Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius. Over-life-size bronze statue (Capitoline Mus., Rome) of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius mounted on horseback, probably made during his reign (ad 161–80). It is the only bronze equestrian statue to survive from antiquity, although another one, the Regisole (Sun King), survived in Pavia until 1797, and two marble equestrian statues were excavated at Herculaneum in the 1740s (they are now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples). The Marcus Aurelius is also one of the few famous antique statues that always remained unburied and visible after the fall of the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages it was commonly thought to represent Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and this perhaps saved it from destruction. The history of the statue can be traced back to about the 10th century, although early references to it are vague. For centuries it stood outside the Lateran Palace in Rome, but in 1538 Pope Paul III ( Alessandro Farnese) had it transferred to the Capitoline Hill, where Michelangelo made it the focal point of the piazza he created there; he also designed a new base for the statue. It remained in the open air until 1981, when—because it was being damaged by atmospheric pollution—it was transferred to the Capitoline Museum. A full-size copy was erected in the piazza in 1997, as part of the celebrations to mark the 2,750th anniversary of the traditional date of the foundation of Rome. The original statue was too fragile for a cast to be taken from it, so the copy was made with the aid of moulds created from computerized photographs. From the 15th century the Marcus Aurelius was one of the most copied and reproduced of ancient works—in statuettes, engravings, and other forms. It influenced the two greatest equestrian monuments of the Renaissance—Donatello's Gattamelata and Verrocchio's Colleoni—and many others subsequently. Such influence has usually been general rather than precise, but it is fairly specific in Sir Richard Westmacott's two equestrian statues of George III (1818–22, Monument Place, Liverpool, and 1824–30, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire). For the Column of Marcus Aurelius, see Trajan's Column.