Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood

The Funerary Monument (or Equestrian Monument) to Sir John Hawkwood^[2] is a fresco by Paolo Uccello, commemorating English condottiero John Hawkwood, commissioned in 1436 for Florence Cathedral. The fresco is an important example of art commemorating a soldier-for-hire who fought in the Italian peninsula and is a seminal work in the development of perspective.

The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "Florentine propaganda" for its appropriation of a foreign soldier of fortune as a Florentine hero and for its implied promise to other condottieri of the potential rewards of serving Florence.^[3] The fresco has also been interpreted as a product of internal political competition between the Albizzi and Medici factions in Renaissance Florence, due to the latter's modification of the work's symbolism and iconography during its recommissioning.

The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation. The fresco has been restored (once in 1524 by Lorenzo di Credi, who added the frame) and is now detached from the wall; it has been repositioned twice in modern times. It is now on the north wall of the nave, beside a similar depiction of fellow condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino (d.1435) by Andrea del Castagno.

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^ Although the title of "Sir" is ubiquitously attached to Hawkwood, there is no documentary evidence of the circumstances under which Hawkwood was knighted; most of his contemporary condottieri, regardless of their reputations, were also knights. Hawkwood's knighthood is not listed in the "Register" of Edward, the Black Prince, and some proponents of his knighthood claim that it occurred in Italy. See Caferro, Hawkwood, 9, 42.
^ Caferro, 2006, p. 9.

[b304-1] Cite error: The named reference b304 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Although the title of "Sir" is ubiquitously attached to Hawkwood, there is no documentary evidence of the circumstances under which Hawkwood was knighted; most of his contemporary condottieri, regardless of their reputations, were also knights. Hawkwood's knighthood is not listed in the "Register" of Edward, the Black Prince, and some proponents of his knighthood claim that it occurred in Italy. See Caferro, Hawkwood, 9, 42.

[Caferro9-3] Caferro, 2006, p. 9.

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