Battle of Cascina (Michelangelo)
Encyclopedia
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
.
Origins
The painting was commissioned from Michelangelo by Piero SoderiniPiero Soderini
Piero di Tommaso Soderini also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the Republic of Florence.-Biography:...
, statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
of the Republic of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
. It was intended to be a fresco painted on a wall of the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio
The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, Romanesque, crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany...
. The opposite wall was to be decorated by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, who was commissioned to depict the Battle of Anghiari
The Battle of Anghiari (painting)
The Battle of Anghiari is a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci at times referred to as "The Lost Leonardo", which some commentators believe to be still hidden beneath later frescoes in the Hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence...
. The two battles were notable medieval Florentine victories. The Battle of Cascina
Battle of Cascina
The Battle of Càscina was an engagement between Pisan and Florentine troops on 28 July 1364 near Càscina, Italy. Florence's victory followed a recent defeat to Pisan forces that had enabled mercenary John Hawkwood, who was in command of the Pisan army, to travel the Valdinievole, Prato en route to...
was fought on 28 July 1364 between the troops of Florence and Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, resulting in victory of the former. A thousand Pisans were killed and two thousand more were captured.
Description
Michelangelo never completed the painting, but did produce a complete cartoonCartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
of the composition. The cartoon was copied by several artists, the most notable extant copy being by Michelangelo's pupil Sangallo. Some of Michelangelo's preparatory drawings also survive, along with prints of part of the scene by Marcantonio Raimondi
Marcantonio Raimondi
Marcantonio Raimondi, also simply Marcantonio, was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists mainly of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figure in the rise of the reproductive print...
. According to Michelangelo's biographer Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
the original cartoon was deliberately destroyed by Michelangelo's rival Bartolommeo Bandinelli
Bartolommeo Bandinelli
Bartolommeo Bandinelli, actually Bartolommeo Brandini , was a Renaissance Italian sculptor, draughtsman and painter.-Biography:...
because of his jealousy of its fame.
Michelangelo depicted a scene at the beginning of the battle when the Florentine army was initially taken by surprise when the Pisans attacked. He depicts Florentine soldiers bathing naked in the river Arno
Arno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.- Source and route :The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve...
responding to a trumpet which warns them of the sudden Pisan attack. As the soldiers emerge from the river and buckle on their armour, they are threatened by shots from the Pisans. Several soldiers look or point towards the Pisan position to the left. One soldier has apparently been hit and fallen back into the river, while others leap energetically into action.
The chosen episode allowed Michelangelo to depict his favoured topic: the naked male figure in varieties of contrapposto
Contrapposto
Contrapposto is an Italian term that means counterpose. It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed...
.
See also
- Battle of AnghiariThe Battle of Anghiari (painting)The Battle of Anghiari is a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci at times referred to as "The Lost Leonardo", which some commentators believe to be still hidden beneath later frescoes in the Hall of Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence...
- Lost painting of Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...