"The figures appeared to leap out of the flat surface and to continue their represented movements in actual space."
Lucio Fontana, Manifiesto Blanco
Fontana felt challenged to develop a new art in the light of new scientific findings, primarily in space exploration, and their impact on society. He laid the foundations for this in his drawings. He explored forms that could make the modern sense of space and time tangible. Decisive to him here was the experience of speed, visualised in diagram-like loops and swirls. In 1956 certain drawings were titled Concetto spaziale (Spatial Concept) for the first time. In 1949 Fontana named several drawings Ambiente spaziale (Spatial Environment).
The large-format drawing of a cavalry battle (Battaglia), created in 1939–40, shows how Fontana oriented himself to classical models. He worked it like the preliminary sketch for a mural or painting by scratching a plaster base. The animated space that arises through the seething figures recalls the art of the Baroque, which Fontana admired and often invoked.
