Leonardo da Vinci. On the traces of the Battle of Anghiari at Palazzo Vecchio

On the traces of the Battle of Anghiari is a tour open until 12 January 2020 at the Museum of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. For the 500^th anniversary of the Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Museum dedicates a visit to the most famous unfinished work by the Florentine genius: the Battle of Anghiari.

What is the work of the Battle of Anghiari?

A treasure probably hidden within the walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento, under the brushstrokes Battle of Marciano by Vasari. In fact, the work reaches us indirectly through copies of contemporary artists to Leonardo who have handed down the memory of that painting that could not remain imprinted on the imposing wall of the great hall of Palazzo Vecchio. Commissioned by the Signoria of Florence in 1503, the Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari never saw complete light due to a defect in the experimental technique used that did not allow painting to dry out. After a year of work, the artist abandoned the realization of the work and about sixty years later, on that wall, Vasari frescoed the Battle of Marciano, wrapping the Leonardo masterpiece in a mysterious aura. The interest was mainly aroused by the ancient replicas of the work made by other contemporary artists and not much later to Leonardo who have handed down the memory of the Da Vinci project to which is attributed a new way of conceiving and representing the battle, bringing with itself a great expressive charge. On the basis of these testimonies, the path “On the traces of the Battle of Anghiari” unfolds at the Palace that was supposed to host the painting.

Itinerary On the traces of the Battle of Anghiari at Palazzo Vecchio

The itinerary begins in the area of the Salone dei Cinquecento, where research has focused on possible traces of Leonardo’s painting under Vasari’s fresco. An audio-visual support was also created here by the Architecture University of Florence, which tells us the story of the Anghiari Battle, with images and new three-dimensional models of the layout that the hall presented in the times of Leonardo and its subsequent transformations.

The use of the exhibition continues on the upper floor which houses in the “Eleonora” neighbourhood one of the ancient replicas of the Battle of Anghiari closer to the Leonardo model.

It ends in the mezzanine where they are in the halls of the Loeser donation, a rare embryonic sketch of the central scene of the Rotta dei Pisani in Torre San Vincenzo and two well-known terracotta scuffles from the Rustici workshop, witnesses of the exceptional resonance that the work unfinished Master had with his contemporaries.

All the works on the itinerary are accompanied by special thematic panels.

Opening hours and tickets Palazzo Vecchio Museum

From October to March
Every day except on Thursday: 9 am – 7pm
Thursday: 9-14

From April to September
Every day except on Thursday: 9-23
Thursday: 9-14

Mezzanine – Loeser donation
Every day except on Thursday: 9 am-7pm
Thursday: 9-14

Participation in the itinerary is free, upon purchase of the museum entrance ticket.

Ticket price of the Palazzo Vecchio Museum: 12.50 euros per person

Tickets can also be purchased in advance online from the Palazzo Vecchio Museum website >

The Palazzo Ruspoli Bed and Breakfast in Florence is located at a few meters walk from the Palazzo Vecchio Museum in piazza della Signoria.