 By classicizing the condottieri , the portrait may have represented an opportunity to — as Leonardo Bruni had advocated — " revive the ancient form of tribute " by choosing a " long @-@ dead and uncontroversial subject " . Mallett has interpreted the fresco as a Medicean attempt to exalt " the praiseworthiness of condottieri to a populace with mixed feelings " . In fact , Cosimo may have allowed the former Albizzi project to go through merely to pave the way for a similar honor for Niccolò da Tolentino ( died 1435 ) , a condottiero whom the Medici would have favored over Hawkwood . The Tolentino fresco was commissioned 20 years after the soldier of fortune 's death , and was specified in its contract to be painted in " the same manner and form as the Hawkwood " . Thus , the recommissioning of the portrait may be read as part of an ongoing debate over the appropriateness of condottieri for a Republic . Bruni raises this subject in De militia ( 1420 ) , arguing for a standing Florentine militia , especially given the close ties between Tolentino and the Medici . Intending to depict Hawkwood as an " obedient captain conducting an inspection of troops " , the conceit of Hawkwood patiently reviewing troops is " suggestive of a loyal communal servant " . 
