The Battle of Anghiari

On the 29th of June 1449, on the plains to the east of Anghiari, one of the most famous battles of the 15th century in Italy took place.

The Duchy of Milan, ruled by the Visconti, fought against a coalition led by Florence and included the Papal State and Venice. The Army of Milan, led by Niccolò Piccinino was outnumbered and was defeated. The result of this battle changed the balance of power in Valtiberina and, as Niccolò Machiavelli pointed out, in Tuscany and Italy for the years to come. On the place where the battle was fought, an aedicule, called “Our Lady of Victory”, was erected and today the “Palio della Vittoria” is held every year to remember that day.

In 1503, the echo of that victory was strong and Pier Soderini, gonfalonier of the Republic for life, commissioned to Leonardo da Vinci a big painting for a whole room of the “Salone dei 500” (Hall of 500) in Palazzo Vecchio in order to remember the victory. On another wall of the room, Michelangelo Buonarroti painted the “Battle of Cascina”.

Leonardo worked there from 1503 to 1506. The preparatory design kept him busy for a whole year. To do this work of art, the genius used some new techniques that did not work properly. He used an oil painting technique similar to encaustic painting, lighting big fires to drain the fresco with the help of his coworkers but the paint was unstable and the heat greatly damaged the fresco. Disheartened by the failure and busy with other projects, da Vinci abandoned this project. The “Battle of Anghiari”, to this day, is one of the most well-known and unsolved mysteries in art history. In spite of the advanced technologies used that gave an unfortunate result, some people say that the little parts that were spared from the failure, like the central scene with the “fight for the flag” are now hidden under the fresco painted by Giorgio Vasari between 1557 and 1563 at the time of the restoration of Palazzo Vecchio. Surely, we still have the studies and the preparatory drawings and also some copies made by other artists when the painting was still visible or the paper drawing, which nowadays is lost, was around. Among the most known copies are the one made in the early 1600s by Pieter Paul Rubens and the one made during the second half of the 1500s, called “Tavola Doria” attributed to Francesco Morandini.
The Museum of the Battle and of Anghiari, placed inside the Marzocco Palace in Mameli square, in Anghiari, tells the history of the battle and the history of the lost painting through the testimonies both of the historical event and the artistic one. Among the works of art that are in the museum, there is a copy of the “Battle of Anghiari” painted by the Flemish painter Gerard Edelinck. The museum also tells the history of the hamlet from prehistory to the present.

Francesco Morandini, Tavola Doria (1563?) Uffizi Galleries, Florence

Anonymous 16th century and Pieter Paul Rubens, Copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Battle of Anghiari, Louvre, Paris

Leonardo da Vinci, head of Niccolò Piccinino, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503) Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Leonardo da Vinci, Head of a Knight, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503) Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Leonardo da Vinci, Brawl between knights, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503) Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice

Leonardo da Vinci, Knights with Standards, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503); Windsor, Royal Library

Leonardo da Vinci, Brawl between knights, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503) Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice

Leonardo da Vinci, Fighting knights, study for the Battle of Anghiari (c. 1503); Windsor, Royal Library