Famous Paintings Reviewed

Famous Paintings: The Battle of San Romano

One of the most famous paintings in Renaissance art is Paolo Uccello's triptych, The Battle of San Romano.  Born Paolo di Dono, he was nicknamed Uccello (Italian for "bird") because he frequently sketched them. His Battle of San Romano was painted on three panels now located in the National Gallery, Uffizi, and Louvre.  Together, they depict the legendary (but bloodless) battle of 1432 between Florence and Siena.  The 

 

 

Tempera on wood panel, approx. 6' x 10'7".  National Gallery, London.

onset of the skirmish is depicted on the London panel (above). Here, the Sienese have ambushed the Florentine commander, Niccolo da Tolentino, and his force of twenty horsemen. Greatly outnumbered, the Florentines held their enemy at bay for eight hours until reinforcements arrived and vanquished the Sienese.  

This panel is renowned as a tour de force of pageantry, of battle imagery, and of Uccello's introduction of one point (linear) perspective into Renaissance art. The broken lances on the ground form receding lines, or orthogonals, which converge on a fixed vanishing point.  Note that the prone soldier is conveniently aligned on an orthogonal (and that no blood sullies the scene, in spite of the gaping hole piercing his armor!)  The vanishing point, located by the horse's head, creates an illusion of depth; along with Niccolo's red and gold headdress and rearing white horse, they compel the viewer to focus on the pivotal and heroic figure. 

Niccolo was a condottiere, or professional mercenary, and a confidant of the Medici.  One can identify him immediately by his personal insignia, the knot of Solomon; this "knot of eternity" is shown on the banner held aloft by the bare-headed standard bearer. The battle is waged in the foreground space, with the middle ground blanketed by hedges of roses, oranges and pomegranates, all fertility symbols. In the distant cultivated fields, other warriors prepare crossbows.

In the center panel housed in the Uffizi (below), Bernadino della

Tempera on wood panel, approx. 6' x 10'9"

Ciarda, the leader of the Sienese mercenaries, is struck by a lance and knocked from his horse. The crux of the battle shows Bernadino sprawled on the ground to the right of the painting's central axis.  The final panel at the Louvre - and the last temporally - depicts Niccolo aiding the Florentine mercenary, Michelotto da Cotignola, as they counterattack the Sienese across the Arno river.

Tempera on wood panel, approx. 6' x 10' 7".  Musee National du Louvre.

Art historians have long contended that this masterpiece of Renaissance art was commissioned by Piero de Medici for the newly constructed Medici Palace.  However, Marilyn Stokstad, author of Art History, suggests these famous paintings were commissioned instead by Lionardo Bartolini Salimbeni (1404-1479). Although his heir and son, Damiano, filed a complaint stating that Lorenzo de' Medici "forcibly removed" these masterpieces, none was returned to Damiano - an "in palace" inventory of 1492 records that all three works hung on the walls of Lorenzo's private quarters in the Medici Palace.  

Most famous paintings are best appreciated in person (the Google Earth foray into the Prado is close to an exception) but this is especially true for London's panel of The Battle. The raised gold decorations on the harnesses are actually embossed in gold; their sculptural effect reminds you that Paolo Uccello apprenticed with Lorenzo Ghiberti. More significantly, Uccello designed these works to be hung above eye level, or approximately 7 feet from the ground.  In person, it is apparent that Niccolo's arm and horse were intended to be viewed from below rather than at eye level. Regardless of how they are hung, though, The Battle of San Romano deserves its status as one of the most famous paintings of the world.

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