Battle of the Nudes

cast his talent to a wide audience. Pollaiuolo may also have created this ambitious
print in response to or in competition with engravings associated with Andrea
Mantegna (1431-1506). A particularly fine impression of Bacchanal with a Wine Vat
[12] emphasizes the drawing-like character of the engraved line, which utilizes a
zigzag technique, similar to Pollaiuolo's, in some areas of shading. This stroke and
the plaque hanging from the tree encircled by a vine (which may have derived from
the Battle of the Nudes) have raised questions about the degree of each artist's knowl-
edge of the other's work, and possible influence on one another. The plaque may
have been left blank in Mantegna's image as an egotistical display suggesting that
the artist's style was so recognizable that a signature was unnecessary. Two docu-
ments now confirm Mantegna's involvement in printmaking in 1475, although spe-
cific prints are not named and both texts indicate that Mantegna hired others to en-
grave his designs. The first is a letter of September 1475 from the engraver Simone
di Ardizzone to Ludovico Gonzaga about Mantegna's apparent desire to hire
Simone as an engraver. The second, a contract between Mantegna and the gold-
smith and engraver Zohanne (Gian Marco) Cavalli, dated April 1475, was recently
uncovered in the Mantuan archives.' 8 Yet the ongoing debate over dating and au-
thorship of specific Mantegna examples (whether Mantegna hired engravers to
make all of his engravings, or in fact executed some himself) and the uncertain dat-
ing of Pollaiuolo's engraving leaves the direction of influence open to speculation.
Pollaiuolo's composition may be approached from several angles in an attempt
to formulate a possible line of development for the specifics of his conception. There
is no indication that this engraving was commissioned; it appears to be an indepen-
dent artistic effort instead. If his goal was to demonstrate his command of the male
nude, both his understanding of its anatomy and his ability to render that knowl-
edge artistically and in a manner that would appeal to both artists and intellectual
patron/admirers, he would undoubtedly seek to create an image that would allude
to popular visual and literary sources and yet address contemporary artistic chal-
lenges. Battle of the Nudes belongs to the very inception of the Renaissance portrayal
of the blatantly nude adult male, a motif inspired by classical art sources. Though
not scientifically accurate, it is one of the earliest works of Renaissance art to depict
the figure in motion convincingly, suggesting how muscles behave under the strain
of vigorous activity.
During the fifteenth century, art executed in an all'antica style, which portrayed
classical subjects or otherwise alluded to antiquity, was increasingly admired, for
both aesthetic reasons and the implied connections to a prestigious cultural past.
The Renaissance fascination with classical models was manifest not only in the-
matic and stylistic references, but in the revival of specific types of antique objects
as well. Pollaiuolo was among the artists whose work most obviously addressed
these concerns. In addition to works such as his influential painting series of the
Labors of Hercules for the Medici palace (the mythical hero Hercules had been used
as a symbol of victory over tyranny since the early years of the Florentine commu-
nal government), 19 Polliauolo made new contributions to the development of the
bronze statuette, a revival of an antique sculpture type initiated by Donatello
(13867-1466) that, like medals, became new collector's items, along with their an-
cient counterparts. Pliny remarked that the ancient Roman owners of "figurines"
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