Some marks of reworking on the head indicate that the authors of this gigantic work made up the features of Constantine using an earlier work, although it is not excluded it may have represented Maxentius, an enemy of Constantine. The head, in particular, was first used to decorate the fountain built around the statue of Marforio, and later moved to the courtyard. The various fragments were moved to the Capitoline Hill and placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori during the 16th and 17th centuries. The remains, discovered during the papacy of Innocent VIII (1484-1492). According to Michael Grant:įelt it appropriate to speak of the ‘Divine Face’ and 'Sacred Countenance’.This colossal head, originally formed part of a colossal statue that was up to 10-12 meters in height. Constantine is enthroned in this great public work in unapproachable grandeur, like the effigy of a god, although he is really intended to reflect the Christian deity. 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. 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 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. It from the tyrant’s yoke, and through my act of liberation i restored the senate and people of rome to their ancient renown and splendor.” Salvation, which is the true symbol of goodness, i rescued your city and freed An inscription is said to have been engraved below Medals that Constantine minted around this time show him so decorated. The head is about 2½ meters high and each foot is over 2 meters long. Judging by the size of the remaining pieces, the seated, enthroned figure would have been about 12 meters (40 feet) high. He also succeeded in reunifying the empire with the defeat of the last of his former tetrarchy colleagues, the Eastern emperor Licinius. Although Diocletian’s intent had been to permanently do away with dynastic succession, Constantine’s aim was to establish a new dynasty and to found a new capital, named Constantinople after himself. This Tetrarchy was founded on the idea of homogeneous authority all four emperors were depicted together in portraits emphasizing their unity and indivisibility in order to bolster their strength and present the image of a unified empire. Constantine’s reign marked a distinct shift away from the administrative system set up by the emperor Diocletian in 293 A.D., which saw the division of the empire into four territories each governed by one of four imperial partners. Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome, and his reign had a profound effect on the subsequent development of the Roman, and later Byzantine, world. Most of the construction was brick with a wooden torso that was covered with bronze, except for the flesh. These fragments were part of a seated, semi-nude portrait of the emperor that was akin to Roman images of Jupiter. He held an orb (which may have had a cross on top) in his extended left hand. Note that the head was not really three-dimensional because the back of head was built of bricks and mortar it’s really half a head. He displays the visionary gaze, and his enlarged eyes convey spiritualism. He returned to the tradition of the eternally young emperor. It is sort of a neo-Attic style - sort of a “god-king.” His expression is serene. After his victory over Maxentius, Constantine’s official portraits adopted a new style. 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. Was a colossal acrolithic statue of the late Roman emperor Constantine the Great ( c. 280–337) that once occupied the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius near the Forum Romanum in Rome.
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