The Spring 1999 Issue is now available To Order:
LEONARDO'S
LOST HORSE
The Odyssey of Il Cavallo
by Beatrice Walker |
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Powerfully standing 24 feet in height, Leonardo da Vinci's legendary horse, Il
Cavallo, was conceived to be the world's largest equestrian bronze sculpture ever
created. Commissioned in 1482 by Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, to execute the
monument in memory of his father, Francesco Sforza, Leonardo worked on it for many years,
during which, as can be seen in his sketches, he constantly changed its design. His
notebooks also reveal that, while working on the horse, he was elaborating revolutionary
new techniques for large-scale bronze casting, including methods for controlling
temperature in furnaces, adding tin to copper, and hastening the melting process. In
fact, he wanted his horse to be cast in one piece, modifying the traditional casting
process. |
| The casting never occurred. According to some sources, the massive clay
model of Il Cavallo, which measured 12 braccia (about 24 feet), was displayed in
the main courtyard of the ducal palace in Milan in 1493- to the acclaim of court poets
whose verses at the time praised its magnificence. But with war on the horizon, the
bronze intended for casting Il Cavallo was sent off to make cannons as French
troops approached the city. It is said that, after the French entered Milan in
September 1499, they used the clay model for archery practice and that it was eventually
destroyed. 
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