Bronze colossus of Constantine
The
The museum also holds fragments from an
Description
The bronze statue was probably made before the year 326. When complete, it may have reached 10 to 12 m (33 to 39 ft) in height. Three large fragments of the statue survive, some with traces of gilding: a large head, 177 cm (70 in) high, or 125 cm (49 in) without the neck (recorded in the museum's inventory as MC1072); a left hand, which measures 150 cm (59 in) (inv. MC1070); and a spiked orb measuring 150 cm (59 in) (inv. MC1065). All three fragments are damaged: the crown of the head is missing, as are parts of some fingers of the hand. Early sources indicate the head was crowned, with the left hand holding a globe (both surviving but now separated) and the right hand holding a sword (both missing). Much of the statue is missing: many bronze panels may have been melted down in late antiquity or the Middle Ages.
The missing end of the index finger, about 38 cm (15 in) long, was rediscovered in 2018 in the collection of the
Based on its similarity to the emperor's depictions on coins and resemblance to the marble
Location
The statue may have been originally erected at the
Along with other antiquities, including the
The orb and the other fragments are now held in the Capitoline Museum, and displayed in the Exhedra of Marcus Aurelius, a glass pavilion constructed in the 1990s to house the original gilt-bronze
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Three surviving parts of the colossus, in 2006: head, left hand, and spiked orb
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Head, 2013
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Hand, 2016
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Orb, 2016
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Map byequestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius at the Lateran
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18th century engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, showing the orb on a column
Other statues of Constantine in Rome
Contemporary (4th century) smaller marble statues of Emperor Constantine can be seen at the entrance to the
References
- Capitoline Museums catalogue: head · hand · orb
- Colossal Bronze Statue of Roman Emperor Reunited With Its Long-Lost Finger, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 April 2021
- Index finger at the Louvre