GATTAMELATA

He was the son of a tough baker.born in 1370.at first he was taken under the wing of Ceccolo Broglio then to arms with another hard man Braccio Di Montone.here he learned HOW.
He wore an armour made up of 134 pieces which can still be seen in venice.
With Braccio he was at the walls of aquila ;taken prisoner he managed to escape and found work with Florence v Visconti of Milan (Fillipo Maria). In 1427 he joined Pope Martino V.He was sent to clean up Umbria and environs. He captured a castle almost singlehandedly at Villa Franca in the 1430's . Unpaid by the Pope he joined Venice against the Visconti. Here he and Bartolomeo colleoni brought across land the Venetian fleet on mules to fight on Lake Garda.A great feat.
In 1439 he had two fits which put an end to his war days.He died in 1442 after living out the rest of his life well.
His statue is the highlight of Padua, and was done by Donatello.Bartolomeo Colleoni lived on for another 32 years and he has a statue in Venice .Visit both then come back and tell me who understood horses better, Donatello or the other guy.I'd be interested.By the way anything I uncover on the Condottieri here and in other articles well I'll post it here.So try keeping a hold on these posts.
Below are a couple of kits that show up well the armour of the times although Italian armour was more rounded.

That bucolic photo you can see here is the territory of Narni inb Umbria.It was here that Erasmus Gattamelata was born.
The town of Narni still remembers him with roads and streets and this great little "ristorante".This is another Soldier of fortune (to be continued),the portrait is by Giorgione.