Is the mural of "The Battle of Anghiari" really lost?
Was it partially ruined or totally ruined?
It has been said that the lower part of the mural was saved but not the upper part; however, it sounds too general and vague.
Leonardo seems to have increased the heat to dry and fix the running paints (from the upper portion of the wall) onto the wall surface. As I have mentioned in the earlier posting, during the "burning in" process of the encaustic painting method, the heat cannot be too high, for it melts the various parts of the painting and the paints would merge with each other, making the mess.
If it weren't for the sketches left by Rubens and the few others, we would have no idea what the mural may have looked like. Fortunately, what seems to be the central portion of the mural as been recorded by the above mentioned painters; however, there are some questions remain to be answered. Did Rubens, for instance, copy the portion of the mural accurately? If so, was that particular portion of the mural intact back then? ...or did Rubens and the others created their own version of it based on what was visible? We know from the record that a part - possibly the central portion - of the mural was visible and kept intact for sometime, and that is the reason why Rubens was able to copy it.
We do not exactly know what part of the mural was ruined/damaged. Where did Leonardo begin painting with the color? Did Leonardo, at least, succeed in painting that central portion? ..or did he not commenced with painting that area yet at the time of the disaster? ...or was it also ruined, but the images were recognizable?
Why did Leonardo not sketch and copy the mural for the record (even if it is ruined...)?
The late Prof. Carlo Pedretti (Leonardo expert) of UCLA, Prof. John F. Asmus of UCSD, and Prof. Maurizio Seracini believe in the existence of the fresco behind the current mural, "Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana," painted by Vasari. Prof. Seracini is about to commence in the active search of this missing mural by Leonardo. I am very supportive of this project, for I also believe that it is very like that Vasari has preserved at least the famous central part of the mural. Prof. Seracini has discovered the gap between the current wall and the wall behind it. This wall behind should be examined. I wish him and his research team the best of luck!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Anghiari_(painting)
No comments:
Post a Comment