How Bp Failed at Crisis Communication Free Essays

string(28) " a lot of things correctly\." How BP failed at crisis communication British Petroleum (BP) suffered a large-scale public relations and crisis communication disaster, when an oil-drilling rig accident on 20th April 2010 incurred a spillage of several million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This catastrophic spill has been regarded as one of the most severe environmental damages recorded in the U. S. We will write a custom essay sample on How Bp Failed at Crisis Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now history, causing public animosity and frustration, substantially because of inappropriate BP? s crisis communication plan (Tangley, 2010). The oil spill contaminated local environment and coastline of U. S. states Louisiana and Mississippi. Consequences were severe as the spill crippled heretofore developed Gulf Coast fishing industry for a couple of years. On international scene, it has led to a continued discussion on the safety measures of offshore drilling (Tangley, 2010). On the top of that, BP has been forced to continuously invest into improving of their image in media and on social networking sites, trying to eliminate as much negative PR campaign as they possibly could (McClam, Weber, 2010). BP reacted promptly in their statements, however, without emphasizing the compassion for those who were harmed and by appearing to be insufficiently determined to clean up the environmental disaster. The company should not have been over-optimistic about the scale of the oil spill. On the other hand, BP should have stepped up their social networking communication and assessment of the right spokesperson to a unique situation. Although that crisis scenario is a unique event that is hard to predict, it is definitely not unexpected, considering what business BP operates in. By the year of 2015, 83 percent of companies will face a crisis that will negatively impact their share price by 20 to 30 percent, according to Oxford-Metrica study. This is more likely to happen to oil producing companies, as they are considered to be operating in a one of the most dangerous industries. Facing such a deep company crisis is not only about ways of how to minimize negative exposure in the press; however, it is also about reducing the environmental damage in the first place. Company has to confront the situation without any futile delays and send a clear message to the public in its determination to manage the situation as best as possible. Definitely not by holding out on facts and baffle general public, as BP did (Oxford Metrica, 2011). For example, the officers from BP said that the explosion of Deepwater Horizon drilling at Macondo oil field caused an oil spill of about 2. 7 million barrels. In contrary, the US government’s estimate of 4. 9 million barrels spilt into the sea almost doubles BP? s assumption (Oxford Metrica, 2011). There were several companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon accident. The oil rig was not owned by BP, but a contracting company Transocean. The Macondo oil well was owned partially by BP (65%), Anadarko Petroleum (25%) and Mitsui (10%). The defect of a blowout preventer was supplied by Cameron International (Oxford Metrica, 2011). â€Å"Finally, just before the accident, Halliburton fitted the cement cap intended to seal the well. The number of players involved has given rise to shifting of blame† says the Oxford Metrica study. BP used this opportunity and tried to avoid the spotlight by accusing their contractors and suppliers of being responsible for a Deepwater Horizon accident. George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher, said â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. † BP? s failure is a perfect example of this dateless quote. As the Exxon Valdez accident badly spoiled the view of general public on oil industry and this case has shown serious under reactions of both Exxon and American government, BP should have devised a risk mitigation plan with various safety features, assuring that similar ecological disaster of these proportions will not happen again. Instead, the company has exchanged a following of a strict safety precautions and minimizing overall safety risk for being a risk-seeking company that is pushing to minimize costs and maximize profit. This accident has proven that the industry has lost a focus on prevention and their control mechanisms could not keep up with the newly acquired technologies in offshore exploration and production. Additionally, the company deliberately overlooked all warning signs that have been present. This game was not worth it, as BP has taken a significant financial hit. Their stock price fell by more than 40% in one week after Deepwater Horizon explosion as it proves Figure 1 which compares a percentage change of stock prices of BP, Transocean, Cameron International and Halliburton early before and after the explosion of Deepwater Horizon. The peak loss of 46% in June 25 resulted into a $95 billion loss in market value capitalization of British Petroleum. Additionally, BP was forced to reserve $39. 