THE BUDAPEST HORSE; A LEONARDO PUZZLE At the National Gallery of Art – July 3–September 7, 2009
The Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior bronze from the Szépm?vészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts), Budapest, has been the focus of recent technical examinations by National Gallery of Art conservators. It is joined by two additional bronze horses and two warriors associated with Leonardo da Vinci from international collections, along with two Renaissance bronze horses by known masters for comparison. Illustrative panels present evidence related to the works’ origins, including reproductions of drawings by Leonardo, x-radiographs, and computer models. The similarities of the Budapest horse to Leonardo’s drawings led to the first attribution to him in 1916. New technical evidence gathered from both the Rearing Horse and its accompanying Mounted Warrior suggests that the cast could date from as early as the 16th century, although possibly some years after Leonardo’s death in 1519. No scientific data were discovered that rules out an early casting date, but the origins of the clay or wax models from which the horse and its rider were cast remain a mystery.
