Virtual exhibition reconstructs Leonardo da Vinci's unrealized bronze horse monument

A virtual exhibition on Europeana, the European digital library, reconstructs Leonardo da Vinci's unrealized bronze equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza (1401-1466). The colossal seven-meter-high horse was never cast due to the French occupation of Milan in 1499 and the fall of the Sforza dynasty. Using notes and drawings from the Codex of Madrid II, held by the Biblioteca Nacional de España, experts from the Museo Galileo in Florence virtually recreated the complex multi-furnace casting process Leonardo designed over sixteen years. The project was abandoned after French troops destroyed the clay model. The exhibition spans seven chapters covering the protagonists, project evolution, innovative casting methods, foundry details, reasons for abandonment, and modern interpretations, featuring original manuscripts and 3D animations.