On January 25, 1504, Florence’s most prominent artists gathered to advise on an appropriate location for Michelangelo’s nearly finished David. Among them was Leonardo, who like Michelangelo, had only recently returned to his native Florence. The Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c. 1504 exhibition at the Royal Academy Arts in London explores the rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo, and the influence both had on the young Raphael. The show presents over 40 works, including Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo, Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon and Raphael’s Bridgewater Madonna, as well as some of the finest drawings from the Italian Renaissance.
The exhibition opens with Michelangelo’s only marble sculpture in the UK, his celebrated Taddei Tondo, c. 1504-05 (Royal Academy of Arts, London), which is shown alongside related preparatory drawings. The Taddei Tondo was created in a defining moment of the Italian Renaissance:the febrile atmosphere of Republican Florence, when Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael brieflycrossed paths, competing for the attention of Florence’s most influential patrons. The relief left an indelible impact on Raphael, as can be seen most notably in the Bridgewater Madonna, c. 1507-08 (Bridgewater Collection Loan, National Galleries of Scotland), and the Esterházy Madonna, c. 1508 (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest), both of which are displayed nearby.
The central gallery is devoted to Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon, c.1506-08 (The National Gallery, London), which returns to the Royal Academy for the first time in over 60 years. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue present new research regarding the original context of the cartoon.
The exhibition culminates with drawings showcasing the mythic encounter between Leonardo and Michelangelo. In 1503, the Government of Florence had commissioned Leonardo to paint a monumental mural, the Battle of Anghiari, in its newly constructed council hall. In late August or early September 1504, around the time Michelangelo’s David was installed on the ringhiera in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, Michelangelo was asked to paint the accompanying Battle of Cascina. Neither project was ever completed, but the exhibition brings together Leonardo and Michelangelo’s much-admired preparatory drawings from various collections across Europe, including an important group lent by His Majesty The King from the Royal Collection, providing a fascinating insight into the approach of both artists as they developed their compositions. The exhibition concludes with a drawing by Raphael, c. 1505-06 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), in which he painstakingly copies the central scene of Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari.
Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c. 1504
The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Until February 16, 2025
