Leonardo's Equestrian Statue

 

There are few notable Leonardo-related items in Japan, but there is something quite intriguing about the equestrian statue installed at the Nagoya International Congress Center.

This statue was reconstructed to be exhibited at the World Design Expo held in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Nagoya City's municipal foundation, and was created by Hidemichi Tanaka, Hideho Aso, Masato Kageyama, Akio Ishizuka, and others.

There are signs that serious research was done in the creation of the statue, and it has a high level of completion that is different from mere curiosity-based creations.

For example, the facial expression of the rider is faithfully reproduced based on Leonardo's sketches, and there are parts that make you think that the equestrian statue that Leonardo actually created would have been similar. In addition, details such as the sharp muscles of the horse and the design of the armor of the person were heavily referenced from Leonardo's sketches, and you can feel the traces of a lot of time and effort put into it, making it a work worth seeing.

Even so, it is a large statue, so large that it makes you wonder if the clay equestrian statue that Leonardo created was really that size. Standing in front of this statue, you can really get a sense of how much Leonardo put into it.

The only disappointing thing is that the statue is displayed in its original color, the reinforced plastic it is made of. With modern technology, it should not be that difficult to recreate the texture of real bronze by simply painting the surface, so I hope that they will devote the budget and time to developing this new Nagoya landmark.

 

 

 

 

https://tsukuba.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/48135#!　Leonardo and the Development of Western Equestrian Statues (by Hirohiko Mikami)

A detailed report on Leonardo's equestrian statue can be downloaded in PDF format.