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| Year | c. 307–312 AD |
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| Type | White marble, brick,wood, gilded bronze |
| Height | (originally): about 1200 cm |
| Location | Musei Capitolini, Rome |
The Colossus of Constantine was a colossal acrolithic statue of Constantine the Great (c. 280–337) that once occupied the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum Romanum in Rome. Portions of the Colossus now reside in the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Musei Capitolini, on the Capitoline Hill, above the west end of the Forum.
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Description
The great head, arms and legs were carved from marble, while the rest of the body consisted of a brick core and wooden framework, possibly covered with gilded bronze. (“Acrolithic” means “stone at the extremities”.) Judging by the size of the remaining pieces, the seated, enthroned figure would have been about 12 m (40 ft) high. The head is about 2 ½ m high and each foot is over 2 m long. The great head is carved in a typical, abstract, Constantinian style (“hieratic emperor style”) of late Roman portrait statues, whereas the other body parts are naturalistic, even down to callused toes and bulging forearm veins. The head was perhaps meant to convey the transcendence of the other-worldly nature of the Emperor over the human sphere, notable in its larger-than-life eyes which gaze toward eternity from a rigidly impersonal, frontal face. The treatment of the head shows a synthesis of individualistic portraiture: the hooked nose, deep jaw and prominent chin characteristic of all images of Constantine, with the trends of Late Roman portraiture which focus on symbolism and abstraction, rather than detail. Precise dating of the statue is problematical; it has been suggested that a date of 312–315 for the initial creation of the statue is likely from political considerations, whilst a substantial reworking of the features some time after 325 is indicated on art-historical grounds.[1]
History
The Basilica, on the northern boundary of the Forum, was begun in 307 by Co-Emperor Maxentius. Constantine completed the Basilica after he defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. Constantine seems to have reorientated the building, changing the site of the principle entrance and adding a new northern apse.[2]
The colossus was pillaged sometime in Late Antiquity, most likely for the bronze body portions.
The marble portions of the statue were brought to light in 1487. The surviving remnants are arranged in the Palazzo dei Conservatori Courtyard as follows from left to right: the right arm (with elbow), the head, the right kneecap, a right hand, [a columned museum entrance], the left shin, the right foot, the left kneecap, [an ornamented column remnant] and the left foot. Strangely there are two right hands (with upraised index fingers) amongst the remains of the statue, which differ slightly. It has been proposed that the statue was re-worked at some time late in Constantine's reign and a hand holding a sceptre replaced by a hand holding a Christian symbol.[3]
The marble colossus parts underwent restoration during 2000–2001. Between 6 and 10 February 2006, a 3D laser scan of the fragments was carried out on behalf of the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate in collaboration with the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Reconstruction and castings will be displayed from 2 June to 4 November 2007 as part of the major cultural and historical “Constantine the Great” Exhibition in Trier, Germany.
Notes
References
Pohlsander, H. A. (1996), The Emperor Constantine, Routledge, ISBN 0415131782
See also
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