Museum of the Battle and of Anghiari
A journey through history and art around the origins of the city, the historic event of the Battle and Leonardo Da Vinci's painting
The Battle of Anghiari was fought on June 29, 1440, beneath the walls of the Valtiberina village, between the Milanese and Florentine troops. The Florentines emerged victorious and determined the borders of Tuscany from that moment until the present day. The battle would undoubtedly have been forgotten by history if the Gonfalonier of the Florentine Republic had not entrusted Leonardo da Vinci with the task of painting it, thus decorating the new Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio with the exploits of the clash. Damaged by an artificial drying process, the unfinished painting was destroyed, making way for decorations by Vasari. The preparatory drawings were also been lost and knowledge of this work is only linked to about fifteen pictorial copies, a few engravings and numerous autograph drawings by Leonardo.
While the search for the lost painting in the Salone dei Cinquecento has yet to yield any concrete results, the Museum of the Battle and of Anghiari provides a fascinating itinerary for discovering the history of the area, the famous conflict and Leonardo's work.
The museum, which is located in Anghiari, inside Palazzo del Marzocco, begins by describing the origins and contains local archaeological artifacts and prehistoric tools, moving from the Etruscan era to the Roman era, up to the late Middle Ages.
In addition to the narration of the historical event of the battle (displayed extensively inside the building) and Leonardo's painting, local artists, like Fausto Vagnetti, a Divisionist painter between the 19th and 20th centuries, and the gunsmithing families of Anchiari, who made this town famous, are also celebrated. An extensive display of weapons, from the 16th to the late 19th century, is compared with other artifacts from other areas of the Italian peninsula and abroad.
The itinerary ends with contemporary art, in the permanent exhibition space located on the first floor of the museum, where artists have reinterpreted the theme of battle and war in general, focusing on their most dramatic effects in today's world and on the universal value of peace. Emblematic in this regard is Emilio Isgrò’s 2019 work Pacem in Terris, inspired by Pope John XXIII's encyclical of the same name, a universal symbol of peace and human rights.
