How to Depict a Battle: the Dead, the Dust, the Vanquished
The close of Leonardo's chapter on painting a battle scene.
This page carries the conclusion of Leonardo's chapter on how to represent a battle, opening with an editorial note that the chapter began on folio 53 and, owing to a copying error, was written by the author in two different inks, so it resumes here at the sign L.T. The instructions describe fallen fighters sliding through blood-soaked mud, the stamped footprints of men and horses on the half-wet ground, and a horse dragging its dead master by a trail through the dust. Leonardo dwells on the pale, contorted faces of the vanquished, with raised brows, furrowed flesh, and arched lips baring the teeth as if crying out, and on hands raised to shield fearful eyes. Broken shields, lances, and swords lie among the combatants' feet while the slain are shown half-buried in dust.
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Fallen fighters, bloody mud, and trampled ground
Leonardo directs the painter to throw the opposing limbs forward: if the right foot advances, the left arm should come forward too. A fallen figure should bear the mark of having slid through dust turned to bloody mud, and around the half-liquid ground the stamped footprints of the men and horses that passed there should be made visible.
Faces and gestures of the vanquished
The conquered are to be pale, their brows raised high where they meet, the flesh above abundant with grieving furrows, and the sides of the nose creased in arcs running from the nostrils to the corner of the eye. Arched lips uncover the upper teeth, parted as if wailing; one hand shields the frightened eyes, its inner side turned toward the enemy, while the other props up the raised torso.
A horse dragging its dead master
One horse is to be shown dragging its slain rider, leaving behind, through the dust and mud, the trail of the dragged body.
Broken arms strewn among the combatants
Among the feet of the fighters the painter should scatter many kinds of arms, such as broken shields, lances, and shattered swords, while dead men lie half covered by the dust that mingles over them.