art.wikisort.org - Sculpture

Search / Calendar

The Colossus of Barletta is a large bronze statue of a Roman emperor, nearly three times life size (5.11 meters, or about 16 feet 7 inches) in Barletta, Italy.

Colossus of Barletta
Colossus of Barletta
Colossus of Barletta
Colossus of Barletta

The statue supposedly washed up on a shore, after a Venetian ship sank returning from the Sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204, but it is not impossible that the statue was sent to the West much earlier. The identity of the emperor is uncertain. According to tradition, it depicts Heraclius (reign 610–641 AD); though this is most unlikely on historical and art-historical grounds. More likely subjects are Theodosius II (reign 402–450 AD), who may have had it erected in Ravenna in 439, Honorius (reign 393–423 AD), Valentinian I (r. 364–375), Marcian (r. 450–457), Justinian I (r. 527–565) and especially Leo I (r. 457–474), in which case it probably topped his Column of Leo, from which fragments remain in Istanbul.

It is known that a colossal statue was discovered in 1231–1232 during excavations commissioned by emperor Frederick II in Ravenna, and is not improbable that he had it transported to his southern Italian lands. The first certain news about the statue date however from 1309, when parts of its legs and arms were used by local Dominicans to cast bells. The missing parts were remade in the 15th century.

The statue evidently depicts an emperor, identifiable from his imperial diadem and his commanding gesture that invokes the act of delivering a speech, with his right arm raised, holding a cross, although this is a later addition when the statue was being repaired and in place of the cross there was originally a spear or a military standard. The emperor wears a cuirass over his short tunic. His cloak is draped over his left arm in a portrait convention that goes back to Augustus. In his outstretched left hand he holds a small orb, another later addition to replace a larger original orb. His diademed head wears a Gothic jewel, similar to the one worn by Aelia Eudoxia, mother of Theodosius II. The emperor's face is rigid with strong jaw and high cheekbones with short shaved beard, his eyes being directed upwards.


See also



Further reading





На других языках

[de] Koloss von Barletta

Der Koloss von Barletta ist eine im Wachsgussverfahren hergestellte Bronzestatue, die wahrscheinlich in der zweiten Hälfte des 5. Jahrhunderts entstand und heute in der Hafenstadt Barletta in Apulien steht. Die heute 5,11 m hohe Statue, deren antiker Bestand bis zum Diadem eine Höhe von 3,55 m erreicht, wurde 1309 erstmals urkundlich als königliches Eigentum von Karl II. von Anjou erwähnt und lag beinahe vollständig erhalten im Hafen von Barletta. 1491 wurden fehlende Teile an Armen und die Beine ergänzt, zudem wurden Teile des Gewandes und des Halses geflickt. Die Schädelkalotte fehlt.
- [en] Colossus of Barletta

[it] Colosso di Barletta

Il Colosso di Barletta, meglio noto localmente come Eraclio (Arè nel dialetto locale), è una gigantesca statua di bronzo, alta 4,50 m, risalente al V secolo.

[ru] Барлеттский колосс

Барле́ттский коло́сс — крупная бронзовая статуя римского или византийского императора, находящаяся в приморском городе Барлетта, провинция Апулия Италии. Высота статуи около 5 метров. Вопрос о том, какого именно императора она изображает, является предметом дискуссии.


Текст в блоке "Читать" взят с сайта "Википедия" и доступен по лицензии Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike; в отдельных случаях могут действовать дополнительные условия.

Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.

2019-2025
WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии