Gillian Faye L.

Lechoco BFA-FD1

1:30-4:30pm TTh

The Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius, housed at Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Chronology: c. 173-76 C.E
Style: Egyptian art.
Medium: gilded bronze sculpture
Height: stands approximately 4.24 meters tall

In ancient Rome, equestrian statues of emperors are not an uncommon sight in the city, as
they were the official devices for honoring the emperor for military and civic achievements. The
statues themselves were, in turn, copied in other media, including coins, for even wider
distribution. Few examples of these equestrian statues survive from antiquity, however, making
the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius a singular artifact of Roman antiquity, one that
has borne quiet witness to the ebb and flow of the city of Rome for nearly 1,900 years.
A gilded bronze monument of the 170s C.E. that was originally dedicated to the emperor
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, referred to commonly as Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161180 C.E.), the statue is an important object not only for the study of official Roman portraiture,
but also for the consideration of monumental dedications.
The statue is an over life-size depiction of the emperor elegantly mounted atop his horse
while participating in a public ritual or ceremony; the statue stands approximately 4.24 meters
tall. A gilded bronze statue, the piece was originally cast using the lost-wax technique, with
horse and rider cast in multiple pieces and then soldered together after casting.
The emperors horse is a magnificent example of dynamism captured in the sculptural
medium. The horse, caught in motion, raises its right foreleg at the knee while planting its left
foreleg on the ground, its motion checked by the application of reins, which the emperor
originally held in his left hand. The horses bodyin particular its musculaturehas been
modeled very carefully by the artist, resulting in a powerful rendering. In keeping with the motion
of the horses body, its head cocks a little to its right---as if its going to that direction or avoiding
something on its way---, with its mouth opened slightly. The horse wears a harness, some
elements of which have not survived. It is also worth noting that Marcus Aurelius is riding
without the use of stirrups as the stirrup had not yet been introduced to the West. The horse is

saddled with a Persian-style saddlecloth of several layers, as opposed to a usual rigid saddle. It
should be noted that the horse is an important and expressive element of the overall
composition.
On the other hand, the horseman--- who is Marcus Aurelius--- sits astride the steed, with his
left hand guiding the reins and his right arm raised to shoulder level, the hand outstretched. The
statue of the horseman is carefully composed by the artist and depicts a figure that is
simultaneously dynamic, but with a facial expression that is a bit passive and removed. The
locks of hair are curly and compact and distributed evenly; the beard is also curly, covering the
cheeks and upper lip, and is worn longer at the chin. The pose of the body shows the riders
head turned slightly to his right, in the direction of his outstretched right arm. The left hand
originally held the reins (no longer preserved) between the index and middle fingers, with the
palm facing upwards. Scholars continue to debate whether he originally held some attached
figure or object in the palm of the left hand; possible suggestions have included a scepter, a
globe, or a statue of victory but there is no clear indication of any attachment point for such an
object. On the left hand, the rider does wear the senatorial ring.
The rider is clad in civic garb, including a short-sleeved tunic that is gathered at the waist by
a knotted belt (cingulum). Over the tunic the rider wears a cloak (paludamentum) that is clasped
at the right shoulder. On his feet Marcus Aurelius wears the senatorial boots of the patrician
class, known as calcei patricii.
The pose of the horseman is also helpful. The emperor stretches his right hand outward, the
palm facing toward the ground; a pose that could be interpreted as the posture of adlocutio,
indicating that the emperor is about to speak. However, more likely in this case we may read it
as the gesture of clemency (clementia), offered to a vanquished enemy that may have been
portrayed begging for mercy under the horse's raised hoof, or of restitutio pacis, the "restoration
of peace." Richard Brilliant has noted that since the emperor appears in civic garb as opposed
to the generals armor, the overall impression of the statue is one of peace rather than of the
immediate post-war celebration of military victory. The overall theme is one of power and divine
grandeurthe emperor is over life-size and is holding out his hand in a gesture much like that in
the Augustus portrait. Some art historians reconstruct a now-missing barbarian on the right side
of the horse, as seen in a surviving panel relief sculpture that originally belonged to a now-lost
triumphal arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius (left). We know that Marcus Aurelius celebrated a

triumph in 176 C.E. for his victories over German and Sarmatian tribes, leading some to suggest
that year as the occasion for the creation of the equestrian monument.
It should be pointed out that although rare today, equestrian imperial portraits were popular
before the Christianization of Romethey are rare now because early Christians destroyed
huge numbers of pre-Christian artworks in the belief that they were pagan idols. The statue of
Marcus Aurelius was spared owing to its early misidentification as a portrait of Constantine.

Sources:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/middle-

empire/a/equestrian-sculpture-of-marcus-aurelius
https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/classroom-content/teaching-andlearning-in-the-digital-age/images-of-power-art-as-an-historiographic-tool/equestrianstatue-of-marcus-aurelius+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ph