Ingenti clade ad Roncum Rauennae amnem in Pontificias... | Battle of Ravenna and capture of Giovanni de Medici

The engraving by Pietro Santi Bartoli (1635-1700), an engraver and antiquarian serving as Conservator of Antiquities (Commissario delle Antichità) in the Church State, based on a composition by Raphael Santi (1483-1520) as a historical scene depicts the Battle of Ravenna (11 April 1512) between the army of the Holy League and the French army led by Gaston de Foix (1489-1512), who lost his life in the battle. The clash occurred as part of the struggle for dominance in southern Europe between France and the Church State, with France supported by the Italian states seeking to deprive the Republic of Venice, an ally of the Church State, of its influence. After the battle, while making his rounds on the battlefield, Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (1475-1521), the future Pope Leo X, was taken prisoner. Defying the facts, the composition shows the capture of the Medici during the battle. A clergyman, riding a white horse, is shown in the middle of the foreground. From the right, he is attacked by French soldiers. On the left, the Venetian doge's boat is passing along the river. In the lower left corner, a bearded old man with a cornucopia, personifying the river Ronco, is half-seated. The featured board 7 comes from the series Fatti della vita di Leone X, which comprised of 15 engravings by Pietro Santi Bartoli, including a dedication card and 14 boards based on a composition by Raphael. The album was devoted to the life of Pope Leo X, or Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, and was dedicated to another member of the famous family, Leopold de'Medici (1617-1675), son of Cosimo II (1590-1621) and Maria Magdalena Habsburg (1589-1631), a disciple of Galileo Galilei and a cardinal from 1667. He admired Leo X for his merits and accomplishments. Also of note is the fact that Leopold's great-great-grandfather was Louis de Medici (1498-1526), condottiere and, starting in 1517, commander of Leo X's mercenary army, known as the Bande Nere and considered one of best armed formations in Europe at the time. Ewa Gwiazdowska