In a single year at the turn of the 16th century, three titans of the Italian Renaissance briefly crossed paths while competing for the attention of the most powerful patrons in Republican Florence. In 1504, the city’s prominent artists came together to advise on an appropriate location for Michelangelo’s sculpture David. Among them was Leonardo da Vinci, who―like Michelangelo―had only recently returned to his native Florence. David was placed outside the Palazzo Vecchio, inside which da Vinci was planning a painting of the Battle of Anghiari for a council chamber wall. In short order, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint The Battle of Cascina on the opposite side of the room, creating a showdown between the city’s celebrated sons. Although neither painting ultimately came to fruition, this flurry of conspicuous commissions was witnessed by a promising young painter: none other than Raphael.
In this beautifully designed book, Scott Nethersole and Per Rumberg take the Royal Academy’s celebrated Taddei Tondo by Michelangelo as a starting point, and from there turn to such treasures as Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon and studies by Leonardo and Michelangelo for their dueling battle murals. These pivotal works examine the rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo, and the influence of both artists on Raphael. Buona lettura!