The Battle of San Romano

The Battle of San Romano is a set of three paintings by the painter Paolo Uccello depicting events that took place at the battle of San Romano in 1432. The three paintings are:
* "Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano" (probably about 1438-1440), egg tempera with walnut oil and linseed oil on poplar, 182 x 320 cm, National Gallery, London.National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume 1, by Dillian Gordon, 2003, pp. 378-397 ISBN 1857092937]
* "Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino unseats Bernardino della Ciarda at the Battle of San Romano" (dating uncertain, about 1435 to 1455), tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
* "The Counterattack of Michelotto da Cotignola at the Battle of San Romano" (about 1455), wood panel, 182 x 317 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Uffizi panel was probably designed to be the central painting of the triptych and is the only one signed by the artist. The sequence most widely agreed among art historians is: London, Uffizi, Louvre, although others have been proposed. They may represent different times of day: dawn (London), mid-day (Paris) and dusk (Uffizi) - the battle lasted eight hours.

In the London painting, Niccolò da Tolentino, with his large gold and red patterned hat, is seen leading the Florentine cavalry. In the foreground, broken lances and a dead soldier are carefully aligned, so as to create an impression of perspective.

The three paintings were designed to be hung high on three different walls of a room, and the perspective designed with that height in mind, which accounts for many apparent anomalies in the perspective when seen in photos or at normal gallery height.

The armour of the soldiers, and many other areas, were painted using silver leaf, which has now oxidized to a dull grey or black; the original impression of the burnished silver would have been dazzling. All of the paintings, especially the Louvre one, have suffered from time and early restoration, and many areas have lost their modelling.

Provenance

The three panels were commissioned by the Bartolini Salimbeni family. After the death in 1479 of the head of the family they were so coveted by Lorenzo de' Medici that he had them forcibly removed to the Medici palace at Florence, probably in 1484. They are recorded at the Palazzo Medici in an inventory of 1492. The three paintings remained in the Medici (by now Grand-Dukes of Tuscany) collection until the late 18th century. The London painting was bought by dealers from another Italian collection in 1844, and bought by the National Gallery in 1857. The Louvre painting was one of many looted by Napoleon that were never returned; he is reputed to have hung it in his bathroom.

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