Italian, North, 'A Battle', probably 1530s

A Battle

Italian, North

Not on display

About the work

Overview

An unidentified battle rages before a mountainous landscape. The picture may be a later copy of one of the lost frescoes by Piero della Francesca in the ducal palace in Ferrara. Leonello d’Este (1407–1450), Marquis of Ferrara, appears to be portrayed in profile at bottom left, suggesting that he may have commissioned the frescoes.

There is another possibly related battle scene in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, which is of a similar size but lesser quality than the National Gallery’s painting. The costumes in both pictures point to a date in the 1530s but other details seem to reflect an earlier style. The paintings were probably both produced around Dosso Dossi’s workshop in Ferrara, but possibly not by the same artist. They may represent scenes of ancient history or exploits of the house of Este associated with French chivalric legends.

In-depth

A battle rages before a mountainous landscape. There is no clue to which battle is represented, although the figure on a white horse in the foreground appears to be playing a leading part. It has been suggested that this picture may be a later copy of one of the lost frescoes by Piero della Francesca painted in the ducal palace in Ferrara. By the time Vasari visited Ferrara in 1541 or 1542 the frescoes were no longer visible, probably having been destroyed during works to modernise the palace undertaken by Duke Ercole d’Este. There is no record of the subject of the frescoes.

Leonello d’Este (1407–1450), Marquis of Ferrara, appears to be portrayed in profile at the bottom left of the National Gallery’s painting, suggesting that he may have commissioned the frescoes. It was common at the time for the patron of a painting to be portrayed in it. His appearance can be compared with Giovanni da Oriolo’s Portrait of Leonello d’Este and seems to be derived from Pisanello’s portrait of him in the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.

There is another possibly related battle scene in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, which is of a similar size but lesser quality than the National Gallery’s painting. The two battles are hand-to-hand combats with closely interwoven figures of men and horses. Both paintings include fifteenth-century elements in the compositions but other stylistic elements that suggest they were painted by an artist from sixteenth-century Ferrara. The costumes suggest a date in the 1530s but the presence of Leonello d’Este and other details seem to reflect an earlier style. The paintings were probably both produced around the workshop of Dosso Dossi at Ferrara, but possibly not by the same artist.

The central figure on the white horse and the group of warriors in the middle distance resemble the style of Piero della Francesca, although the Walters Art Gallery regards the idea that these are copies of Piero’s frescoes as unconvincing. The horses in the panels are also so close to those of Uccello in the panels of The Battle of San Romano of 1457 that the Baltimore painting was once attributed to him. The foreshortened horse seen from the rear is also an element common to the work of Pisanello, and the rearing horse is similar to those found on antique coins. The Baltimore and London paintings also reveal the influence of French miniatures.

The paintings may have represented scenes of ancient history or exploits of the house of Este associated with chivalric legends. An inventory of the 279 manuscripts at the Este Library in Ferrara in 1436 records that 58 of them were French chivalric romances. Ferrara is particularly associated with chivalric literature derived from the old French Chanson de Roland. The black Saracen in the Baltimore painting suggests that the subject may relate to the legend of Roland (Orlando in Italian). It has also been suggested that the London painting may be related to the story of Scipio Africanus, and the Baltimore work to the story of Hannibal.

Key facts

Details

Full title: A Battle
Artist: Italian, North
Date made: probably 1530s
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 71.1 × 94.6 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1879
Inventory number: NG1062
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: William Benoni White

Provenance

In the possession of W. Benoni White, by 1863 at latest; purchased at his sale, 23 May, 1879 (lot 81).

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1901

E. Jacobsen, 'Italienische Gemälde in der National Galerie zu London: Kritische Notizen zum Katalog von 1898', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XXIV, 1901
1931

A. Morassi, 'The Other Painter of Malpaga', The Burlington Magazine, LVIII/336, 1931, pp. 118-29
1934

G. Pudelko, 'The Early Works of Paolo Uccello', Art Bulletin, XVI/3, 1934, pp. 231-59
1941

J. Lauts, 'Zu Piero die Franceschis verlorenen Fresken in Ferrara', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 1941, pp. 67-72
1951

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
1953

J. Lauts, 'A Note on Piero della Francesca's Lost Ferrara Frescoes', The Burlington Magazine, XCV/602, 1953, pp. 166-7
1961

M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
1968

A.K. Loss, 'The "Black" Figure in the Baltimore Copy of Piero della Francesca's Lost Ferrara Frescoes', L'arte, 1968, pp. 98-106
1976

F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976
1979

M. Salmi, La pittura di Piero della Francesca, Novara 1979
1979

V.I. Stoichita, 'Deux œuvres ferraraises au Musée d'Art de la République Socialiste de Roumanie', Revue roumaine d'histoire de l'art, 1979, pp. 65-79
1984

M. Laclotte, 'Il ritratto di Sigismondo Malatesta di Piero della Francesca', in Piero della Francesca a Rimini. L'affresci nel Tempio Malatestiano, Bologna 1984, pp. 75-102
1986

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
1992

E. Battisti, Piero della Francesca, Milan 1992
1992

R. Lightbown, Piero della Francesca, New York 1992
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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You've viewed 6 of 13 works

Italian, North, 'A Battle', probably 1530s

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Italian, North