This panel relief is attributed to Antonio de Pollaiuolo, made in Florence in 1470-1500.
The Florentine painter Antonio Pollaiuolo’s interest in the male nude in active poses was shared by many Renaissance artists. Prints of his engravings were widely distributed across Italy and Northern Europe, and the figures appeared in other works of art. The terracotta relief recalls elements of Pollaiuolo’s engraving. It might reflect a bronze relief which Pollaiuolo was said to have made for export to Spain.
Physical description
The twelve figures are disposed in pairs across two planes. In the foreground are (left) a male nude in right profile with dagger raised about to strike a seated nude holding a shield on the ground, (right centre) two standing nude figures with legs apart and right arms raised with shields on their left arms, apparently joined by a chain, (right) a bearded male nude about to strike a second nude lying on the ground. The background shows (left) a naked youth in left profile with right arm raised about to strike seated youth, (right) two fighting youths with daggers in their right hands and a chain in their left.
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
1470-1500 (made)
Artist/maker
Pollaiolo, Antonio del, born 1426 - died 1498 (ascribed to, sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Terracotta in relief
Dimensions
Height: 42.2 cm, Width: 55 cm, Depth: 5 cm, Weight: 7.42 kg
Object history note
Purchased from the Gigli-Campana Collection, £80.
Descriptive line
Panel relief, terracotta, 'Combat of Naked Men', ascribed to Pollaiuolo, Italy, Florence, late 15th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 28
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 171
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 154-156
Ettlinger, Leopold, D. Antonio and Piero Pollaiuolo. Oxford, 1978, pp.35, 166 (cat.no. 46), fig. 16
Wright, Alison. 'Dimensional Tension in the work of Antonio Pollaiuolo'. In: Curne, S. and Motture, P., eds.The Sculpted Object 1400-1700. Aldershot, 1977, p. 69, p. 77, n. 14
Exhibition History
Battle of the Nudes: Pollaiuolo's Renaissance Masterpiece (The Cleveland Museum of Art 25/08/2002-27/10/2002)
Renaissance Florence: The art of the 1470s. (National Gallery (London) 20/10/1999-16/01/2000)
Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the time of Donatello (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas 22/02/1086-27/04/1986)
Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the time of Donatello (Detroit Institute of Arts 23/10/1985-05/01/1986)
The Rival of Nature (National Gallery (London) 10/06/1975-28/09/1975)
Materials
Terracotta
Techniques
Relief
Subjects depicted
Men; Figures; Tree; Shield; Chain; Dagger
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
