Sculpture "Cavallo" (c. 1492), bronze
Sculpture "Cavallo" (c. 1492), bronze
Quick info
replica | bronze casting | patinated | height 26 cm
Detailed description
Sculpture "Cavallo" (c. 1492), bronze
Leonardo da Vinci gave this small, anatomically perfect bronze model of a striding stallion to Bianca Maria Sforza on the occasion of her engagement to Emperor Maximilian I. Original: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage (considered lost since 1945). Milan circa 1492.
Cast bronze with a finely patinated surface. Height with pedestal 26 cm.
Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany, [email protected]
About Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519
Leonardo da Vinci is considered the greatest universal genius in the history of art and science. His inventions, works of art and studies, but not forgetting his mysterious life, continue to interest science and literature to this day.
The universal genius Leonardo da Vinci, the epitome of the Renaissance man, was a painter, sculptor, builder, writer, art theorist, naturalist, inventor and technician all in one. Even though in primary school the illegitimate child had barely learned how to read, write and do arithmetic, thanks to his unique talent, he soon set himself up early for an apprenticeship as a painter and sculptor with Andrea del Verrocchio and tried to gain employment at one of the courts. Temporarily he succeeded in working for the Duke of Milan or Cesare Borgia, the Pope or the French King.
His life was filled with the study of humanities and the universal urge for knowledge and action that was characteristic of his epoch. Through incessantly observing, recording and analysing, he created a huge oeuvre as a scientist and technician alone. For example, he studied the geological formation and cloud formation, the flow of water and air, the flight of birds and apparatus in order to enable human flight.
His work as a visual artist, on the other hand, is smaller but occupies a very high rank, such as the "Last Supper" or the "Mona Lisa".
His artistic striving for compositions with moderately calm geometric basic forms prepared for the High Renaissance. His later approaches to grasping the world of appearance in its transformation through air and light even point ahead to Baroque painting.
An alloy of copper with other metals (especially with tin) used since ancient times. It is an ideal metal for high-quality artistic castings, capable of enduring for millennia.
When casting bronze, the artist usually applies the lost-wax technique which is dating back more than 5000 years. This is the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.
First, the artist forms a model of their work. This model is embedded in a liquid silicone rubber mass. Once the material has solidified, the model is cut out, leaving a negative mould. Liquid wax is then poured into the negative mould. After cooling down, the wax cast is removed from the mould, provided with sprues and dipped into ceramic mass. The ceramic mass is hardened in a kiln, where the wax melts away (lost mould).
Finally, the negative mould is ready, into which the 1400° C hot molten bronze is poured. After the bronze had cooled down, the ceramic shell is broken apart, reavoling the sculpture.
Next, the sprues are removed, the surfaces are polished, patinated and numbered by the artist or by a specialist, following their instructions. Thus, each casting is an original work.
For lower-quality bronze castings, the sand casting method is often used, which, however, does not achieve the results of a more elaborate lost-wax technique in terms of surface characteristics and quality.
(Rebirth). Term used to describe art from around 1350 until the 16th century.
Beginning in Florence, by the late 14th century, a mindset developed that, in retrospect, was classified as the rebirth of the classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Renaissance spread first through Italy and then across Western Europe, influencing the entire artistic creation. Brilliant artists such as Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, Holbein, Cranach and Fouquet created their immortal works by following the humanistic premises and placing the human being in the centre of all thinking.
In literature, the Renaissance reached its pinnacle through the dramatic works of William Shakespeare.
By the end of the 16th century, the Renaissance had to give way to the opulence of the Baroque, before its ideas experienced a rebirth in the Classicism of the 18th century.
A true-to-the-original reproduction of an artwork in the same size and with the best possible material and colour uniformity.
The mould is usually taken directly from the original so that the replication reproduces even the finest details. After casting the replication, using the most appropriate method, the surface is polished, patinated, gilded or painted according to the original.
A replication of ars mundi is a recognizable copy of the original.
A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.
While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.
The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.