Battle of Anghiari of Da Vinci possibly Found

Research conducted at the end of last year in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, seem to confirm the theory that a lost Leonardo da Vinci painting existed on the east wall of the Hall of the 500, behind Giorgio Vasari’s mural “The Battle of Marciano.”

The data which confirm the location of the Battle of Anghiari were obtained with an endoscopic probe inserted through the wall on which the Vasari fresco was painted. The probe, equipped with a camera, enabled the team of scholars led by Maurizio Seracini to see what was behind the painting and to collect samples of material that will be subjected for further analysis.

The multidisciplinary study was sponsored by the National Geographic Society and Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3), the University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD), together with the Municipality of Florence. Surveys conducted in the hall of the sixteenth century Palazzo Vecchio have been completed in collaboration with the Superintendency of State Museums of Florence and Precious Stones of Florence.

Thanks to technology provided by Olympus endoscopic and Wolff, the researchers were able to see behind the Vasari mural and take samples for analysis. The information obtained for chemical analysis, although not final, suggest the possibility that the painting by da Vinci, which have long thought to be destroyed in the mid-sixteenth century when the Hall of the 500 was completely remodeled, might exist behind the Vasari.

“Our data are very encouraging,” says Maurizio Seracini, founder and director of the UCSD CISA3, and a Fellow of the National Geographic Society. “We are still in preliminary stages of investigation and we still have much work, but the evidence suggests that we are looking in the right place.”

The data collected by Seracini and his team to support the hypothesis that Leonardo’s work is behind the Vasari, the team reported four lines of evidence:

A sample containing black material was analyzed by SEM-EDX (scanning electron microscope with X-ray spectroscopy energy dispersion), which identifies the chemical elements in the sample. The material found behind the wall of Vasari shows a chemical composition similar to that of the black pigment found in brown glazes of the Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist by Leonardo, as it identified in a scientific scholars in the Louvre, which analyzes all the paintings of Leonardo’s collection.

Flakes of red material were found. Analysis of these samples seems to identify them as organic material, which could be associated with red lake (lacquer). This type of material is unlikely to be present in an ordinary plastered wall.

Visual evidence obtained through high-definition endoscopic images suggests that a beige material seen on the original wall could only have been applied by a paint brush.

The research team confirmed the existence of an air gap, originally identified through radar scans conducted of the Hall, between the brick wall on which Vasari painted his mural and the wall located behind it. The finding suggests that Vasari may have preserved da Vinci’s masterpiece by building a wall in front of it at this location. No other location in the Hall presented this type of air gap.

Seracini, an engineer became one of the world’s leading art diagnostic, began his search for the painting more than thirty years ago. In the seventies saw the words “cerca trova” — “seek and you shall find” painted in Vasari’s fresco, and thought they were a clue to solve the mystery of died Leonardo. Since then, Seracini has subjected the Salone dei Cinquecento in laser scanners, thermal and radar, confirming the high probability that the painting by Leonardo da Vinci is found just below the Vasari fresco.

When presented with the opportunity to conduct an endoscopic investigation through the Vasari wall, Seracini identified 14 areas to be explored. Following ongoing consultation with Opificio delle Pietre Dure officials, six points of entry were ultimately implemented. These entry points were chosen by the restorers of the Opificio delle Peitre Dure in areas free of original Vasari paint, including cracked or previously restored areas, to ensure that drilling would not cause any damage to the original Vasari mural. Opificio delle Pietre Dure officials conducted the drilling, which then allowed Seracini’s team to insert the camera, view the wall behind the mural and obtain samples. Testing on those samples was conducted with portable instruments on the scaffolding itself, in the Florence-based Editech lab and in Pontlab, a private analytical lab in Pontedera, Italy.

“Given that the points of actual entry were on the periphery of our original area of focus, the results we obtained are particularly encouraging,” said Seracini.

“Searching for this lost Leonardo masterpiece, considered by some to have been one of his most significant works, is an important venture for the National Geographic Society, and we are pleased to support the Italian people with this important cultural project,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president of Mission Programs. “We’re excited and intrigued by the promising results of this phase of the research.”

In 1503, da Vinci was commissioned by Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini to paint the “The Battle of Anghiari” in the Hall of the 500 of the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government in Florence. The painting commemorated the 1440 victory of the battle on the plain of Anghiari between Milan and the Italian League led by the Republic of Florence. The Florentines emerged from the conflict as the most important power in central Italy, re-establishing Papal powers and dominating Italian politics for years to come.

Da Vinci used the commission as an opportunity to experiment with new mural techniques, which did not meet with the results he had hoped for, but nonetheless, this masterpiece was later called “the school of the world.” In the mid-16th century Giorgio Vasari, himself an admirer of da Vinci’s work, enlarged and completely remodeled the Hall and painted six new murals over the east and west walls, possibly hiding the Leonardo masterpiece. Original documents confirm eyewitness accounts of viewing “The Fight for the Standard,” the portion of “The Battle of Anghiari” that was completed by Leonardo.