9 billion in order to eliminate he consequences of oil spill; also pay $20 billion as a compensation for people directly affected by the spillage; $10. 8 billion as an expense for companies that capped and sealed the oil well and consequent cleaning operations and next $9. 1 billion on additional fees, penalties and fines (Oxford Metrica, 2011). This giving a total of $79. 8 billion entailed a significant decrease in net income for consequent 5 years to come. Figure 1: Comparison of stock prices of companies involved in Deepwater Horizon explosion [pic] Source: Oxford Metrica, 2011. By going back to the PR campaign that has been launched straight after the oil spill, BP has done a very good job when they covered most of the negative publicity. BP? s webpage informed the general public about the will and devotion of the company and how hard they are trying to minimize the environmental damage or help the people affected; while not mentioning a word about the fact that BP takes responsibility for the disaster. Their Facebook account informed the subscribers how the company focuses on using the latest technology available in order to stop the spreading of oil spill. To this moment, BP got a lot of things correctly. You read "How Bp Failed at Crisis Communication" in category "Essay examples" Nevertheless, it is not an immediate action which caused the negative exposure on media throughout the world. Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, was actively engaged in the PR campaign, was ready to provide interviews to media and was willing to pay all the penalties and fines to the US government. However, Oxford Metrica review claims that â€Å"a string of clumsy comments and cultural misunderstandings, combined with a seeming inability to cap the well, dominated the media and, understandably, fear and anger took hold† (Oxford Metrica, 2011). Despite the fact that BP is a huge global organization, we can observe that both of their public relations staff and higher management structures clearly did not handle the Deepwater Horizon disaster appropriately, at least from a public relations and goodwill point of view. Taken a closer look at what makes a global company with size of BP at least neutral in terms of a general audience perception, using common sense would inevitably lead unbiased observer to identify several key parts. Being as honest to public as possible, quick reaction time, correct usage of social networks and media exposure of the right representatives would most ikely be among them. However, BP undergoing their biggest crisis, not only from the technical point of view and the actual damage inflicted on the environment, but mostly image-wise, failed significantly at reacting accordingly; given the fact that the BP case is publicly known as being the biggest PR failure of the recent history. As mentioned before , being sincere about the huge environment tragedy, that was caused by a company, even if indirectly, is something what public audience would certainly expect. It is obviously a bad idea to try to make it appear less serious than the situation is in reality, especially when media around the world are posting photos and airing images of an oil rig in flames and spilling thousands of gallons of oil into its surroundings. Mr. Thoma J. Roach, journalist from the magazine Rock Products has made a very good point on this matter, noting that BP`s CEO Tony Hayward reportedly said that the Gulf of Mexico is a big ocean and compared the amount of oil pouring into it as tiny and insignificant. However, Roach claimed that such a statement is dismissive and that it pictures environmentalists and all the people in those industries devastated by the disaster as crybabies. Moreover, instead of placating them, it challenged them to come back strengthened with better evidence, more arguments and intensity. He also concluded that such a public relations strategy is only baiting the enemies (Roach, 2010). In simplicity, if Hayward would say something more sincere and actually true, BP could have looked better and avoided more negative publicity not only for the disaster itself, but also for their way of handling it. Even though delivering the information is the most important part of the whole public relations process, one may argue that delivering it too late or in a bad form is as much important. Frederick E. Allen, former CEO of Jacobs Suchard, has made a good point on this matter using the BP? s public relations blunders as an example, mentioning that he would expect hundreds of press release updates from BP Global on Facebook, however during the tough times, BP`s PR section has issued only about hundred of them. On top of that, only few of them had something to do with the spill and its aftermath (Allen, 2012). To improve this part of the strategy, BP clearly needed to utilize all of their