Battle of Anghiari

the wall to the right is devoted to the war in Siena and is subject to a famous mystery it is 1505 the hall is still under Savonarola's influence lo simple and severe here we find two great artists at work on the one hand the young Michelangelo fresh from the success of the David and on the other the wise Leonardo they have been called to celebrate two important Florentine victories according to the wishes of gonfaloniere Pierre Cellini Michelangelo's task is to paint the Battle of Cascina which took place in 1364 during which the Florentines after a surprise attack by pisa managed to thwart the attack and turn the tide of war leonardo must instead immortalize the moment when the Florentine troops managed to wrest the coat of arms from the Milanese army at an GRE in 1440 michelangelo prepares his sketch but is then called by the Pope to go to Rome Leonardo begins to paint the central scene of the story a group of horses who are fighting for a flag but he cannot use the fresco technique it requires speed and readiness which is opposite to his work method he decides to experiment with encaustic an ancient roman technique in which the colors mixed with wax are applied with fire the experiment is doomed to fail the painting begins to drip rapidly and nothing holds leonardo abandons the project but leaves a group of horses and men that is miraculous so much so that 10 years later in 1513 a protective structure made of wood is put in place a covering so that the painting is not ruined we do not know how much of it Leonardo painted or if Giorgio Vasari committed to transforming the whole preserved what survived leaving a space between one wall in another it is an ongoing investigation and the mystery should one day be revealed what is certain is that the two works although unfinished were for many years a reference for all artists as benvenuto cellini says while they stood there they were the school of the world

Channel: Crossmedia Group

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Id: a6ciqeuNwLY

Length: 2min 36sec (156 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 08 2020