A Combat of Warriors thumbnail 1
A Combat of Warriors thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On short term loan out for exhibition

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

A Combat of Warriors

Panel
1470-1500 (made)
Artist/Maker
Antonio Del Pollaiuolo (sculptor)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

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.


Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Panel
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Relief
  • Fragment
Titles
  • A Combat of Warriors (generic title)
  • Combat of Naked Men (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta in relief
Terracotta
Relief
Brief description
Panel relief, terracotta, 'Combat of Naked Men', ascribed to Pollaiuolo, Italy, Florence, late 15th century
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.
Dimensions
  • Height: 42.2cm
  • Width: 55cm
  • Depth: 5cm
  • Weight: 7.42kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Object history
Purchased from the Gigli-Campana Collection, £80.
Subjects depicted
Figures
Men
Dagger
Shield
Chain
Tree
Summary
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.
Bibliographic references
  • 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
  • Warren, Jeremy, Beauty & Power: Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino Collection, London, The Wallace Collection, 2010, exh. cat. pp. 47-48, fig. 5
  • Langdale, Shelley, Battle of the Nudes: Pollaiuolo's Renaissance Masterpiece, Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2002, cat. 21
  • Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, Detroit, Michigan : Founders Society, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1985, no. 69
  • Rubin, Particia Lee and Wright, Alison, Renaissance Florence: The Art of the 1470s, London : National Gallery Publications Ltd, 1999, no. 54
  • Bourmand, Marc; Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi and Francesca Tasso, Le Corps et L'Âme, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2020
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
7598:1,2-1861

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Record createdSeptember 25, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O167759/a-combat-of-warriors-panel-antonio-del-pollaiuolo/
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