resources, including their own web page, to its fullest potential and in appropriate time. What BP shown during their crisis and also afterwards, was clearly a lack of competent people responsible for writing short memos and messages on one of their main communication channels – their website. On the other hand, even when the PR department is doing a tremendous job on social networks, it does not necessarily mean that it will have actual impact. This is caused by the way how social networks are used by the audience. Basically, company needs a massive amount of followers on given social network prior to the actual case, so they can immediately use it to reach their target audience with tweets or updates. So despite BP had a capable social network manager who succeeded in posting a lot of material, they did not really matter too much as BP lacked followers, as their staff weren’t active on this matter before it became a really needed tool in times of crisis (Allen, 2012). As mentioned earlier, significant blunder of the company in PR area was a wrong choice of a spokesperson. A lot of critique went on Mr. Hayward`s head. Thomas Roach has described BP`s CEO as blunt-speaking, hard-edged and criticized BP for using him also as a  chief spokersperson for the company, mentioning that American industry already learned a  lesson from Japanese competitors in the 1980s, specifically, that the person who is the best engineer does not necessarily make the best manager. Tony Hayward was thus a  bad hire for BP, as he was not a  outstanding leader with appropriate communication skills (Roach, 2010). Maybe BP wanted to look like they stood behind their CEO, thus even after his publicly known and very unfortunate quotes, they did not want to take him down and replace him by someone with better set of communication skills. However, Mr. Hayward has most likely done more damage with his inappropriate appearances than it helped BP to look like they are maintaining their integrity. Despite the immediate PR reaction after April 2010, the company seemed to be unable to appreciate the cultural context, since BP did not speak the language which the American public wanted to hear. BP did not appreciate the political context as well and at that time, they heavily damaged the lingering relationship with US government as exclusive emitter of oil-drilling permits for locations rich on oil. To conclude the case, it can be claimed that BP has run their technical operations during the crisis bad, but their immediate PR reaction was even worse. Moreover, BP? s public relations department was over-optimistic and endlessly reassured the general public by optimistic assessments that the amount of spillage is â€Å"relatively tiny† and the situation will be dealt with soon (Roach, 2010). Additionally, the company should have been more compassionate to the victims of the oil rig explosion and to those who were harmed by the latter oil spill. However, this case can be seen as a valuable lesson for not only petrochemical industry, but the whole multinational companies segment of the businesses around the world. Lessons that BP did not learn from the Exxon Valdez case years ago will hopefully be learned by other companies from BP`s case. On the other hand, this environmental disaster has happened during the Information era, when everything is immediately spread worldwide and when one has to respond to the audience as quickly as humanly possible. Thus, it cannot be isolated in a time period of a year 2010, but it must be viewed as a continuous process. Even after all cleaning work will be done, there still will be a future aspect of the case, as general public will keep demanding a preemptive measures by BP. This will create another playfield where BP can work on their public relations and slowly present itself as they have learned their lessons and from now on, BP will become a whole new company with a new approach to safety and crisis management. This actually seems to be the case, as articles in 2011 and further does not generally mention BP in such a bad light as they were doing previously, which can be accounted to applying new PR strategies. Specifically, we can see a good presentation of BP in a NY Times article from the middle of 2011 written by Julia Werdigier, author of more than a thousand articles for NY Times. In the article, BP is given a credit for announcing the new, safer, deep-water drilling standards of BP together with a more general safety measures (Werdigier, 2011). With articles like this, BP is starting to turn their image around. But in the end, only time will reveal if the PR department of one of the biggest multinational companies will learn their lesson. References Allen, F. (2012). The Gulf Spill: BP Still Doesn’t Get It. