Liverpool University Press is delighted to announce the publication of 'Sculpture Journal' 34.2, the second in a two-part series with the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Guest edited by Whitney Kerr-Lewis, Curator of Sculpture 1800–now, and Rachel Boyd, Senior Curator of Renaissance Sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum, this special issue examines the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century reception and replication of Donatello’s work. Drawing on themes from the V&A’s ‘Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance’ (11 February – 11 June 2023) exhibition and related conference, the volume explores how Donatello’s legacy was shaped through collecting practices, plaster casts, photography, and illustrated texts across Europe and America.

Case studies highlight the networks of collectors, institutions, and scholars that contributed to his posthumous reputation, while also considering how replication practices influenced modern perceptions of authenticity. The issue concludes with reflections on Donatello’s continued relevance through contemporary artistic engagement, affirming the enduring resonance of his work and its capacity to generate new scholarly and creative responses.

Browse the issue online: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/toc/sj/34/2

Read a blog post with the editors: https://liverpooluniversitypress.blog/2025/03/05/donatello-innovation-and-collaboration-sculpture-journal-special-issue-in-partnership-with-the-va-museum/

This issue is published with generous support from the V&A, the Université Clermont Auvergne and the Institut universitaire de France, and Christ Church, University of Oxford.

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INTRODUCTION
Introduction: reception and replication of Donatello, nineteenth century to now
Whitney Kerr-Lewis

RESEARCH ARTICLES
Italian quattrocento sculpture: a controversial case in mid-nineteenth-century Paris
Daniele Rivoletti

Americans, Italy and Donatello
Jacqueline Marie Musacchio

Give American customers what they want: Donatello’s sculpture in plaster casts, c. 1870–c. 1910
Martha Dunkelman

‘To know them thoroughly you must have their photographs’: photographing Donatello in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Geraldine A. Johnson

INTERVIEWS
Designing the Exhibition Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance
Sam Brown, Peta Motture, Whitney Kerr-Lewis, and Rachel Boyd

In transformation: a contemporary artist’s response to Sculpting The Renaissance
Rebecca Stevenson and Michaela Zöschg

REVIEWS
Reviews
Dónal Hassett and Rachel Dickson

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Contributors