Leseprobe

124 Marcus Aurelius, after the antique Antonio Averlino, called Filarete Florence c. 1400– c. 1469 Rome (?) 1440/1445 Bronze with traces of enamel; 38.2×38.4×17.4 cm First mentioned in the 1587 inventory of the Kunstkammer Inv. no. H4 155/37 This figure is a greatly reduced copy of the over four-metre-high bronze equestrian statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, the only classical monument of its kind to be preserved in this state of completeness. It stood in front of the papal Lateran Palace from the 8th century until 1538, when it was moved to the Capitol Square. Filarete’s reduction is the earliest small bronze of the Renaissance, and is regarded as the foundational work of this important new genre which brought the spirit of antiquity into the studiolo of erudite humanist collectors. Filarete – whose name means ‘lover of virtue’ – was an architect and sculp- tor, and the author of an important treatise. He probably trained under Lorenzo Ghiberti in Florence at the time when the latter was making the Gates of Paradise for the Baptistery. Evidently, the expertise Filarete had acquired on this project led to a commission from Pope Eugene IV to create bronze doors for St Peter’s in Rome (1433–1445). It was during this time that he made the bronze statuette, which like the doors is executed in a strictly classical style. Probably inspired by small bronzes from antiquity, it is not only the statuette itself that is remarkable but also the detailed inscription on its base. Although this states that the figure was intended for Piero de’ Medici, it came into the possession of the Margraves of Mantua. From there it was sent to Dresden in 1586 as a gift from Guglielmo Gonzaga to Elector Christian I of Saxony.  |  ckg