Battle studies: foot soldiers and horsemen in combat
A swirling cavalry melee above, single combatants wielding clubs below
The upper half of the sheet is filled with a tangled melee of mounted warriors and horses locked in combat, drawn in rapid strokes of reddish-brown ink. Below, a series of individual and paired combatants — mostly nude or lightly clad — lunge and strike with clubs, maces and swords. The studies explore violent action and the interlocking of struggling bodies rather than any single finished scene. No transcribed text accompanies the drawings on this sheet.
On this page
Nude combatants striking with clubs and swords
Across the lower two-thirds of the sheet Leonardo sketches individual and paired fighters, most of them nude or lightly clad, caught in the act of swinging clubs, maces and blades. The bodies twist and lunge, several set against small horses. The emphasis is on the tension and momentum of figures in violent motion.
Cavalry melee of struggling horses
The top of the sheet is dominated by a dense knot of horses and riders locked together in combat, their forms overlapping into a single churning mass. Rearing and colliding mounts are drawn with quick, tangled lines. The group reads as a study of horses in the confusion of battle.
Fighters armed with maces, clubs and blades
Throughout the sheet the combatants brandish long clubs, maces and swords raised to strike. These weapons drive the action of both the cavalry melee and the single fighting figures. They are shown in use rather than as isolated studies of arms.