Milan · sculpture · engineering · 1487 -1499
The Sforza horse
The giant monument that Leonardo da Vinci designed was modeled in clay but could never be cast in bronze.
This is one of his most ambitious projects: a horse about seven meters high, intended to transform the memory of Francesco Sforza into a political spectacle. Years of study, a colossal model and an entire foundry were swallowed up by the war.
Original project lost · modern reconstruction visible
The short answer
What is the Sforza Monument?
A monumental equestrian statue project designed by Leonardo da Vinci to celebrate Francesco Sforza, father of Ludovico the More.
Leonardo produced numerous studies of horses, abandoned a first prancing pose that was too difficult to melt, completed a colossal clay model around 1493 and carefully prepared the casting. But bronze was requisitioned to make cannons in 1494. The model, which remained in Milan, disappeared after the French invasion of 1499.
Dozens of studies document shape, proportions and cast iron.
A monumental horse was completed in clay.
No original bronze of the Sforza horse existed.
I · A dynastic command
A horse to make the Sforza immortal
The monument is not an isolated fantasy of Leonardo. It responds to a strategy of power. Francesco Sforza, condottiere who became Duke of Milan, had founded a dynasty which had yet to assert its legitimacy. His son Galeazzo Maria envisioned a monument as early as 1473; after the political crises of the 1470s, Ludovico le More relaunched the company.
The founder on horseback
The statue was to present Francesco as a victorious military leader. During the Renaissance, the monumental rider linked the prince to ancient emperors and transformed the city into a theater of memory.
Milan rivals Antiquity
The advertised size exceeded large modern equestrian bronzes. Successfully melting such would have demonstrated that the Milanese court mastered art, metal science and engineering at the same time.
II · Look before modeling
Why did Leonardo draw so many horses?
Because a credible colossus cannot be obtained by mechanically enlarging a small model. Leonardo observes horses from ducal stables, measures their limbs, compares their gaits and studies how weight flows from one leg to the other.
Its leaves constantly move from detail to everything: hoof, hock, neck, head, back line, then general silhouette. The anatomy serves a dual purpose here. It guarantees the horse's plausibility and makes it possible to anticipate the static stresses of a mass of several tonnes.
The animal as a living machine
The tension of a tendon becomes a line of force; the inclination of a shoulder announces the movement; the support of the hoof determines the future stability of the bronze. The drawing is therefore not only preparatory: it is the laboratory where sculpture, anatomy and mechanics meet.
See the guide to horse studiesIII · Choose a feasible installation
From prancing horse to walking horse
The first solutions are heroic: a trained horse, supported by a trunk or by the body of an adversary. But this type of group multiplies the overhangs and makes casting almost impassable on this scale. From 1490, Leonardo adopted an animal advancing at a walking pace, with one front leg raised.
IV · 1493, the clay colossus
A model almost as impressive as a monument
In the fall of 1493, the large clay model was ready. About seven meters high, it finally gives the public and the court the measure of enterprise. However, it should not be confused with an autonomous sculpture intended to last.
In the logic of lost wax casting, the model is used to develop the envelopes and molds which will lead to bronze. Clay remains vulnerable: it fears water, shocks and abandonment. Its conservation depends entirely on the continuation of the project.
Why is the rider often missing from the story?
Because preserved documents and modern reconstructions focus mainly on the horse. The monument was to honor Francesco Sforza on horseback, but no complete and indisputable final composition has survived. The current images of a horse alone are therefore not the certain restitution of the total monument.
V · Melting the impossible
A sculpture designed as an industrial operation
Leonardo doesn't just draw a beautiful silhouette. He designed the pit, the metal inlet channels, the frames, the pulleys and the gears necessary to handle the mold. On a sheet dated around 1492 -1493, the horse appears schematized on the side, without a tail, in accordance with a note dated December 20, 1493.
Model
Build the colossal clay shape on a frame.
Mold
Create an envelope capable of receiving the mass of bronze.
Casting
Quickly distribute the metal through a network of channels.
Extraction
Release, lift, assemble and finish a gigantic sculpture.
VI · When the cannon wins on the monument
1494 -1499: the project destroyed by war
In 1494, Charles VIII's expedition shook Italy. The bronze intended for the horse was sent by Ludovico Sforza to his brother-in-law Ercole d'Este, in Ferrara, in order to be transformed into artillery. The shipyard lost its raw material when Leonardo had solved most of the preparation.
The clay model remains in Milan. When the French took the city in 1499 and overthrew Ludovico, it was damaged and then disappeared. Tradition reports that French archers or crossbowmen used it as a target.
The formula "Leonardo never finished off the horse" is therefore true, but incomplete. It may suggest an incapacity or a distraction. On the contrary, the file shows a project pushed to the threshold of melting, stopped by the reallocation of bronze and by the political collapse of its sponsor.
Bronze becomes canon
Monument material is absorbed by military emergency.
Milan falls
Ludovico Sforza's power collapses and Leonardo leaves town.
The model disappears
There remains neither original bronze, nor clay, nor certain final model.
VII · Benchmarks
The chronology of the Sforza horse
First documented order
Galeazzo Maria Sforza asks that we find an artist capable of erecting a monument to Francesco.
Leonardo arrives in Milan
In his draft letter to Ludovico, he highlights his skills as a painter, sculptor, engineer and founder.
