A few of the basic facts about Donatello's life can be put together, but we are left with distressing gaps. Even fewer inferences can be drawn from these facts. According to his own tax declarations of 1427 and 1433, Donato de Niccolo di Betto Bardi was born in 1386. A later declaration, made in 1457 when the artist was over seventy, sets his birthdate at 1382, but it was quite customary for old people in Florence to make themselves look even older on their tax records to enlist the sympathies of the fiscal officials and thus reduce their assessments. "Donatello" is a nickname, whose diminutive form may indicate the small stature of the sculptor. -- Introduction.