8. The Process of the Nagoya City Sforza Reconstruction
After Leonardo's model for the Sforza horse had been destroyed by French troops, the original form of this, the largest equestrian monument in the world, was lostirretrievably; (1) Despite the absence of the original work, its inimitable form And size should be studied, Leonardo devoted himself to this work for over a decade and the bronze had been set aside for casting; as we know; Ludo-＼iico Sforza sent it aw-ay for making a cannon. The history of the horse's creation, propagandistic associations, and destruction is very revealing of the relationship between art and politics, as others have explained already; I would like to speak not of these issues: but of others.
In June 1989, a full-scale reconstruction of the Sforza Monument(see color fig.4' 5), whose execution I conceived and directed, was unveiled in Nagoya City Japan. Four major issues that emerged from this recreation will be addressed in this chapter. First, I will discuss how the final form of the Nagoya City horse itself is based on Leonardo's own conception as expressed in the Ma@id Codex and other of his drawings. Second, the difference between the Sforza and Trivu.lzio monuments will be elucidated. Third, I will discuss the cider of the Nagoya City reconstruction and its source in the art of Verrocchio and ~'the young Leonardo. Finally the technical aspects of recreating this monument through computer simulation and the selection of the synthetic FRI] rather than bronze:, as our material -will be explained,
The conception of the Nagoya City reconstruction is based on relevant drawings in the second of the Madrid Codex. Folio 157 verso introduces these with the sentence "A sera 17 di magio 1491, qui si fard ricordi di tucto quelle cose le quail fieno al proposito del cava1lo di bronze del. quale al j)resente sono in opera:)" that is, "On the evening of 17 May 1491. Here will be kept a record of all those things which will be relevant to the horse of bronze at present under execution. (2) These seventeen folios are critical to reconstructing the Sforza Monument> as we have done in Nagoya City Indeed, the drawings concern only this monument, and are unambiguous in explaining Leonardo*s intentions.
On the recto of folio 157 [fig.6-15), there is the famous' head trellised for casting in bronze. The lifted head is that of a rearing horse, such as that found in Leonardo's drawing at Windsor, 12358, revealing the active conception that was to animate the monument [fig.6-8). By folio 151v (fig.6-1.7), be had changed the horse and redefined his notion of the statue. Instead of rearing:, the horse walks
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and raises its head. The letter of 22 July 1489 to Lorenz~o de'Medici reqi.1esting one or two sculptors to cast the enormous bronze horse ridden by Duke Francesco in full armor; may have been written in the intervening years. [3) It is my opinion that this letter signifies Ludovico's fear that Leonardo's rearing horse would have been impossible to cast in bronze. On 23 April 1490, Leonardo took up work on the horse again. (4) Most scholars believe that Leonardo changed the horse's form, having accepted the more realizable walking stance. This presumption may not be correct, because there are two types of horses in the manuscripts after 17 Allay 1491. On folio 157r (fig.6-15), Leonardo dre-w a rearing horse, its head trellised for casting. On folio l51v (Rg.6-17), he changed the posture of the horse again, showing it walking. In my opinion, Leonardo conceived this walking type during the year 1491.
On folio 149:r; the walking horse is found again, but reversed from 151v; the bron~ze had to be poured and cast in the ground. The horse is walking and has the same profile as that of 147r; which shows the identical stance. The consistency between the two drawings suggests the definitive form of the horse for the Sforza Monument. The left front leg and back right leg are raised. On. folio 149!; the horse is seen from above, where the left and right legs are positioned differently From this perspective, it is difficult to orient the drawing and read it properly However;, the profiles of the horses are the same and reveal Leonardo's final conception.. (5)
What is the difference between the Sforza and Trivulzio monuments, the latter of whose execution was planned about twenty years later?[6) - The horses on folio 179v of the Codex Atlanticus are the major source for our knowledge of the Trivulzio Monument's form; their appearance coincides with drawings of horses preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.(7) These show the two types seen in the drawings for the Sforza Moriument. The rearing horse is seen in Windsor 12365; the second, a -walking horse, is illustrated in Windsor 12356. Although one horse rears up and the other is walking, in both cases, the horse's head is bent to its neck. In the case of the Sforza Monument horse, though the head is held high, while that of the Trivulzio horse is lowered. In Windsor 12356r (fig.6-11), Leonardo drew the Regisole of Pavia, whose head is identical to that of the Trivulzio horse.(8) The most beautiful of these equine drawings, and the one most similar to the horse of the Sforza Monument, is that of Windsor 12321r;, drawn in silverpoint (fig.6-25). Upon initial examination, it appears that the horse is standing, but the rear legs reveal that the animal is walking; Leonardo has omitted the front, left leg in his drawing of the horse's lower body on the right of the sheet. This type of horse can be found in the drawings of this early period, which, as Kenneth Clark has indicated, may be dated on the basis of the descriptions and writing style.(9) The form of the horse corroborates this dating.