The construction site is taking shape
Early studies show a prancing horse and a defeated enemy.
"I started the horse again"
Léonard returns to the project and evolves towards a more feasible walking pose.
The large model is completed
Clay horse, about seven meters high, demonstrates court ambition.
The casting is planned
Leonardo notes that he wants to melt the horse to the side and without the tail.
Bronze is requisitioned
The war transforms metal reserves into cannons.
Destruction
The French take Milan; the model is used as a target and disappears.
A modern interpretation in Milan
The statue of Nina Akamu is inaugurated at San Siro, five centuries after the loss of the model.
VIII · Rebuild without claiming to restore
The horse visible today is not "Leonardo Found"
In the 1970s, the American Charles C. Dent undertook to revive the project. After her death in 1994, sculptor Nina Akamu studied Leonardo's drawings and designed a new model. The Milan Bronze House was inaugurated on September 10, 1999 at the San Siro racecourse.
This work makes the scale of Leonardo's dream perceptible, but it necessarily relates to interpretation: no single sheet provides a definitive view of the statue, and the studies belong to different stages. Nina Akamu therefore does not mechanically "finish" Leonardo; she creates a contemporary monument based on her graphic file.
Milan · San Siro
The large bronze from 1999 measures approximately 7.3 meters. Its location in a racecourse gives it a direct relationship with living horses.
Grand Rapids · Michigan
Another monumental cast, accompanied here by a reduction, shows the international diffusion of Nina Akamu's interpretation.
What to remember
Leonardo's most fruitful failure
The Sforza horse is a failure if we judge only the final object: no bronze was cast. But the construction site reveals an exceptionally modern method. Leonardo breaks down an artistic question into problems of anatomy, statics, molding, metal circulation and lifting.
The disappearance of the model also transforms the way we look at his drawings. They are no longer simple studies around a preserved work: they are the main documentary work, the only material allowing us to reconstruct the decisions, renunciations and solutions of a disappeared project.
The Sforza monument is a project by Leonardo da Vinci that remained unfinished. The colossal clay model was made; bronze cast iron never was. Modern horses visible in Milan, Vinci or Grand Rapids are commemorative interpretations.
IX · See the horse and understand the context
Where to go in Milan?
San Siro Racecourse
Nina Akamu's Cavallo di Leonardo is located in Piazzale dello Sport 6. The horse area is advertised as accessible free of charge; check official times before your visit.
Official informationCastello Sforzesco
The castle allows the monument to be placed in the topography of Milanese power. He recalls that the horse was first to serve a dynasty, a court and a city.
Leonardo in MilanNational Science Museum
The Leonardo da Vinci galleries present the world of engineers, machines, manuscripts and major Milanese projects.
See the galleriesRoyal Collection
Windsor leaves are the most important file for studying horses, laying and casting systems.
Study the cast iron sheetExtend with the works
From the horse drawn at La Cène Milan
Frequently asked questions
Understand everything about the Sforza horse
Who commissioned the Sforza Equestrian Monument?
Ludovico Sforza, known as the More, relaunched the project in order to honor his father Francesco Sforza, founder of the ducal dynasty of Milan. A first initiative was documented in 1473, before the arrival of Leonardo.
When did Leonardo work on the horse Sforza?
The project was probably initiated around 1487 -1488. Leonardo notes that he "started the horse again" in April 1490 and worked intensively on the model and its casting until 1493 -1494.
How big should the horse be?
The horse alone must have been about seven meters high. It would have been one of the largest bronze castings made in Western Europe since ancient times.
Did Leonardo finish a clay statue?
Yes, a colossal clay model was completed around 1493. However, this was not the definitive work: this model was to be used to prepare the mold for the bronze cast iron.
Why was the horse never cast in bronze?
War took priority. In 1494, the bronze collected for the statue was sent to Ferrara to make cannons. Without metal, the construction site could no longer move forward.
What happened to the large clay model?
After the capture of Milan in 1499, the model was damaged and then destroyed. Tradition, taken up by several historical sources, reports that French soldiers used it as a target.
How much bronze was planned?
Figures vary depending on sources and phases of the project. The Royal Collection mentions around 75 tonnes of bronze collected; other stories go up to 100 tonnes envisaged.
Is the horse visible in Milan by Leonardo?
No. The bronze installed at the San Siro racecourse is a modern interpretation created by sculptor Nina Akamu and inaugurated in 1999. It is inspired by Leonardo's drawings without reproducing a lost final model.
Where to see the preparatory drawings?
The Royal Collection maintains in Windsor a vital collection of horse studies, poses and casting devices. Other leaves are found notably in the Codex Madrid and the Codex Atlanticus.
Did Leonardo attempt another equestrian monument?
Yes. In his last years, he notably studied a monument for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, opponent of the Sforza. This second major equestrian project also remained unfinished.
Sources and credits
Royal Collection Trust - cast iron studies and project history · Royal Collection Trust - horse studies · Da Vinci Science Center - modern reconstruction · Ippodromo Snai San Siro - horse of Nina Akamu and visit · Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia - Leonard galleries.
Historical images: Wikimedia Commons - Sforza monument and works in the public domain. Modern photographs: Carlodell, CC0, Cavallo di Leonardo in Milan, Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Castello Sforzesco, CC BY-SA 4.0.
0 comments