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www. forbes. com/sites/frederickallen/2012/04/20/the-gulf-spill-bp-still-doesnt-get-it/ McClam, E. , Weber H. R. (2010). BP’s failures made worse by PR mistakes. Retreived October 30, 2012 from website http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/37647218/ns/business-world_business/t/bps-failures-made-worse-pr-mistakes/ Oxford Metrica. (2011). Reputation Review 2011 [Report]. Retrieved from October 30, 2012, from website: http://www. oxfordmetrica. om/public/CMS/Files/825/Aon_Oxford% 20Metrica%20Reputation%20Review_2011. pdf Roach, T. (2010). BP’s PR Lessons. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www. rockproducts. com/index. php/key-issues/community-relations/9719-bps-pr-lessons. html Tangley, L. (2010). Bird Habibats Threatened by Oil Spill. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from website: http://www. nwf. org/News-and Magazines/NationalWildlife/Birds/ Archives/2010/Oil- Spill-Birds. aspx Werdigier, J. (2011). BP to Tighten Deep-Sea Drilling Practices as It Tries to Rebound. Retrieved October 23 from LexisNexis Academic database. How to cite How Bp Failed at Crisis Communication, Essay examples

Rust In Peace(1990) by Megadeth free essay sample

Oh, boy. This is gonna hurt. Rust In Peace was Megadeths fourth studio album and has been noted as one of the best evers in metal history. I can maybe see why, but I would completly disagree with that statement. There are only a handful of songs I personally like. 1, Holy WarsThe Punishment Due, I first heard this song while playing, suprise, Guitar Hero. As one of the three final boss songs and Megadeth songs in the game Warriors of Rock, this is easily my second favorite song in the entire album. Amazing solo, and of the final boss tracks, this is the easist of them. 2, Hanger 18, this one is ok to say the list. Honestly, just a bit too many solos and instrumentation. It is good though. For thrash metal, this is way too melodic, not like that sounds familar. Yep, its a Metallica clone. I like Metallica and Megadeth but they are usually completly different bands sound wise. We will write a custom essay sample on Rust In Peace(1990) by Megadeth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then again, its only a minor complaint. Towards the end however, it goes back to Thrash metal style music. 3, Take No Prisoners, the fastest and heaviest of them all. This easily my favorite of the bunch. The entire song, while short, is super short, straight to the point, yet very complex because of its unison drums and strings. The bass is finally audable for me and deviates alot. This is my 3rd favorite Megadeth song currently. 4, Five Magics, retarded name, for its spot, and retarded intro. This is a slow and heavy track, I guess. Not like Megadeth at all and I dont really like it. Plus, remember in Hanger 18 where I said this has to many instrumental sections. Well this is a good example because half of the song is slow and clunky and we speed up to random nonsense to just go back to slow and clunky. We finally get to the chorus at the end of the of the track, thank god! Im tired of this song. 5, Poison Was The Cure, then we have those songs that have a minute intro and the verses and the choruses are 2 seconds. This starts out very slow with a bass riff that easily gets repedative. We then blast through the rest of the song. The vocal point for me is Dave Mustang and he makes this song at least somewhat listenable for me. 6, Lucretia, this must be a song about an evil which! No seriously it is. It is way too melodic for me and for Megadeth even. The song begins with a witch cackle, must be from Hansel and Gretal, and goes into the most retarded guitar riff Ive heard. The song is, well, not good. The solo is ok and the topic is probably way over done with Shock Rock. 7, Tornado of Souls, I know what your thinking, I must like this song, right? Well, yes actually. I only like the ones everyone knows it seems. I used to hate this one though. Now Im safe in the eye of the tornado. Cool solo and Daves vocals actually work for something that, while thrashy, is a bit melodic and technical sounding. Ah, yes, and the chorus is easily the best part here. 8, Dawn Patrol, Too slow. Too clunky. No good. 9, Rust In PeacePolaris, starting with a Sepultura sounding drum style, especially in Territory, this is not bad. It isnt as good as Tornado of Souls, it has some good solos and a memerable chorus. Well, what can I say. Maybe the album isnt as bad as I thought originally. But that doesnt it still sucks. I would recommend this album due to its standings in the metal community. But its not for me, different strokes for different folks I guess. Rating 4.5/10

The Population In Brazil Consists Of 144 Million People. Brazil Is One

