Exercises in the Military Art: the Clash of Knigts on London Panel in Paolo Uccello' s "The Battle of San Romano"

Abstract

Purpose. The value of Renaissance documentary battle art, both as an genre and a historic source complex for military history and arms and armour studies, is undeniable. Medieval and early modern iconography provides the contemporary researcher with invaluable information about weapons, tactical concepts, fighting techniques and the specifics of weapon use that cannot be found in text narrative and documentary sources. The purpose, and the research novelty of our text, is to interpret Uccello visual narration of a clash of knights included in his masterpiece «Battle of San Romano» in terms of its relevance to 15th century military realities. Interpretation based mainly on the military treatise Exercitiorum Atque Artis Militaris Collectanea by Pietro Monte, an Italian condottiere, fencing master and writer of Aragonese origin.

Methods. The authors agree with Martin Heidegger's statement that art is about «experience, not feelings». The articles research methods lie in the fields of social and hermeneutic directions of art history.

Results. The article is devoted to a three-panel series «The Battle of San-Romano» by Paolo Uccello. Our study aims to find out how Paolo Uccello understood military technology in general and chivalric military technology in particular, how he conveyed his understanding through painting, and how his depictions relate to the practical combat experience of the fifteenth-century Italian military elite. To achieve the purpose, one of the two central subjects of the London panel was chosen - the clash of the four knight located in the right part of the composition. Depicted in great technical details, this scene has sufficient representational potential to demonstrate the author's competence/incompetence in representing armed violence of the period. In the process of research and comparison with the fighting instructions and observations of Pietro Monte, the authors came to the conclusions.

Conclusions. Uccello`'s interpretation of armed violence is clearly verified by Pietro Monte's text. Despite the aesthetic innovations of The Battle of San Romano, its author adhered to what Michael Baxandall, following Christoforo Landino, called «imitation of truth», the established category by which Uccello's contemporaries perceived and evaluated visual art. Artist told us the story of the battle based on the combat experiences, techniques and practices that were appropriate at his time and place.