Who commissioned Donatello to create the bronze statue David for the court of the Palazzo Medici ?
This work , a passionate , pagan , rhythmically - conceived bacchanalian dance of half - nude putti , was the forerunner of the great " Cantoria " , or singing tribune , at the Duomo in Florence on which Donatello worked intermittently from 1433 to 1440 and was inspired by ancient sarcophagi and Byzantine ivory chests .