Ink-pot with Marcus Aurelius

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Bronze sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Room 16

Inventory

PV 09268

Material and technique

Bronze, patina, lacquer

Author

Paduan School

Dating

Early 16th century

Dimensions

20.5 x 21.5 x 18 cm.

Origin

Barsanti Collection (1934)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

The bronze reproduces the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius from an engraving or drawing that was executed in Rome. When this bronze was fused, the statue itself, which now stands on the Capitoline hill, was in the Lateran Palace. The subject was taken up in numerous small bronzes, having first been reproduced by Filarete in Rome, around 1440-1445, when he was working on the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica; a dedication that was later added to the base of the bronze that was given to Piero de’ Medici in 1465 acknowledges this fact. The inkwell was forged in Padua in the 16th century and features a cornucopia that serves as a penholder and receptacles for ink and powder; its main elements – the base, the equestrian group and the pair of containers – were clearly executed at different times. The equestrian group contains elements that are characteristic of the late 15th century, particularly the nails on the horseshoes; the holes in the base were designed to hold another statue and the two receptacles, which are too large for the small base, were certainly added later.

Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

L. Pollak, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti (Trecento-Settecento), Bergamo 1922, no. 41 p. 58, pl. XIX; A. Santangelo, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. La Collezione Auriti, Rome 1964, p. 26; D. Blume in H. Beck - P. C. Bol, Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, exh. cat., Frankfurt am Main 1985,  n. 57, p. 357; A. Mura Sommella - C. Parise Presicce, Il Marco Aurelio e la sua copia, Cinisello Balsamo 1997, no. 19 p. 38.