Tony Hatfield's Retired Ramblings

My vote!

The Today programme is running one of its regular listeners votes. This time we're being asked to vote for "The Greatest Painting in Britain", by which they mean in a British gallery, though not necessarily by a British artist. My vote goes to one of a set of three paintings by the Italian artist Paolo Uccello "The Battle of San Romano". The battle took place on June 1, 1432. The left-hand scene (in London) shows the heroic resistance of the Florentine commander, Niccolò da Tolentino, to the Sienese attack. In the middle scene (Uffizzi Gallery) the Sienese commander is unhorsed. The right-hand scene (in the Louvre) shows the Florentines relieved and the Sienese routed by a counterattack across the river Arno. The Battle of San Romano paintings were commissioned by the Medici and originally hung in their palazzo in Florence.

posted by Tony @ Friday, August 12, 2005