The population in Brazil consists of 144 million people. Brazil is one of the fastest-growing nations in the Western Hemisphere. Its population is increasing at the rate of about 2 % a year. The constitution of Brazil gives the president tremendous powers. For example, the president may intervene in affairs of Brazil's states. The chief executive may even create new states from existing ones. Brazil has three main ethnic groups-whites, blacks, and people of mixed ancestry. Most of the whites are from Europe. According to the Brazilian government whites make up about 60% of the nation's population, and people of mixed races form about 30%. However, the government of Brazil counts many lightskinned people of mixed ancestry as white. Brazil's ethnic groups generally get along well with one another. Racial discrimination in Brazil if far less widespread than that in many other countries with people of several races. But Brazilians of European descent have had better educational opportunities. As a result, they hold most of the higher jobs in government and industry. Many of the non-Europeans, particularly blacks, have excelled in the arts, entertainment and sports. Brazil's prison system system is in crisis. Four years ago, in its 1990 urban violence report Amnesty International described the prisons as being at breaking point, holding double their official capacity in inhuman conditions. Four years later the situation has not improved. In some respects, it has deteriorated. Overcrowding, lack of medical and legal assistance, torture and ill-treatment of inmates and harassment of visitors are endemic. A frightening and rising proportion of prisoners carry the HIV virus. In the Women's Prison of Soo Paulom, around 33% of the inmates are infected with the virus, while in the male prison the figure reaches 27% of the prison population. A study published in 1994 shows that the majority of prisoners are yourn, poor, and black. agroup of inmates in the Desembargador Vidal Pessoa Central Prison of Manaus, Amazonas held a peaceful protest against conditions in es called in military police shock-troops. They reportedly beat the inmates, who had taken refuge in their cells, with batons, as well as hitting and kicking them. Subsequently they locked the inmates in their cells and threw tear gas grenades in after them. For prisoners to complain to officials about their treatment takes enormous courage. In Recife, Pernambuco state, on 11 May 1993, prisoners told a visiting delegation in the Barreto Campelo Prison of the brutality they faced. The prisoners reported incidents of torture and named the alleged torturers, even though they were in the same room. The inmates expressed their fears of reprisals from the prison staff. Some of them told the delegates that the director of the prison had threatened them with severe punishment if they dared to speak out. The torture they described included beatings, near drowning, death threats and electric shocks. In his report on the visit to Recife, one of the delegates, the President of the National Council for Penal and Prison Policy, noted that despite persistent reports in the local press about ill-treatment in prisons in Pernambuco, the Judge of Penal Sentences and the Secretary of Justice for Pernambuco claimed to have no official knowledge of the prisoners' complaints. He asked the state authorities to investigate the prisoners' allegations, but no information has emerged about any investigation. Two incidents involving prisoners with AIDS were reported in S?o Paulo in 1994. On 27 March, a woman prisoner who was in the final stages of AIDS in the Central Hospital of the Penitentiary System, was reportedly beaten by a prison warden. The woman, named Leci Nazareth da Silva, who was in great pain, was calling for the assistance of a nurse when, just after midnight, a warden came to her cell, shouted at her to shut up, and hit her in the face. According to the testimonies of other women inmates, after the incident Leci Nazareth da Silva's mouth and lips were swollen and she was bleeding. The warden reportedly threatened the other inmates with reprisals if they dared to report the incident. On 31 March 1994, Jose['] Roberto dos Santos, also an AIDS sufferer, was severely beaten in the Casa de Detenc[,]?o, in S?o Paulo. According to his written testimony, he was verbally insulted and physically abused by a

Baker v. Carr essays

Baker v. Carr essays Except for, arguably, Brown v. Board of Education, Baker v. Carr (1962) ...was one of the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren's most important decisions. (http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=B005). The landmark ruling put into effect what has become known to be the one man, one vote standard. The case originated out of the state of Tennessee. The state had reapportioned its legislative districts in 1901, but the state legislature did not reapportion those legislative districts for the next 60 years. In most states during that elapse of time, the rural areas of the country lost population to the cities as a more agrarian way of life in the country gave way to industry, and more people moved from farms into the cities due to the economic pressures of trying to make better money. As a result, urban areas such as Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga grew in size while rural counties such as Smith, Chester, and other rural counties in Tennessee did not see nearly the same