FLORENTINE, EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The present sculpture has been examined with x-radiography which revealed that it is solid cast. This is important evidence of its origin since Renaissance statuettes in Padua and Venice were hollow cast, whereas Florentine bronzes were solid cast until the second half of the sixteenth century. The stylistic evidence as well points to Florence. The pose of the horse, with both the right foreleg and left hindleg raised, is one which Leonardo da Vinci favored in his designs for the Francesco Sforza Monument, a project the artist began planning around 1481. Indeed, eight extant drawings by Leonardo for the monument show a horse in a stance identical to that of the present statuette. Furthermore, the mane of the horse was copied directly from the Bartolomeo Colleoni Monument in Venice, which Leonardo's teacher, Andrea del Verrocchio, designed in the early 1480s (completed by Alessandro Leopardi in 1496). In the monument as in the statuette, the mane is swept over to the left side of the neck and falls in long beautiful curling locks. The mane was one of the distinctive features of Verrocchio's sculpture; there was no precedent for it in any equestrian monument. Models and drawings by Verocchio and Leonardo were highly prized by Florentine artists, and it is probable that the present statuette was made by an artist working directly under their influence. The casting is of extremely high quality and the bronze is nearly entirely free of porosity. These facts suggest that the piece was made in the early 16th century, not the 15th century. The chasing of the bronze is also of extraordinarily fine detail and this too points to a date in the sixteenth century, not before. Although the artist cannot be named at present, there is no doubt that he was a distinguished master.

There is a bit in the mouth of the statuette. This possibly may indicate that the horse originally bore a separately cast rider on its back. Several comparable works are known, for example, Riccio's Shouting Horseman, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Riders of this kind were normally dressed in all'antica clothing.

The horse is clearly a destriero, the type favored by military leaders for battle. These horses had to be both strong and nimble. It was for this reason that they were relatively broad in the chest and short in the body. Likewise, both Donatello's Gattamelata and Verrocchio's Bartolomeo Colleoni are shown riding horses of this kind.