The ''Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino'' (1456) is a

fresco painting Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...

by the early-

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

master

Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an Italian painter from Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone. His works include frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and the painte ...

, in

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. On the left internal wall of the church, it is next to the earlier fresco '' Equestrian Statue of John Hawkwood'' by

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italians, Italian (Florentine) Florentine painting, painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. ...

(1436).

Description

The work is a fresco painted in monochrome to emulate a marble

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

. The condottiero, the Italian

Niccolò da Tolentino Niccolò Mauruzzi (or Mauruzi), best known as Niccolò da Tolentino ( – March 20, 1435) was an Italian condottiero. Biography A member of the Mauruzi della Stacciola family of Tolentino, he fled from that city in 1370 after a dispute with his ...

is depicted riding his horse, standing on a classical pedestal painted in

geometrical perspective Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...

, and flanked by two nude men with coat of arms. The horse and the rider are painted in a different perspective than the pedestal. The horse (differently from the species' walking pattern) is portrayed while raising both left legs. It is a large and massive animal, inspired by the head of the ancient ''Riccardi Horse'' and to

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...

's ''

Equestrian statue of Gattamelata ''The Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata'' is an Italian Renaissance sculpture by Donatello, dating from 1453, today in the Piazza del Santo in Padua, Italy. It portrays the condottiero Erasmo da Narni, known as "Gattamelata", who served mostly u ...

'', a prototype of Renaissance equestrian statues. Andrea del Castagno had studied this earlier statue through drawings, never visiting its location in the city of

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. As in Donatello's sculpture, the condottiero stares down the onlooker, to emphasize his power, command and determination in battle. The elegant hat and the flittering cloak area examples of the increasing taste for fine decorative elements in Florentine art, in contrast with the more austere fresco of

John Hawkwood Sir John Hawkwood ( 1323 – 17 March 1394) was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or '' condottiero'' in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in ...

by Uccello completed some 30 years earlier.Uccello's use of horsemen in paintings is also on display in his painting of the

Battle of San Romano The Battle of San Romano was fought on 1 June 1432, in San Romano, some 30 miles outside Florence,Private Life of a Masterpiece, BBC TV between the troops of Florence, commanded by Niccolò da Tolentino, and Siena, under Francesco Piccinino. ...

. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

inscriptions reads:

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Equestrian Statue of Niccolo da Tolentino 1456 paintings Paintings by Andrea del Castagno Fresco paintings in Florence Florence Cathedral Monuments and memorials in Florence