An artistic collaboration across centuries brings a 1432 battle scene to arresting life

The Swiss animator Georges Schwizgebel is known for his meticulous paint-on-glass animation style, which is rendered by hand, and frame by frame. In his latest film, Schwizgebel breathes new life into the early Italian Renaissance painter Paolo Uccello’s influential triptych The Battle of San Romano (c1430s), which features three scenes from a battle between Florentine and Sienese forces in 1432. First inspired by the work as a young art student, here, some six decades later, Schwizgebel preserves the paintings’ rich textures and colours, and, through intricate planning, realises the implied motion of the chaotic scenes. Dramatic music and sound design by the Montreal-based composer Judith Gruber-Stitzer adds yet another rich layer of immersion to the work.