MARCUS AURELIUS

The gilded bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius (Italian: Statua equestre di Marco Aurelio) was created at the end of the 2nd century AD and is the only equestrian sculpture that has survived from ancient times. Emperor Marcus Aurelius is depicted wearing a soldiers cloak over a tunic. Under the raised hoof of the horse, there used to be a figure of a bound barbarian, symbolizing a defeated enemy, and the gesture of the emperor meant generosity towards the vanquished. The statue is only twice the life size.

The equestrian monument is a monument to the commander. The riders gesture is addressed to the army. Marcus Aurelius really had to fight a lot in his lifetime with the Parthians, barbarian tribes, but descendants remember him not as a commander, but as a philosopher on the throne. The emperor managed to repel the attacks of enemies and pacify the rebels, but he did not value military glory highly.

After 13 centuries, this monument served as a model for the sculptors of the Renaissance. When Donatello created an equestrian monument to the condottiere Gattamelata for Padua, he recalled Marcus Aurelius, seen in Rome. And after Donatello, sculptors will turn to this monument for another five centuries.