Windsor 12348 was written to explain the casting of the hox:se (fig.6-34). It sho-ws a section plan similar to that of the Sforza Monument horse. Windsor 12350 also is typical of this period, its style similar to that of folios 143v-and 144r
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of the Madrid Codex. The h.arsels form is identica]. to that of the S.fo.rza ?V!:onument. Windsor 12317 belongs to the earlier period with respect to its style. In !:he corner of the sheet, there is a small sketch of a horse, simple and quickly drawn, that appears to have been executed from memory after the Sforza Monu:in.ent horse.
Another drawing on the casting Windsor 12347, is considered by many scholars to reflect Leonardols plans for ei[her of the two equestrian monuments.(10) Clark thought that this was made for the Trivulzio MIonument, Because the drawing style and calligraphy belong to this earlier period. (H) This observation Is supported by the horses draw-n for the Trivulzio Monument, w-hose heads are inclined toward their necks.(12)
The same form of the horse for the Sforza Monun-lent is found among i:he drawings of the Trivulzio Monument. V＼findsor~ 12342 shows twe large and three small horses. Each one is different except for the legs. The upper part of the sheet is interesting in this respect> ~for the horses' heads are lifted, like those of the Sforza Monument horse. At the same time:. the horse on the right show-s a low-area head. These probably represent a transitional stage between the two monuments. The small horse on the left of the sheet is very important to reconstructing the finished starue> for here the rider is added.
Leonardo represented the horse without a rider in the Madrid Codex, but since his patron wanted an equestrian statue w-ith Francesco Sforza armed as a knight, the artist must have prepared a drawing of this conception. From the first stage of this projects Leonardo always drew a mounted horse. Windsor 12358:r shows a nucle, holding a baton and fuming back, atop a' horse (fig.6-8). The horse's stride corresponds to that of the small w-diking horse of Wincisor 12342, considered a drawing for the Sforza Monument. The maunted rider commands the soldiers behind him to advance; turning toward them with his baton. The
same gesture also can be found in three other Windsor drawings, 12344v; 12359, and 12360. In all these cases> the rideris mantle is blowing in the wind. This consistent rendering in mv opinion, signifies that Leonardo always had the same conception before him: clearly; he did not need to repeat the figure each time. He vy-as preoccupied totally with rhe casting of the monument during that period.
Leonardo knew about bronze sculpture from his years in Verrocchiors workshop. Leonardo was a member of his shop w~hen the competition for the Colleoni was announced in l479> and when its clay model was completed in ;i.481.(13) His involvement with this work (fig.6-l-a.) greatly influenced his conception for the Sforza Monument, Colleonils head> for example; resembles his profile of a warrior as rec6rded in~ @ British Museum drawing, and the horse itself recalls one standing beneath the broicen arch of the Uffizi Adoration of the Magi and of two Windsor cirawings, 12287r and l2327r.
VJas t1).e ziderts j:ace in the Sforza NIonument modeled after a portrait af Francesco Sforza? There are nvo drawings by Pollaiuolo> preiumably for the competition for the Sforza Monument that he was not awarded, that are portraits of Francesco. A gold medallion iri the National Gallery of Art, ~＼lYashington, shows
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his profile (14) and reveals that he was bald:, his blunt features> like those of a Deasa.rit, endearing him. to the people. (15) There are no portraits of the dictator among Leonardo's drawings.. As for the Colleorzi, tb.e "portrait'' is likely to be an idealized rather than a true image. Indeed, the detai!ed representation of a man,
, the right side of his chest superimposed by a quickly sketched lion's head, in Windsor l2502r suggests CoHeoni's appearance and temperame-nt. Leonardo seems to suggest that the warrior is bellicose and fierce like a lion. This same type ~appears in Colleonils face, in the visages of the soldiers in the now lost fresco of the Batt-le o/ Arzghiarj in t!-)e Pajazzo Vecc;j-1_;io of Florence, <16) and in the armed soldier in Verrocchio's Belzeading qf the Baptist, now in the Opera del Duomo,
Florence..{: 17.)
Perhaps this last-named work is in part by Leonardo,.who was in
＼)errocchio's shop during the reliefs execution; it should be noted that the deco;!.:ation af the warrior's armor resembles that of Windsor 12370v in which a lion's head is reoresented on the shoulder of the breastplate.
