Leonardo's Horse

The monument in Piazza della Libertà was inspired by Leonardo’s unfinished project for a colossal statue in honour of Francesco Sforza, on the creation of which Leonardo worked during his first period in Milan. In 1977 Charles Dent – a passionate admirer of the Italian Renaissance – was captivated by the idea of bringing Leonardo’s unsuccessful experiment to fulfilment, and so he set up a special foundation in Pennsylvania for this purpose, the Leonardo da Vinci’s Horse Foundation, which commissioned Nina Akamu to bring the idea to reality. The finished sculpture was donated to the town in 2001.