Gilt Bronzes from Cartoceto di Pergola
Encyclopedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
gilt
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
equestrian group. The monumental ensemble was composed of at least two knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s, of which only one remains, atop their horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, and two women standing.
Discovery and restoration
In June and July 1946, hundreds of gilt bronze fragments, weighing hundreds of kilograms, were accidentally discovered in Santa Lucia di Calamello, in Cartoceto di Pergola (Province of Pesaro and Urbino), central ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Canon Giovanni Vernarecci, who was at the time the archaeological inspector for the district of Fossombrone
Fossombrone
Fossombrone is a town and comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino .-History:The ancient Roman colony of Forum Sempronii took its name from Gaius Sempronius Gracchus....
, detailed the circumstances of his fortuitous discovery in a typewritten account.
The bronzes were recovered by Vernarecci and Nereo Alfieri, who was the Marche regional inspector of the governmental antiquity department (Soprintendenza alle Antichità delle Marche). 318 fragments were placed together in an attempt to recreate the original statues, and the group was restored in several spurts between 1949 and 1988.
Original placement of the group
The fragments were uncovered not far from the intersection of the Via FlaminiaVia Flaminia
The Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
and the Via Salaria Gallica
Via Salaria
The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy.It eventually ran from Rome to Castrum Truentinum on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 km. The road also passed through Reate and Asculum...
, which is an isolated location, far from urban centres. This unusual collocation has led archaeologists to conjecture that the group was likely removed from its original position and set aside sometime in late antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
or in Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
times — some suggesting that this may have been the result of a damnatio memoriae
Damnatio memoriae
Damnatio memoriae is the Latin phrase literally meaning "condemnation of memory" in the sense of a judgment that a person must not be remembered. It was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate upon traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman State...
.
The bronzes' original placement in an urban context is still uncertain. The most accepted hypothesis suggests that the group may have originally rested on a base in some public area (probably the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
of a Roman city near the discovery site). Notable candidates are the Forum Sempronii (Fossombrone
Fossombrone
Fossombrone is a town and comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino .-History:The ancient Roman colony of Forum Sempronii took its name from Gaius Sempronius Gracchus....
), which was closest, Sentinum (Sassoferrato
Sassoferrato
Sassoferrato is a town and comune of the province of Ancona in the Marche region of Italy.-History:To the south of the town lie the ruins of the ancient Sentinum, on the Via Flaminia...
), where the existence a foundry for large statues has been attested, or Suasa
Suasa
Suasa was an ancient Roman town in what is now the comune of Castelleone di Suasa, Marche, Italy. It is located in the Pian Volpello locality, in the valley of the Cesano River.-History:...
, because other large fragments of a similar gilt bronze horse were found there (on display at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, see photos http://flickr.com/photos/menesje/1341510325/ and http://flickr.com/photos/menesje/1341511391/).
Identification
The group is composed of two horsemen, two women, and two horses. The characters represented likely belonged to a single family of senatorialRoman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
rank, but certain identification of the subjects has eluded archaeologists. Some have proposed that the group may depict the imperial family of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...
, which would date the statues to 20-30 AD; the horsemen are thought to be Nero Caesar
Nero Caesar
Nero Julius Caesar Germanicus was a close relative of the Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.Nero was born around AD 6, to Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. His paternal grandparents were Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor...
and Drusus III, sons of Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
, while the women would be Livia Drusilla (Germanicus' grandmother) and Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
(Germanicus' wife).
More likely, however, the statues date between 50 and 30 BC and depict members of a prestigious legate
Legatus
A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
's family from the territory in which they were discovered, the Ager Gallicus
Ager Gallicus
The expression Ager Gallicus defines the territory conquered by Rome after defeating the Senones, at the beginning of the third century BC, in the Battle of Sentinum .- Territory :...
. Several candidate families have been proposed, including that of Domitius Ahenobarbus, as well as those of Marcus Satrius (senator representing Sentinum) and Lucius Minucius Basilus
Lucius Minucius Basilus
Lucius Minucius Basilus was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, a trusted associate of Julius Caesar, who later participated in Caesar's assassination....
(born in nearby Cupra Maritima, modern Cupra Marittima
Cupra Marittima
Cupra Marittima is a comune in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about 70 km southeast of Ancona and about 30 km northeast of Ascoli Piceno...
, and amidst the senators who killed Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
).
A further hypothesis proposes that the group may have originally been placed in the Heraion of Samos Island
Samos Island
Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...
, and that the subjects are the family of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who would be one of the horsemen.
Horsemen
- The best-preserved horseman is a mature man (about 40 years of age), whose clothes (the paludamentumPaludamentumIn Republican and Imperial Rome, the paludamentum was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders and by their troops. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman emperors were often portrayed wearing it in their statues and on their coinage...
and tunicTunicA tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
) identify him as a high-ranking military officer in time of peace, consistent with the position of the right arm, raised in the symbol of peace. Fragments only remain of the other horseman.
Women
- The surviving standing figure depicts an elderly woman, whose hellenistic hairstyle, typical of the second half of the first century, suggests dating the group accordingly. The woman wears a stoleStole (shawl)A stole is a lady's shawl, especially a formal shawl of expensive fabric used around the shoulders over a party dress or ballgown.A stole is typically narrower than a shawl, and of simpler construction than a cape; being a length of a quality material, wrapped and carried about the shoulders or arms...
and pallaPallathumb|250px|"Palla eh!" game in [[Vetulonia]], 2001Palla is a traditional Tuscan ball game played in towns between Siena and Grosseto. It is also called palla EH! because players call out eh! before serving.Small hand-made balls contain a lead pellet wrapped in rubber and wool with a leather cover...
. The other female figure is substantially less preserved, as only the lower portions of her body have survived.
Horses
- The horses are presented with a raised front leg, which suggests a walking motion. The figures of a tritonTriton (mythology)Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the big sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is...
and a nereid, alongside seahorses and dolphins, adorn each pectoral plate. The harnesses are enriched by metal phaleras on which images of various gods are placed to protect the steed and its owner, including JupiterJupiter (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, VenusVenus (mythology)Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, MarsMars (mythology)Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
, JunoJuno (mythology)Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
, MinervaMinervaMinerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
, and MercuryMercury (mythology)Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
.
Techniques and materials
The statues were made by using the lost-wax casting method and are composed primarily of a copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
alloy with traces of lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
; After assembly, the statues were gilded with gold leaf
Gold leaf
right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
.
Controversy
Because of its extraordinary archaeological importance, the group has been at the centre of a long controversy between the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle Marche and the municipality of PergolaPergola, Italy
Pergola is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche.The Gilt Bronzes of Cartoceto di Pergola were discovered in the communal territory in 1946. They are now exposed in a specific museum at Pergola....
over the location where the bronzes would be preserved. The group was on display at the National Archeological Museum of the Marche, in Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, until 1972, when it was moved to the Museo dei Bronzi dorati della città di Pergola, built specifically for this purpose. A compromise solution now moves the original bronzes and replicas between the two sites.
A replica intended to reproduce the bronzes' original state is displayed on the roof of the Palazzo Ferretti (site of the National Archaeological Museum of the Marche) in celebration of local archaeology.