Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of Ten Nudes or (Battle of Nude Men)

by CHRISTINE ZAPPELLA^[1]

Antonio Pollaiuolo’s Battle of Ten Nudes has been called the single most important engraving in European history. Clearly based on classical antiquity (the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome), the print is monumental in size (approximately 15 x 23 inches) and, because of its shallow space, resembles ancient Roman relief sculpture. In the picture, five men wearing headbands fight against an equal number of men without headbands.  The battle is set in front of a wall of lush vegetation.

Art historians disagree about whether the print depicts a particular scene from mythology or classical history, but some have suggested that it simply shows gladiators. This is because in the central pair, the men are gripping a chain, a common weapon of gladiatorial combat.

The print is exceptional for many reasons. To begin with, over fifty copies of it exist, an extraordinarily high number for a work of art over 500 years old. Additionally, it is believed that Pollaiuolo engraved the print completely by his own hand, and for this reason, the sign set in the far left of the vegetation bears his name (most often the artist’s composition would be engraved by a printmaker).

Pollaiuolo’s print is, however, important mostly because it shows a new conception of the human body.  As many art historians have noted, the Renaissance started much earlier in the fields of sculpture and architecture than it did in painting and drawing.  So although Donatello had created his nude David decades earlier, the nude had yet to be mastered in a two-dimensional form.

Vasari, the great sixteenth-century Florentine artist and art historian, wrote that Pollaiuolo’s understanding of the nude body resulted from his dissection of cadavers. This became a common practice in Florence.

Pollaiuolo’s bodies are also derivative of ancient Roman art, an indication that he was looking at the classical past for inspiration, an essential hallmark of the Renaissance. Apart from its conception of the nude, the print also showcases the artist’s technical ability, especially in the modeling, or contouring of light and dark, used to create volume in the men’s bodies.

Because prints were collected like modern day baseball cards, engravings of The Battle of Ten Nudes ended up all over Europe, and many other artists copied it.  Although people in other parts of Europe might read about the great sculptures and buildings being constructed in Florence, Pollaiuolo’s print was an actual piece of the Florentine Renaissance that they could hold in their hands. Prints like this did much in helping to spread the Renaissance throughout Italy and to the rest of the world.