Leonardo’s Sforza Horse was intended to be cast in bronze.
Also called the Sforza Horse or Gran Cavallo, the monument was commissioned in 1482 by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. It was meant to honor his father, Francesco Sforza, and to become the largest equestrian statue ever made. Leonardo planned a horse roughly 8 meters high, an extraordinary scale for Renaissance bronze casting.
Leonardo studied horses extensively and produced drawings, anatomical observations, and engineering plans for the monument. He eventually completed a full-size clay model, which was displayed in Milan in 1493. The statue itself, however, was never cast.
The project failed when Ludovico diverted the collected bronze—about 70 tons—to weapons production during the French invasion of Italy. French troops later damaged the clay model, reportedly using it for target practice after entering Milan in 1499. Modern sculptures inspired by Leonardo’s surviving designs were created centuries later, but they are reconstructions, not Leonardo’s original statue.