Erasmo of Narni

Who was Erasmo of Narni?

Erasmo of Narni, better known as "Gattamelata", was among the most famous of the condottieri or mercenaries in the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Narni, and served a number of Italian city-states: he began with Braccio da Montone, served Pope and Florence equally, and served Venice in 1434 in the battles with the Visconti of Milan.

He was the subject of Donatello's equestrian bronze sculpture in the main square of Padua, the same city over which he became dictator in 1437.

In Narni, the farmhouse in which Gattamelata was born bears a plaque reading "Narnia me genuit Gattamelata fui —."