DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61668#0328
212
POLLAIUOLO
strongest resemblance to Antonio’s, although the
vanquished knight is replaced by the trunk of a tree.
The rider, standing stiffly upright in his stirrups, the
arm outstretched with the baton of command, as well
as the details of the armour, are precisely similar. In
his later designs Leonardo changed the rearing horse
to one pacing tranquilly, possibly influenced by the
success of the Colleoni statue, which had meantime
been completed.* Antonio’s drawing was supposed to
be one of the many designs of Leonardo, until Morelli
ascribed it to its true author, f It is treated in the
same decorative manner as the “ Prisoner before the
Judge” and the Wilton House nudes, the figure being
relieved against a dark background of sepia wash. The
horse is inferior in energy to the rider, whose gesture is
superb. As a portrait it is excellent, if one may judge
by its resemblance to the medal by Pisanello struck in
1441. There is strong reminiscence of Castagno’s
Tolentino in the general conception and the attitude
of the rider, but in build the horse recalls rather those
of Paolo Uccello. In effect the group is noble and
majestic, but it is easy to see that Antonio had studied
equine less than human anatomy. The hind quarters
are poorly constructed, and the legs too short, while
the action is spiritless and even clumsy. The finest
* Leonardo began the statue and put it aside for some years.
He recommenced it in 1490, as we learn from his own words, “ A
di 23 d’aprile 1490 . . . ricominciai il Cavallo ” (see Richter,
'• Leonardo da Vinci,” ii. p. 14.) The statue was never cast and the
model was destroyed by the French in 1500.
t Morelli, Italian Painters,” ii. p. 116.
POLLAIUOLO
strongest resemblance to Antonio’s, although the
vanquished knight is replaced by the trunk of a tree.
The rider, standing stiffly upright in his stirrups, the
arm outstretched with the baton of command, as well
as the details of the armour, are precisely similar. In
his later designs Leonardo changed the rearing horse
to one pacing tranquilly, possibly influenced by the
success of the Colleoni statue, which had meantime
been completed.* Antonio’s drawing was supposed to
be one of the many designs of Leonardo, until Morelli
ascribed it to its true author, f It is treated in the
same decorative manner as the “ Prisoner before the
Judge” and the Wilton House nudes, the figure being
relieved against a dark background of sepia wash. The
horse is inferior in energy to the rider, whose gesture is
superb. As a portrait it is excellent, if one may judge
by its resemblance to the medal by Pisanello struck in
1441. There is strong reminiscence of Castagno’s
Tolentino in the general conception and the attitude
of the rider, but in build the horse recalls rather those
of Paolo Uccello. In effect the group is noble and
majestic, but it is easy to see that Antonio had studied
equine less than human anatomy. The hind quarters
are poorly constructed, and the legs too short, while
the action is spiritless and even clumsy. The finest
* Leonardo began the statue and put it aside for some years.
He recommenced it in 1490, as we learn from his own words, “ A
di 23 d’aprile 1490 . . . ricominciai il Cavallo ” (see Richter,
'• Leonardo da Vinci,” ii. p. 14.) The statue was never cast and the
model was destroyed by the French in 1500.
t Morelli, Italian Painters,” ii. p. 116.