level of growth. The result of that 60 years in which Tennessee did not reapportion its legislative districts was that the weight of a vote of a person living in a rural area carried more weight than the vote of a person living in an urban area. State Representatives and state Senators in urban areas, for example, represented more people than did state Representatives and state Senators in rural areas. The population ratio between urban and rural districts was 19:1, yet their representation in the legislature was the same. (http://writ.news.findlaw.com/lazarus/20051209.html). Also, Justice Douglas, concurring, wrote, We are told that a single vote in Moore County, Tennessee, is worth 19 votes in Hamilton County... (Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186; 82 S. Ct. 691; 7 L. Ed. 2d 663 (1962). Five urban areas decided to file suit, arguing that the lack of reapport...

Best Swedish Schools to study interior design

Best Swedish Schools to study interior design Studying Interior Design in Sweden Interior design is one of the modern streams within the educational specialization variety. People are interested in living in beautiful and extraordinary apartments. More and more of young people try to fulfill their potential and creativity in developing interior design. Modern materials and settings enable designers to arrange unique and superb design, saturated with varieties of colors and forms, making the house or office a comfortable and aesthetic place for living, working or entertainment. To be an interior designer is not simply to furnish the room and allocate decorative components within the living or working space. To become mature in this sphere, one should have profound skills in drawing, color perception, taste, know interior design styles and be able to embody all this stuff in the practice. Today interior designer can hardly work without knowing corresponding computer programs for creating drafts and sketches for their customers. So as you see, studying to acquire designer degree is rather labor-consuming activity, which requires great effort. Besides your efforts, it is important to select a nice school, which can become your guide into the world of design and provide necessary qualification for your future carrier. In regard to interior design a lot of people trust their training to Swedish schools and universities. Great amount of educational institutions in Sweden with brilliant reputation can become the access for your professional carrier as a designer. Umeà ¥ Institute of Design This university provides training of the specialists in the direction of industrial design and offers five academic programs for its students. To acquire a Bachelor degree at this university one needs to pass the three-year training program. The great advantage is that education in this university is free. The education is provided only in Swedish, which can be considered as a drawback. The university also offers three international programs for obtaining Master degree. Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design This institution is one of the biggest Swedish schools, which provides training in design, arts and crafts. Almost 900 students come at the university each year to receive Bachelor and Master degrees. This school has great educational and research facilities, numerous workshops, which enable students to develop their practical skills in painting, weaving, ceramics and sculpture. HDK School of Design and Crafts HDK School of Design and Crafts provides great opportunities of training. You can undertake a short or a long term course in the school, according to your needs and circumstances. The school arranges exhibitions all the time, where students can participate. And that is a great opportunity to present your works for the potential customers and to receive first experience while studying. They offer a PhD program in design and arts. All information about start time of the courses and time when you can enroll for them is available at their website. KKH Royal Institute of Art This school has a great number of Swedish students, but it also welcomes the students from other countries. Due to well-equipped workshops, they welcome also the students with disabilities. The institute offers one-year guest program in fine arts, three-year Bachelor program, two-year Master program and PhD program for their student. This school also offers such courses as Restoration Art, Architecture Art and Architecture. The institute directs their students to development of practical skills along with the research work, which is motivated by well-arranged educational facilities. Apparently, Swedish design schools represent a great training opportunity for those, who do not want just to admire beautiful things and pieces of art, but for those, who want to create them. If you want to make your mark within the interior design sphere, do your best to take care of the appropriate education, which will spread your wings of creativity and success.

