The model of Leonardo's monument to Francesco Sforza on display in Atlanta

Area:	Museum
Start:	6 October 2009
End:	21 February 2010
Description:	On October 6, 2009 the High Museum of Art of Atlanta inaugurated the exhibition, "Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of The Genius", dedicated to the theme of "Leonardo and sculpture". This venue hosted the life-size model of the equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, created for the occasion of the Hungarian edition of the exhibition, "The Mind of Leonardo" (Debrecen, August 16 - November 16, 2007). The Sforza monument is one of the most daring technological and artistic challenges of the Renaissance. The exceptional nature of the undertaking mainly consists in the innovative casting method using multiple furnaces with which Leonardo intended to smelt nearly 70 tons of bronze to create in a single cast the statue of the horse, which was planned to be more than seven metres in height. Unfortunately, Leonardo was never able to try his casting method and in 1499, after his clay model of the horse had been destroyed during the French occupation, the project was completely abandoned. The model presented in Atlanta was made of fibreglass over an internal steel structure, and is inspired by Leonardo's drawings. Respecting what were to be the statue's original dimensions, the reproduction makes it possible to see the stateliness and impressiveness of the work that the artist-engineer was never able to complete.
Link:	www.high.org/leonardo/discover-leonardo.html

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