Relief #5: Departure of the French from Bologna

In addition to the effigy of Gaston de Foix in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, a large number of fragments of the monument survive. The most important are seven reliefs illustrating the career of Gaston de Foix which are now in Turin and represent:

1. Capture of Brescia

2. Battle of Ravenna

3. Funeral procession of Gaston de Foix

4. Entry of the French Forces into Bologna

5. Departure of the French from Bologna

6. Battle of Isola della Scala

7. Death of Gaston de Foix

All of the seven surviving scenes illustrate events from the campaign of 1511-12. They are enclosed in foliated borders and were originally separated from each other by carved pilasters. Each relief pulsates with innumerable figures that are so fully carved that the entire foreground seems composed of freely modeled statuettes. Landscape settings and intricately entwined figures rival the complexity of even the most remarkable of earlier Lombard reliefs.

The picture shows the Departure of the French from Bologna.