The Battle of Anghiari

Ashley Holsomback

The Battle of Anghiari is a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci done in 1505. It depicts the Battle of Anghiari in 1440 with a central focus on four men riding horses battling over a battle standard. 

In 1504 Leonardo was commissioned by Piero Soderini to decorate the Hall of Five Hundred. At the same time, Michelangelo was commissioned to do the wall opposite. This was the only time the two worked on a project together. Michelangelo didn't stay in Florence long enough to finish his piece. Leonardo drew his large cartoon depicting a violent clash of horses and men as they battle for the flag. 

Leonardo built a scaffold that could be raised or folded like an accordion. This was supposed to be his grandest painting due to his misfortune with fresco paintings like the Last Supper. He wanted to just add oil paint to the wall. He began with a thick undercoat that might have been mixed with wax. After the paint was applied, the paint started to drip. In an attempt to save the painting and make it dry faster he put huge braziers close to it. The only parts that turned out right was the lower part and the rest of the paints intermixed. He then abandoned the project. 

The pair of paintings were left up until 1512 and numerous copies were done. The hall was later expanded and repainted. The picture above is Peter Paul Ruben's copy which is mostly likely a copy of a copy because his painting was done in 1603.

Rediscovery

In early 2007, the city council of Florence gave the okay to do further research to see if the painting was still there. The drilled small holes into the existing Vasari work and found an air pocket. In March 2012, it was announced that Leonardo's piece was in fact there behind the cavity in the wall. They found pigments of black paint that matches that of the Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist. 

The research has excited many but also upset just as same because of damage being done to Vasari's work. It is believed that Vasari would never have painted over a Leonardo and that he tried preserving it. With research being halted in September 2012, it's hard to say what's truly there. 

On Vasari's painting Battle of Marciano, the banner reads, Seek and Ye Shall Find.