Battle of the Centaurs

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Giuseppe Lelli (cast maker)

Artist: Michelangelo Buonarroti
Caprese, 1475 – Róma, 1564

Giuseppe Lelli
(cast maker)
Firenze
Dated: ca. 1492 (original), 1906 (cast)
Classification: relief, plaster cast
Medium: plaster cast
Dimensions: 89 × 88.5 × 16 cm
Inv.no.: Rg.233
Department: Sculpture
Current Location of the Original Artwork: Italy, Florence, Casa Buonarroti
Location: House of Science and Technology (Kecskemét)

The Battle of the Centaurs is one of the very early works in marble by Michelangelo. It was carved around 1492 and remained unfinished as many other sculptural works by Michelangelo. The relief was inspired from the Late Antique sarcophagi, and shows the influence of Bertoldo di Giovanni (c. 1430/1440–1491) and Antonio Pollaiuolo (c. 1432–1498) in such a manner, which reflects an artistically mature sculptor. The Museum purchased the plaster cast of the Battle of the Centaurs in 1906, and the copy was exhibited in the Michelangelo Room in 1909. This plaster cast is installed in Kecskemét at the House of Science and Technology since 1976, together with other fourteen plaster casts after Michelangelo’s statues.