EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF THE EMPEROR MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS

After the antique sculpture now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome.

Bronze.  On a carved and inscribed statuary marble base.

22 inches high overall.

Circa 1800.

NOTES:

This magnificent and rare bronze is one of the grandest of the Grand Tour models depicting the philosopher Emperor Marcus Aurelius. 

Whilst many bronzes of this general form are known to have been made for the Grand Tourists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries very few of those produced were of such exceptional quality and size. 

The original proportions of the Michelangelo-designed plinth have been slightly adjusted to produce a socle-like effect, adding to the classical beauty of this model.   

The original statue in the Capitoline Museum in Rome is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful equestrian statues ever created, and has served as an equine reference source for artists over hundreds of years. 

The statue cleverly depicts the Emperor in a triumphant return to Rome, balancing his victorious and majestic salute with a gentle and calming gesture of philosophical wisdom.

Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (121-180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. 

The last of the 'Good Emperors' is most noted for his epictetian Meditations that were written towards the end of his military campaign against the Germanic hordes, which he entitled: To Myself.

True to himself, the self-styled 'Philosopher-King' Marcus Aurelius was somehow able to withstand available temptations in order to maintain the tenets of his stoic philosophy without any later accusations of hypocrisy, an incredible feat for one of the richest and most powerful men who ever lived.