The most fascinating clue about the existence of Leonardo’s lost work, the Battaglia di Anghiari in the ‘Salone dei Cinquecento’ in Florence, is a small green flag with the inscription «Cerca trova» («Seek and you shall find») painted by Giorgio Vasari in his Battaglia di Marciano, in the right panel of the east wall in the ‘Salone’. According to some researchers, the inscription is an ev- idence that Vasari would have sealed Leonardo’s work under the wall. On the contrary the present study, conducted using iconological method, demonstrates that the flag and the inscription are only a reference to the Firenze’s war against Siena. The historical evidence collected shed new light on the relationship be- tween the republican banker and maecenas Bindo Altoviti and Giorgio Vasari and the ancient iconographic tradition of florentina libertas.
GIORGIO VASARI: «CERCA TROVA». LA STORIA DIETRO IL DIPINTO. con un’Appendice di A. Savorelli, «FLORENTINA LIBERTAS», ULTIMO ATTO (p. 261-268).
MUSCI A
2011-01-01
Abstract
The most fascinating clue about the existence of Leonardo’s lost work, the Battaglia di Anghiari in the ‘Salone dei Cinquecento’ in Florence, is a small green flag with the inscription «Cerca trova» («Seek and you shall find») painted by Giorgio Vasari in his Battaglia di Marciano, in the right panel of the east wall in the ‘Salone’. According to some researchers, the inscription is an ev- idence that Vasari would have sealed Leonardo’s work under the wall. On the contrary the present study, conducted using iconological method, demonstrates that the flag and the inscription are only a reference to the Firenze’s war against Siena. The historical evidence collected shed new light on the relationship be- tween the republican banker and maecenas Bindo Altoviti and Giorgio Vasari and the ancient iconographic tradition of florentina libertas.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
