Tournament Battle 1449

Pisanello created this monumental fresco sketch of a tournament battle in the 15th century, using charcoal and other pigments on a large wall. The very scale of the drawing speaks to its purpose: to impress. Pisanello had to work at arm’s length, coordinating assistants to prepare the wall surface and mix pigments. Looking closely, we can see the physical labor involved in its creation: the rubbed charcoal lines, the layering of tones, and the way the composition spreads across the wall. The subject matter is equally revealing. Tournament battles were displays of wealth and power, occasions for nobles to show off elaborate armor and horsemanship. Note the painstaking detail afforded to the knights’ equipment. Each gleaming plate was forged by a specialist metalworker, and carefully fitted to the wearer. The image is thus deeply embedded in the economic realities of its time. By considering the materials, making, and context of this work, we gain a deeper understanding of its meaning and the society that produced it.