Description
The Battle of the Centaurs or Centauromachy is a marble high relief by Michelangelo Buonarroti, executed around 1492 and kept in the Casa Buonarroti in Florence. It is believed that this is a work by a young Michelangelo for Lorenzo the Magnificent, but not completed. The sculpture would represent the struggle between Hercules and the Centaurs, while for the Condivi, the high relief would instead be the kidnapping of Deianira and the subsequent battle with the Centaurs. Michelangelo for the realization of this work, drew inspiration from the ancient Romans’ sarcophagi. But apart from the mythological-literary inspiration, the artist was interested in the exploration of the human nude, analyzed in different poses and in different situations of muscular tension, which later became one of the most peculiar themes of his art.
