The three panels, listed in the Medici Inventory of 1492 and now in the National Gallery, London, Musée du Louvre, Paris, and Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, commemorate the celebrated Battle of San Romano in which the Florentines, under the leadership of Niccolò da Tolentino, defeated the Sienese led by Bernardino della Ciarda. They were intended as decoration for the large hall on the ground floor of the Medici Palace, called Lorenzo's room. According to the reconstruction, the London and the Florence paintings were placed on the end wall, with the Paris one on the righthand wall, at right angles to the Florence panel. The date of the panels is disputed.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 12 minutes): Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: The Battle, suite |
Summary of paintings by Paolo Uccello |
Green Cloister | Prato | Florence Cathedral |
Battle of San Romano | Desecrated host | Various |