| Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The original | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Medium | Bronze, originally gilded |
| Location | Capitoline Museums |
| Coordinates | 41°53′34″N12°28′56″E / 41.89274164°N 12.48224146°E /41.89274164; 12.48224146 |
TheEquestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (Italian:statua equestre di Marco Aurelio;Latin:Equus Marci Aurelii) is anancient Romanequestrian statue on theCapitoline Hill,Rome, Italy. It is made ofbronze and stands 4.24 m (13.9 ft) tall. Although the emperor is mounted, the sculpture otherwise exhibits many similarities to the standing statues ofAugustus. The original is on display in theCapitoline Museums, while the sculpture now standing in the open air at thePiazza del Campidoglio is a replica made in 1981 when the original was taken down for restoration.
The statue projects an impression of power and god-like grandeur: the emperor is over life-size and extends his hand in a gesture ofadlocutio used by emperors when addressing their troops. Some historians assert that a conquered enemy was originally part of the sculpture (based on medieval accounts, including in theMirabilia Urbis Romae, which suggest that a small figure of a boundbarbarian chieftain once cowered underneath the horse's front right leg).[1] Such an image was meant to portray the emperor as victorious and all-conquering. However, shown without weapons or armour,Marcus Aurelius seems to be a bringer of peace rather than a military hero, for this is how he saw himself and his reign.
The emperor is shown riding without the use ofstirrups, which had not yet been introduced to the West. While the horse has been meticulously studied in order to be recreated for other artists' works, the saddle cloth was copied with the thought that it was part of the standard Roman uniform. The saddle cloth is actuallySarmatian in origin, suggesting that the horse is a Sarmatian horse and that the statue was created to honour the victory over the Sarmatians by Marcus Aurelius, after which he adopted "Sarmaticus" to his name.[2]
The statue was erected around 175 AD. Its original location is debated: theRoman Forum andPiazza Colonna (where theColumn of Marcus Aurelius stands) have been proposed.[1] However, it was noted that the site where it had originally stood had been converted into a vineyard during the early Middle Ages.[3]
Although there were manyequestrian imperial statues, they rarely survived because it was the common practice to melt down bronze statues for reuse as material for coins or new sculptures in the late empire. Indeed, that of Marcus Aurelius is one of only two surviving bronze statues of a pre-Christian Roman emperor; theRegisole, destroyed after theFrench Revolution, may have been another. The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome owes its preservation to theCampidoglio to a common misidentification of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, withConstantine the Great, the Christian emperor; indeed, more than 20 other bronze equestrian statues of various emperors and generals had been melted down since the end of the Imperial Roman era.[4][5]
It has been speculated that its misidentification stems from the prior existence of an equestrian statue of Constantine which had stood beside theArch of Septimius Severus, and which had been most likely taken on the orders of the emperorConstans II during his visit to Rome in 663. With its removal, the people eventually mistakenly identified Marcus Aurelius's statue as Constantine's.[6]
In the Middle Ages this was one of the few Roman statues to remain on public view, in the Campus Lateranensis, to the east of theLateran Palace in Rome, from 1474 on a pedestal provided byPope Sixtus IV.[7] Its placement next to the Lateran Palace was due to the fact that this site used to contain the house of Marcus Aurelius's grandfatherMarcus Annius Verus, which was where the emperor's birth and early education took place.[3] According to theLiber Pontificalis, an unpopular prefect of the city underPope John XII (d. 964) was hung from it by the hair by the mob.
By order ofPope Paul III, it was moved to thePiazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill) duringMichelangelo's redesign of the hill in 1538, to remove it from the main traffic of the square.[7] Though Michelangelo disagreed with the central positioning, he designed a pedestal for it.[1] The original bronze statue is now in thePalazzo dei Conservatori of theMusei Capitolini; that in the square is a modernreplica.
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On the night of 29 November 1849, at the inception of the revolutionaryRoman Republic, a mass procession set up the red–white–greentricolore (now theflag of Italy, then a new and highly "subversive" flag) in the hands of the mounted Marcus Aurelius.[8]
In 1979, a bomb attack in the nearbyPalazzo Senatorio damaged the marble base of the statue.
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The statue appears on the reverse of anaureus of Marcus Aurelius struck in 174 AD. It is depicted on the reverse of the modernItalian €0.50 coin, designed byRoberto Mauri [it].
The statue was formerly clad in gold. An old local myth says that it will turn gold again on theDay of Judgment.[9][10]
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In 1981 work began on producing a replica of the statue for outdoor display. Digital image files were used for reference while a laser beam ensured accurate measurements. Conservators used this copy to cast a faithful bronze replica of the statue, now in theCampidoglio.[11]
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