The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

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Equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius

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Rome is home to the oldest and most famous equestrian statue in the world, that of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80). For more than three centuries the ancient bronze statue graced the centre of Piazza del Campidoglio; but in the 1980s it was moved inside the neighbouring Capitoline Museums and replaced by a copy. 

Equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Copy)

The bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is the only example of its kind to have survived intact from antiquity? When the vast majority of ancient bronze statues were later melted down, how did this one survive? It did so for the simple reason that the figure on horseback was thought to depict not Marcus Aurelius but Constantine the Great (r. 306-337), the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity!

Marcus Aurelius extends his hand in a gesture of adlocutio, which was used by emperors when addressing their troops. Some historians suggest that a small figure of a bound barbarian chieftain once cowered underneath the horse's front right leg. The emperor is shown riding without the use of stirrups, which had not yet been introduced to the West. The saddle cloth is actually Sarmatian 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 added the title 'Sarmaticus' to his name. 

It is thought that the statue was probably erected in 176 on the occasion of the emperor's triumph, following his victory over the Germanic tribes. However, its original location has long been debated. Both the Forum and Piazza Colonna, where the Column of Marcus Aurelius stands, have been proposed. 

One of two Inscriptions on the pedestal

In 1538, ​the statue was moved to Piazza del Campidoglio, at the behest of Pope Paul III (r. 1534-49), as one of the two inscriptions on the pedestal proclaims: PAVLVS III PONT MAX STATVAM AENEAM / EQVESTREM A S, P, Q, R, M ANTONINO PIO ETIAM / TVM VIVENTI STATVTAM VARIIS DEIN VRBIS / CASIB EVERSAM ET A SYXTO IIII PONT MAX AD / LATERAN BASILICAM REPOSITAM VT MEMO / RIAE OPT PRINCIPIS CONSVLERET PATRIAEQ / DECORA ATQ ORNAMENTA RESTITVERET / EX HVMILIORI LOCO IN AREAM CAPITOLINAM / TRANSTVLIT ATQ DICAVIT / ANN SAL MD XXXVIII (Paul the Third, Pontifex Maximus, transferred and dedicated the bronze equestrian statue erected by the Senate and People of Rome to Marcus Antoninus Pius in his own lifetime, later overthrown in the course of the city's sundry calamities and set up again at the Lateran Basilica by Sixtus the Fourth, Pontifex Maximus, that he might foster the memory of the best of emperors, and restore to his country its glories and honours, the year of Salvation 1538). 

One of two inscriptions on the pedestal

The shorter inscription reads: IMP CAESARI DIVI ANTONINI F. DIVI HADRIANI / NEPOTI DIVI TRAIANI PARTHICI PRONEPOTI DIVI / NERVAE ABNEPOTI M AVRELIO ANTONINO PIO / AVG, GERM. SARM, PONT, MAX, TRIB, POT, XXVII / IMP. VI. COS III. P.P. ​ S , P , Q , R (To Imperator Caesar, son of the Divine Antoninus, grandson of the Divine Hadrian, great-grandson of the Divine Trajan Parthicus, great-great-grandson of the Divine Nerva, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Augustus Germanicus Sarmaticus, Pontifex Maximus, vested with the power of Tribune for the twenty-seventh time, Imperator for the sixth, Consul for the third, Father of the Fatherland. The Senate and the Roman People). 

The pedestal, which was designed by Michelangelo, also bears the coat of arms of Pope Paul III. 

A detail of the original statue

A detail of the copy

According to late-imperial accounts, there were once twenty-two bronze equestrian statues (equi magni) in ancient Rome. That of Marcus Aurelius is the only one to have survived intact. For centuries, ancient bronze statues were regularly melted down and the metal re-used. Had the Christians known that the man in the saddle was Marcus Aurelius and not Constantine the Great, it too would have disappeared into the furnace!  

The location of the statue outside the Lateran Palace is first recorded in the tenth century. 

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Modern Equestrian Statues

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Following the fall of the Roman empire in the west, in 476, more than fifteen hundred years would pass before another bronze equestrian statue was erected in the Eternal City. It arrived in 1895 as part of a monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi.  

Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi (1895)

The equestrian statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), one of the heroes of the Risorgimento, is the work of the Florentine sculptor Emilio Gallori (1846-1924). 

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Monument to King Carlo Alberto of Savoy

In 1900, a monument to Carlo Alberto of Savoy, the King of Sardinia (r. 1831-49), was unveiled opposite the Palazzo del Quirinale. It is work of another Florentine sculptor, Raffaele Romanelli (1856-1928). 

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Equestrian Statue of King Vittorio Emanuele II

In 1910, a forty-foot high statue to his son and heir Vittorio Emanuele, the first king of Italy (r. 1861-78), was installed as part of his colossal monument. The statue is work of Enrico Chiaradia (1851-1901) & Emilio Gallori. 

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Monument to King Umberto I

In 1926, a monument to Umberto I (r. 1878-1900), the second king of Italy, was unveiled in Villa Borghese. It was designed and partly created by the sculptor Davide Calandra (1856-1915). It was completed after his death by Edoardo Rubino (1871-1954). This was the last equestrian statue to be raised in Rome to an Italian monarch or, for that matter, any Italian!  

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Equestrian Statue of Anita Garibaldi

In ​1932, an equestrian statue of Anita Garibaldi, the work of Mario Rutelli (1859-1941), was unveiled on the Janiculum Hill. Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro (1821-49), the Brazilian wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi, was the first (and as yet only) woman to be so honoured, and also the first non-Italian. 

Cradling a baby in one arm and brandishing a gun with the other, she sits astride her rearing horse. The statue was unveiled on June 4th 1932, two days after her remains had been transferred from Nice (Garibaldi's birthplace) to Rome. 

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