The Nagoya City equestrian monument w-as based on the analyses just outlined. Of course, the statue cannot be reconstructed precisely as Leonardo w-auld have wanted it, but an approximation can be assayed. Verrocchio's Colleoni may be .(.ised to reconstruct tb.e general appearance and surface of the stative. Because of the enormous weight and size of -the statl-J@, t:he statue would had to
have been supported on a simple, low base.
Luca Pacioli, wtlo saw- Leonardo's clay model, recorded its height as 12 braccia, (18) md approximately 7.2 meters or 24 _feet, in my reckoning, as Leonardo himself wrote in the Madrid Codex. Pacioli stated th.a!: 200,000 1ibri (7:i..S tons) were reserved for its~ casting. Without the additional accessories, it would have been necessary to uie probably four-firths of t@,is quantity--160,000 Hbri (about 57 tons)-- for this statue alone.(19)
Is it Possible to cast a statue of such great weight? The weight of a cubic meter of bronze is 8.6 tons.A ;h.orse of 7.2 meters represents almost 1.5 meters cubed. This would equa11.29 tons. Fifty-seven tons-or 160,000~ ;iii;>ri-of bronze are only about half 6f this weight. (20) A horse on four legs, much less bvo, could not sustain such enormous weight; indeed, computer calculations indica!;e that one leg can sustain a maxithum of 6 tons. Leonardo's horse would have col1apsecl! Could Leon.ardo have envisioned some ot})er form of support or strut--a. vase, a tree trunk, or a landscape element such as a rocky hillock? These wou!d be unreal.istic and thus unacceptable to Leonardo's imagj1-l_ation. Perhaps Leonardo realized the impossibility of his project. It is in this context that we must read Leonardo's letter of ca. - ;i.494 after Ludovico Sforza sent 187,000 libri to Ercole d'Bste for the casting of carinon. When Leonardo writes that Hof the horse I will say nothing because I know the times,棘〔21】 he also might have recognized that casting such a colossal bronze statue was impossible.
The Nagoya City reconstruction was conceived in a systematic way; An ideal composite drawing was made using a camputer siznulation, but it is very difficult to simulate the complex surface of Leonarclo's sculpture without detailed
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measureme_n_ts of each part.The drawings themselves, of course, don't give any measurements; even if they are approximated> the form cannot be realized through computer simu;ia!:ion alone. A real. clay mode!, t1/＼/0 :rn.eters or about six feet in height, was made by two young sculptors who were graduates of the University of the Arts of Tokyo, the best national art school in Japan. Mr. Kageyam.a and Mr. Isizuka, who studied art in Italy for five years, w-ere se1ecteci. Under the direction of professor A.so of the University of the Arts and myself? i;hey endeavored to create a horse according to Leonardo's drawings. Fbrtunatei.y; the university has an exact copy of the Colleoni to which they referred. After six months of collaboration:, from May ta November 1988j we finished the clay model.
The Nagoya City Monument is made df FRI? fiber-reinforced plastic. FR.P is used not o.nly for indust_rial applications, such as making the~ bodies of cars and motorboats, but also for huge sculpture because of its malleability and durability; [22) In rj!ajdng the Nagoya City Monument: we utilized a w-all that is 5 millimeters in thickness. A steel armati.u-e is inside the FRP shell to strengthen it. In making the Nago'ya City A/Ionument, we worlced up from the clay model of 2 meters. W~e took the plastic model made from the clay one and~ used the computer to enlarge its scale to about 8 meters. At first: the industrial scanner traced the surface of this plaster model, using the digital measure. The measurements of every part were taken from. six sides--!:ront, rear, right, left, upper, and lower--to reproduce the original form exactly These measurements were read into the computer, which enlarged them four times more. With these measurements, Numerical Control Latb.ing produced every part with FRP The FRP horse w-as. produced in fifteen. sections. These were assembled and reconstructeci in l:he Exhibition Hall of Nagoya City The total weight of the -work, including. its steqj frame, is only 4 tons. The horse's height from the base is 7.2 meters and of the' :r-:ider, 8.3 meters. The Nagoya City b/Ionument w-as not painted to simulate bronze for two reasons. VVe chose to paint it white to show its details and because the work, after all, is not bronze.
The reconstruction realizes a dream both for Leonardo and for us. Its execution in its entirety took one year and two months. It was reconstructed in June 1989, and exhipited in a pavilion of To;cai Bank in the Design Exposition of Nagoya until 23 November 1989. After the exposition closed> the sponsor donated it to Nagoya City It stands in front of the City Hall for the International Congress in Nagoya..
