Artist
Antonio del Pollaiuolo
1470–1475
Antonio del Pollaiuolo was a Renaissance artist. 3 works are cataloged here, principally at National Gallery of Art, most of them ink works.
Antonio del Pollaiuolo wasn’t just a painter, he started as a goldsmith, making fancy jewelry in Florence. The city was full of new ideas back then, and he soaked them up like a sponge. He loved the human body, especially how muscles twist and turn in action. That obsession shows up everywhere in his work.
His most famous print, The Battle of the Nudes, is like a freeze-frame of a brawl. Ten men, some wearing headbands, some not, are locked in a fight, their bodies twisted into impossible shapes. The background is just a tangle of trees and bushes, so there’s nothing to distract from the raw energy of the scene.
Pollaiuolo carved the lines so sharply that the muscles look like they’re popping off the page. He probably made this print over and over, tweaking small details each time, because he couldn’t get enough of how the body moves. If you see a print where the figures look sculpted out of pure energy, you’re looking at Pollaiuolo’s influence.
Works by Antonio del Pollaiuolo
Collections represented
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