Art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Art history - Essay Example The subject that is Madonna and child in Granacci’s painting are more real than that of Andrea. The first element that makes the painting real is the proportion of human physical features. The child in Granacci’s painting is short and stubby just like a child should be. The distance between his eyes and the nose seem more proportionate to the human size than in Andrea’s version of the child. In the second painting, the child’s leg does not resemble that of a child, it looks like an adult leg with the proportion of that of a child. The child’s stubby physique is not present in the legs and hands. The child’s eye has more color and depth in Granacci’s painting making the painting look more real. The mother in this painting also looks more real. Her physical features such as hands and the nose look more proportionate to that of a real person. In Andrà ©a’s painting, the mother’s hands are short and the artist created shadows on her

Donatello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Donatello - Essay Example Biography: Donatello Italy is world renowned for Renaissance art and Donatello (Florence) is one of the best examples of the same. Besides, his birth was in the year 1386. After formal education, Donatello decided to be a goldsmith and underwent training. Besides, the training at the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti helped him to realize that his field is art, not the work of a goldsmith. But he did not neglect the work as a goldsmith because it helped him to keep himself away from poverty. His deep interest in Roman architecture, especially the works by Filippo Brunelleschi, gradually attracted him towards sculpture. One can easily identify that both the artists (Donatello and Filippo Brunelleschi) revolutionized the field of sculpture and architecture in the 15th century. Donatello’s relationship with Lorenzo Ghiberti was so helpful to develop his interest in sculpture. For instance, Donatello worked as Lorenzo Ghiberti’s assistant at Florence Baptistery. Kleiner stated tha t â€Å"Donatello was also a pioneer in relief sculpture, the first to incorporate the principles of linear and atmospheric perspective, devices also employed brilliantly by Lorenzo Ghiberti in his Gates of Paradise for the Florence baptistery† (577). Lorenzo Ghiberti’s guidance helped Donatello to be free from the influence of Gothic Mannerism and to develop his own style in sculpture. Gradually, Donatello began to undertake independent works. For instance, Donatello work, bronze David proves his creativity in sculpture. Besides, this work helped Donatello to be famous in the field of sculpture, especially Renaissance sculpture. In the year 1450, Donatello completed another work in Padua, which is known as Gattamelata. This work is in the form of a statue, which deeply influenced the artists in Europe. Later in the year 1453, Donatello returned to his birthplace and began to undertake other works. His later works include St. John the Baptist and Martyrdom of St. Lawre nce. Donatello passed away in the year 1466. His body was buried in a large church in Florence, namely Basilica of San Lorenzo. Britannica Educational Publishing stated that â€Å"A good deal is known about Donatello’s life and career, but little is known about his character and personality, and what is known is not wholly reliable† (31). To be specific, Donatello’s deep interest and passion towards sculpture helped him to be one of the pioneers of early Renaissance in Italian sculpture. Ghiberti’s training helped Donatello to learn the basics of sculpture but he developed his own style in sculpture. For instance, Donatello developed his own style in sculpture, namely relief sculpture. His passion towards sculpture forced him to be in Rome and other places like Siena and Padua. This helped him to lead more about the scope of sculpture in Europe. Besides, Donatello was able to keep himself free from the influence of Gothic style of Mannerism. Within the co ntext of early Renaissance in Italian sculpture, Donatello’s name is most memorable because his sculptures represent the Renaissance spirit of the age. Analysis 1: Equestrian statue of Gattamelata The Equestrian statue of Gattamelata (see appendix-1) is a statue in Bronze by Donatello, which was commissioned in the year 1453. This sculpture, which acts the role of a landmark, is situated in Padua. This sculpture is interconnected with the history of Padua, especially the life history of condottiero Erasmo