NOTES
An early version of culls paper was read at !;he international Congress of the History of Art in Srrasbourg, 1989. For the later conference) I reconsidered the problem and revised my manuscript. 1 am very grateful co Charles Dent, who suggested my participarion in this conference.
(1) This model probably was destroyed by French troops during their occupation in ;i＼./iilan. As fos: !:b.e mold, the letter of 19 September 1501 from ErcoIe I d'Este to Giovanni Vhlla3
3:zz lb
ambassador in Milan= says that the duke asked to obtain the molci of this statue with the intention of using it for his own equesti.-1a.n monument. See Luca Beltrami;, Documenti e memorze rzguardanti la vzta e le opere di Leonardo da Vinci in ordine cronalogico, Milan,
1919, pp.68-69.
(2) From The Madrid Codices; ed. Ladislao Reti, 5 vols. (New Yark; McGraw-Hi!l, 1974)> published simultaneously as The Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci ac the Biblioteca Nacional qf-M'adrid (Florence: Giunti-Barb6ra, 1974), 4:328.
〔3) Ladisiao Reti, "The '~i'＼vo Unpublished Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci in die Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid;" The Burlington Magazine cx:, :i.968 pp.21-22.
(4) Beltrami, op.czt., 25.
(5) K/faria V Brugnoli, "II cava Hoii'
in The Unlcnown Leonardo; ed. Ladislao Reti (New York
McGraw-HilI, 1974), 90; Virginia L. Bush,
c<Leonardois Sforza Monument and
Cinquecehto Sculpture,~' A:-ce jombarda, 50, ;!.97B p.51; Car1o pedretti, Leonardo's Horses. Sidles o.[ Horses and Other Anfmals by Leonardo da Wnci j)-om the Royal Library at VAndsor Castle Firenze, 1984, p,3
Pedretti, 43, among oi:hers, discusses the dating of each.
According to Pedre!:ti, 61, only a few documents suggest the dale of 1508-12. As illustrated in Codex Adanticus 179-v: See Kenneth CIark and Carlo pedretdJ The Drawings o/Leonardo da Vinci in the Collecti6n oj:Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, 2nd ed.:, S vols. (Londonphaidon, 1968), 1:37.
(9) Clark and pedretti, op,cit., 1 :37.
(10) Francesco Malaguzzi Valeri, La corte di Ludovico il Moro: 4 vols.: Bramante e Leonardo: l) (Milan: U. Hoepii, l913);, 4-62; Bmgnoli, op.cfc., p.93; Clack and. Pedretti, op.cit., p.1:22. (11) Clark and pedretti, 1:23.
(12) -1 agree with Martin Kemp, who already has proposecl a horse Iike that of the second Madrid Codex in Leonardo da Vinci: The .Marvellous Worlcs of Nature and Man, Cambridge> Mass, Harvard University Press, 1981,207, pp.283-284
(13) In 1481: VIrrocchio had sent his competition model of the horse to Venice> and in 1483, the commiss:[on was awarded to him> with Bellan.o and Leopa[cii failing to win it. See Hidemichi Tm.aka, Leonardo da WncL La sua art-e e la sua vital, trans. Maria Zallio and Toshilco Tanaka (Tokyo: Centro di Cuitura SUWAJ :i.983)> 58-62 and Gt.inter Passavant:, ikrrocchio: Sculpture, Paintings, and Drawings, London, 1969, pp.164-165.
(14) In G. E Hill and Graham Pollard; Renarssance Medals j)-om the Samuel H. Kj-ess Collection at the National Gallcr;y oj: Art, London: phaidon, 1967) p-71= nos, 190 rev. and 191 rev. (15) Jakob Burckharclt> The Civilization of the Renaissarzce m Italy, traps. Samuel G. C. Middlemore, Landoh, Penguin Books, 1990, p.33.
[16) The copy by Peter Paul Rubens in the Louvre, Paris, suggests somewhat of the original appearance of the work.
) Illustrated in Passavant, op.c[t.; pp.21-25.
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) Beltram.!, op.cic., p.48.
Bush, ~ap.cit., p.56, n. 32
) These calculations are provided by the fabricator of this statue, Tanseisha, in Tokyo. ) Beltram:!, op.czt., pp.4-1-42
) For zhe Osaka Expo in i970s '1"bro Okamato used FRP for his sculpture> 7bwer oj: the Su:-!:, v:hich Is about sjxry meters high. Many huge statues of Buddha, which were recently constructed for open-air setting in Japan, a.re made of FRP as well.
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