Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

The statue projects an impression of power and god-like grandeur: the emperor is over life-size and extends his hand in a gesture of adlocutio 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 the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, which suggest that a small figure of a bound barbarian 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 of stirrups, 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 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 adopted "Sarmaticus" to his name.[2]

The inscription on the plinth of the statue, commissioned by Pope Paul III

The statue was erected around 175 AD. Its original location is debated: the Roman Forum and Piazza Colonna (where the Column 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 many equestrian 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; the Regisole, destroyed after the French Revolution, may have been another. The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome owes its preservation on the Campidoglio to the popular mis-identification of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, with Constantine 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 the Arch of Septimius Severus, and which had been most likely taken on the orders of the emperor Constans II during his visit to Rome in 663. With its removal, the people eventually mistakenly identified Marcus Aurelius's statue for Constantine's.[6]

In the Middle Ages this was one of the few Roman statues to remain on public view. In the 8th century it stood in the Campus Lateranensis, to the east of the Lateran Palace in Rome, sitting on a pedestal that was later provided by Pope Sixtus IV.[7] Its placement next to the Lateran Palace was due the fact that this site used to contain the house of Marcus Aurelius's grandfather Marcus Annius Verus, which was where the emperor's birth and early education took place.[3] By order of Pope Paul III, it was moved to the Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill) during Michelangelo'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 in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Musei Capitolini; that in the square is a modern replica.

The original statue in the Palazzo dei Conservatori

On the night of 29 November 1849, at the inception of the revolutionary Roman Republic, a mass procession set up the red–white–green tricolore (now the flag 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 nearby Palazzo Senatorio damaged the marble base of the statue.

Aureus of Marcus Aurelius (AD December 173 - June 174) and Italian €0.50 coin (2002)

The statue appears on the reverse of an aureus of Marcus Aurelius struck in 174 AD. It is depicted on the reverse of the modern Italian €0.50 coin, designed by Roberto Mauri.

The statue was formerly clad in gold. An old local myth says that it will turn gold again on the Day of Judgment.[9][10]

Replicas

Replica of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill

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 the Campidoglio.[11]

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• Capitoline Museum