Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza del Campidoglio, Capitoline Hill, Rome

This statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, located in front of the Palazzo Senatorio, is the sole bronze equestrian statue to have survived from the period of the Roman Empire and was probably made in 165 AD. The statue celebrates the Emperor's victory against the Parthians and shows him gripping his sword with his left hand and raising his right hand in the traditional Roman gesture of authority.

The statue only survived because it was believed to be of Constantine who introduced Christianity as the state religion of Rome. It was therefore considered sacrilege to melt it down in order to profit from the bronze. By the time it had been identified as Marcus Aurelius in 1447, there was sufficient respect for antiquity to ensure its survival, and in the 16th century Michelangelo constructed a plinth and used the statue as one of the key features in his design of the Piazza del Campidoglio.

The statue on display is in fact a copy; the original was placed in the Capitoline Museum after it was damaged in a bomb blast in 1979.

© 2007 LACT Limited. All rights reserved. Image published under the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.2 or later.

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