More information on the project is available at www.nationalgeographic.com/anghiari.
Research conducted at the end of last year in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, seem to confirm the theory that a lost Leonardo da Vinci painting existed on the east wall of the Hall of the 500, behind Giorgio Vasari’s mural “The Battle of Marciano.”

The data which confirm the location of the Battle of Anghiari were obtained with an endoscopic probe inserted through the wall on which the Vasari fresco was painted. The probe, equipped with a camera, enabled the team of scholars led by Maurizio Seracini to see what was behind the painting and to collect samples of material that will be subjected for further analysis.

The multidisciplinary study was sponsored by the National Geographic Society and Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3), the University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD), together with the Municipality of Florence. Surveys conducted in the hall of the sixteenth century Palazzo Vecchio have been completed in collaboration with the Superintendency of State Museums of Florence and Precious Stones of Florence.

Thanks to technology provided by Olympus endoscopic and Wolff, the researchers were able to see behind the Vasari mural and take samples for analysis. The information obtained for chemical analysis, although not final, suggest the possibility that the painting by da Vinci, which have long thought to be destroyed in the mid-sixteenth century when the Hall of the 500 was completely remodeled, might exist behind the Vasari.

“Our data are very encouraging,” says Maurizio Seracini, founder and director of the UCSD CISA3, and a Fellow of the National Geographic Society. “We are still in preliminary stages of investigation and we still have much work, but the evidence suggests that we are looking in the right place.”

The data collected by Seracini and his team to support the hypothesis that Leonardo’s work is behind the Vasari, the team reported four lines of evidence:

A sample containing black material was analyzed by SEM-EDX (scanning electron microscope with X-ray spectroscopy energy dispersion), which identifies the chemical elements in the sample. The material found behind the wall of Vasari shows a chemical composition similar to that of the black pigment found in brown glazes of the Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist by Leonardo, as it identified in a scientific scholars in the Louvre, which analyzes all the paintings of Leonardo’s collection.

Flakes of red material were found. Analysis of these samples seems to identify them as organic material, which could be associated with red lake (lacquer). This type of material is unlikely to be present in an ordinary plastered wall.

Visual evidence obtained through high-definition endoscopic images suggests that a beige material seen on the original wall could only have been applied by a paint brush.

The research team confirmed the existence of an air gap, originally identified through radar scans conducted of the Hall, between the brick wall on which Vasari painted his mural and the wall located behind it. The finding suggests that Vasari may have preserved da Vinci’s masterpiece by building a wall in front of it at this location. No other location in the Hall presented this type of air gap.

Seracini, an engineer became one of the world’s leading art diagnostic, began his search for the painting more than thirty years ago. In the seventies saw the words “cerca trova” — “seek and you shall find” painted in Vasari’s fresco, and thought they were a clue to solve the mystery of died Leonardo. Since then, Seracini has subjected the Salone dei Cinquecento in laser scanners, thermal and radar, confirming the high probability that the painting by Leonardo da Vinci is found just below the Vasari fresco.

When presented with the opportunity to conduct an endoscopic investigation through the Vasari wall, Seracini identified 14 areas to be explored. Following ongoing consultation with Opificio delle Pietre Dure officials, six points of entry were ultimately implemented. These entry points were chosen by the restorers of the Opificio delle Peitre Dure in areas free of original Vasari paint, including cracked or previously restored areas, to ensure that drilling would not cause any damage to the original Vasari mural. Opificio delle Pietre Dure officials conducted the drilling, which then allowed Seracini’s team to insert the camera, view the wall behind the mural and obtain samples. Testing on those samples was conducted with portable instruments on the scaffolding itself, in the Florence-based Editech lab and in Pontlab, a private analytical lab in Pontedera, Italy.

“Given that the points of actual entry were on the periphery of our original area of focus, the results we obtained are particularly encouraging,” said Seracini.

“Searching for this lost Leonardo masterpiece, considered by some to have been one of his most significant works, is an important venture for the National Geographic Society, and we are pleased to support the Italian people with this important cultural project,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president of Mission Programs. “We’re excited and intrigued by the promising results of this phase of the research.”

In 1503, da Vinci was commissioned by Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini to paint the “The Battle of Anghiari” in the Hall of the 500 of the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government in Florence. The painting commemorated the 1440 victory of the battle on the plain of Anghiari between Milan and the Italian League led by the Republic of Florence. The Florentines emerged from the conflict as the most important power in central Italy, re-establishing Papal powers and dominating Italian politics for years to come.

Da Vinci used the commission as an opportunity to experiment with new mural techniques, which did not meet with the results he had hoped for, but nonetheless, this masterpiece was later called “the school of the world.” In the mid-16th century Giorgio Vasari, himself an admirer of da Vinci’s work, enlarged and completely remodeled the Hall and painted six new murals over the east and west walls, possibly hiding the Leonardo masterpiece. Original documents confirm eyewitness accounts of viewing “The Fight for the Standard,” the portion of “The Battle of Anghiari” that was completed by Leonardo.

More information on the project is available at www.nationalgeographic.com/anghiari.

Tagged Battle of Anghiari, da vinci work, painting