of the Stingy Man's Heart

The group called the Altare del Santo composed altogether of twenty-nine pieces of sculpture. Among them, four bas-reliefs in bronze with the miracles of St Anthony (Miracle of the Ass, Miracle of the New-born Child, Miracle of the Repentant Son, Miracle of the Avaricious Man's Heart). In the Miracles series Donatello adopted flattened relief on a roughened surface which served to break up the light and diffuse it, thus achieving a luminous atmosphere in which the incorporeal images appear to float. Never until now had architecture played such a prominent part in narrative relief scenes. In the Miracles it is the rhythm of the architecture that unites the jostling crowd and is felt to be the chief protagonist. After he had died, the heart of a miser was found in the chest in which he hoarded his money while he was alive. This event is taking place on the left edge of the relief Miracle of the Avaricious Man's Heart, while St Anthony is in the process of opening the corpse's rib-cage.名为圣坛组雕（Altare del Santo）的组雕总计包含29件雕塑作品。其中包含四件青铜浅浮雕（bas-relief），描绘圣安东尼（St. Anthony）的四大神迹：《驴的神迹》《新生儿神迹》《浪子神迹》与《吝啬鬼之心神迹》。在这套神迹系列浮雕中，雕塑家多纳泰罗（Donatello）采用了粗糙基底上的扁平浅浮雕技法，通过打散并漫射光线，营造出朦胧空灵的氛围，令无形的形象仿佛悬浮其间。在此之前，建筑从未在叙事性浮雕场景中占据如此核心的地位。在这套神迹浮雕中，建筑的韵律将摩肩接踵的人群串联为统一整体，堪称整个场景的核心主角。该浮雕的左边缘正描绘这一场景：吝啬鬼死后，人们在其生前用于藏匿钱财的宝箱中发现了他的心脏；画面中圣安东尼正开启死者的胸腔。