THE BATTLE OF CASCINA
The Battle of Cascina is a project that I've been working on and off for since '91. It is a painting that Michelangelo was commissioned to create on a wall of the Medici Palace while Leonardo was to paint another opposite him. Neither work ever got past the cartoon stage yet Michelangelo's was considered by all who saw it to be the finest work he had ever done. When the project was abandoned, overly enthusiastic fans attacked it in a Dionysian frenzy and stole fragments of it away until there was nothing left.
I'm intrigued by the project because I believe that we don't have anything that comes close to suggesting Michelangelo's original composition. I don't pretend that my version is anything approaching the Master's in terms of quality but I do know that I have a better understanding of the compositional principles of Michelangelo than a great many others.
What we do have remaining are some preliminary sketches from the Master and, perhaps more importantly, sketches done by contemporaries and near contemporaries that I believe may be done after fragments form the lost cartoon or from remembering what they'd seen on that wall.
Some preliminary sketches by Michelangelo suggesting the central composition
Famous figurative sketches for Cascina
This is a screenshot from a movie or TV show called 'The Spring of Michelangelo' where they depict him painting it.
Some efforts of other artists to do the same
MY EARLIER EFFORTS
My Original Cartoon done in '91 which I think was more successful than the
paintings that followed
The drawing was painted and then destroyed.
In the Autumn of 2013 I undertook to did it again, to get back the drawing that worked and forget the painting that did not. As well, I finally commit to doing the thing on the correct proportions. The hall that was commissioned for the mural was 54' by 21' (2.57 to 1 ratio). I use brown construction paper that is 2.5' high so put it on 6.5' width.
Early moments:
At this point, it was time to carefully remove the tape and shift the work three feet to the right to start working on the left half
Some details
Framed and mounted Feb 2015
