How does Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior elucidate its Description?
The bronze statuette consists of the horse and a detachable rider. It has an applied green patina on top of black paint patina, typical of Renaissance works. Both parts are hollow, and attached together are 24 cm high, 15 cm wide, and 28 cm long (9.4 in by 5.9 in by 11 in), and weigh 2.39 kilograms (5.3 lb). The parts were cast separately, including the horse's rump and tail section that was used to extract the core, but nevertheless at the same time. There is minimal trace of finishing on the statuette; many of the holes and casting flaws on both the horse and the rider have not been chiseled off or filled, which suggests an intent of preserving a model rather than making a final cast.The rider is wearing a Greek-style helmet with its visor tipped up, encircled by a crown, with a serpent-tailed dragon on the back. He is holding a shield in his left hand, and originally had a sword or a lance in his right hand, but only the hilt is now left. Similar horses and riders, some in exactly the same position, are depicted in many of Leonardo's studies of horses owned by the Milanese nobleman Galéas de Saint-Séverin. The depiction of the rider is less defined than the horse or Leonardo's other works.Hungarian art historian Mária Aggházy noticed a resemblance between the content-looking rider and the young Francis I of France, soon to be king, and Leonardo's patron from his later years. Francis was an avid participant in jousting tournaments, which in the more entertaining but also more dangerous French style were run with less armour and other equipment than in Italy. Aggházy theorised that the rider's light clothing, likely after a victorious duel, demonstrated bravery on Francis's part as he followed the chivalrous ideals of the Nine Worthies.
chivalrous Aggházy Francis I of France bronze jousting Galéas de Saint-Séverin Nine Worthies