Statues of Ancient Rome

• Roman Sculpture was based on the admiration of the Classical Greek style of sculpture. Schools for studying the sculptures of Classical Greece existed in Athens and in Rome by the 1st century BCE.
• Rome had many full size statues and equestrian statues in both stone and bronze, which were located in public places as well as in private villas.

Prima Porta Augustus (c. 20 CE)

• The ‘Augusta of Primaporta’, a lifesize white marble statue of the Emperor Augustus created in c.20 CE. It was found in 1863 in Prima Porta at the Villa of Livia Drusilla, Augustus’ third wife.
• It is displayed in the Braccio Nuovo wing of the Vatican Museums

Trajan's Column (113 CE)

• Trajan’s Column was topped with a statue of Trajan, but today it has been replaced by a Bronze statue of St. Peter.

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius (175 CE)

• Bronze Statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius on a Horse (175 CE). The Bronze was erected in 175 CE and was originally covered in gold.
• The Statue now stands in the grounds of the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Marble Colossus of Constantine (312-15 CE)

• The giant marble statue was originally located in the Basilica of Maxentius in the Via Sacra.
• The surviving parts of the Colossus are on display in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museums.

Triumphal Quadriga

• The only Quadriga (four horses pulling a chariot), to survive from the Roman Period was taken by the Venetians in the Fourth Crusade of 1204 CE from Constantinople.
• It used to stand in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, but is thought to have been of earlier Roman construction, possibly dating to the period of Septimius Severus (193-211 CE). It is now in Venice.

The Galatian Gauls

• Three 2nd Century CE Roman Marble copies of Greek Statues originally made in Bronze by Attalus I of Pergamon around 230-220 BCE after his victory over the Gauls of Galatia. They depict the Galatian Gauls.
• However, they were found in the gardens of the Villa Ludovisi in Rome, originally the Gardens of Sallust (1st century Roman Garden) and are now on show in Rome.

1. The Ludovisi Gaul
   • Displaying a Man holding his dying wife whilst killing himself, now in the National Roman Museum, Palazzo Altemps, Rome.
2. The Dying Gaul
   • The statue, originally called the Dying Gladiator, depicts a Celtic warrior wearing a Torc, with a sword wound in his side.
   • It is on display in the Capitoline Museums, Rome, with a copy in the Courtauld Gallery in London.
3. The Kneeling Gaul
   • On display in the Louvre, Sully, Ground Floor, Room 17, Paris.