The Day the Renaissance Was Saved: The Battle of Anghiari and da Vinci's Lost Masterpiece

Historian, professor, and direct descendent of Niccolò Machiavelli, Capponi (An Unlikely Prince; Victory of the West) presents a scholarly yet engaging account of the events leading up to and including the little-known, historically significant Battle of Anghiari. He also tells the related story of the lost and recently rediscovered fresco commemorating the battle that Leonardo da Vinci painted on the wall of Florence's Palazzo della Signoria. The author claims that the Italian Renaissance was "saved" on June 29, 1440, near the Tuscan town of Anghiari, when the armies of Florence, Venice, and the Papal States defeated the previously unstoppable army of the Republic of Milan, bringing the Medici family to power in Florence. Weaving the story of Leonardo's masterpiece into his narrative, Capponi sets forth the military and political factors leading to the renaissance. While he discusses some art history and culture, he doesn't provide a very detailed or thoroughly researched art historical account of the time.