Full Size Replica of Colossal Statue of Constantine on Display at Capitoline Museum

[Zarco]

The 43-foot tall replica was reconstructed by a digital art group, based on the 10 known fragments of the original sculpture.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/world/europe/colossus-constantine-rome-statue.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T00.uhp7.awnpgZWh70BO&smid=url-share

To keep it legal, here's a coin of Constantine.

Constantine I, 306-337 AD.
AE1, 4.52 g, 24.1 mm, 7 h.
Londinium mint, 310 AD.
Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F IN AVG; Bust of Constantine I, laureate, cuirassed, right.
Rev: SOLI INVIC-TO COMITI ; Sol, chlamys falling from left shoulder, standing left, raising right hand and holding up globe with left hand.
Refs: RIC VI Londinium 120 (correction).
According to Not in RIC webpage, "RIC lists this type with obv. legend IMP CONSTANTINVS PI IN AVG and annotation that Bastien reads this legend as IMP CONSTANTINVS P F IN AVG. Cloke-Toone agrees with Bastien and gives P F in obv. legend (6.02.009). However, on some specimens F may resemble deformed I. There is quite similar case with LONDINIUM 146b (eBay; 4.76 g, 24 mm). RIC gives obv. legend IMP MAXIMINVS P F AVG but notes also example with ...P I AVG (p. 135 and footnote 2)." URL: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/notinric/6lon120cor.html
For info about the Bourton-on-the-Water hoard: BURGE, DAVID W. “Bourton-on-the-Water (Gloucestershire) Hoard of Constantinian Folles.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-) 13 (1973): 98–125. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42664668.
Acquired from Roma Numismatics, E-Sale 68, Lot 1222, 27 February 2020.
From the inventory of a UK dealer; Ex Bourton on the Water hoard of Constantine period Roman coins, purchased from C.J. and A.J. Dixon, 20 February 1979.

 

[Curtis JJ]

That thing looks pretty spectacular. I'd love to see it. I've never seen the original giant head and other fragments, but hope it do at some point.

Here's a favorite Constantine, and my only one from London:

Constantine I Æ Follis (22mm, 3.66 g, 6h), struck at Londinium (London) mint, 311-312 CE.
Obv: CONSTANTINVS PF AVG. Laureate, helmeted, and cuirassed bust left, holding spear forward in right hand, shield on left arm.
Rev: ADVENTVS AVG / * / PLN. Constantine riding left, right hand raised, holding spear in left hand, on horse pawing seated captive to left.
Ref: RIC VI 136 corr. (bust left, not right); C&T 7.01.007 (this coin cited and illustrated); Stepniewski “Not in RIC” CV6, p. 134, Lond. 136 (this coin illustrated); cf. Huvelin  16 (ADVENTVS AVG N).
Prov: Paul DiMarzio Collection (CNG 525, 19 Oct 2022, 1389); Ex CT Collections [Lee Toone] (Hookmoor FPL 1, February 2016, 12); acq. Clive Eyre, Oct 2010.

 

But here is my specimen whose portrait most reminds of the Colossus [Wiki]:

Ex Ken Bressett Collection & "Lincoln Higgie Hoard" (Turkey, 1967)

[Victor_Clark]

also one being installed in England.

 

here is the one in Rome

 

 

 

a coin from Rome about the same time as the original statue

 

 

 

Constantine I
A.D. 312- 313
21mm 4.7g
IMP C CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; laureate and cuirassed bust right.
HERCVLI VICTORI; Hercules standing right, leaning on club and holding Victory on globe and lion’s skin.
In ex. R S
RIC VI Rome 299

 

 

[DonnaML]

For comparison purposes, from when I was in Rome with my son in 2008, a couple of photos I took of what remains of the original statue :

Edited February 10 by DonnaML

[Heliodromus]

That's actually a different statue, although the one this reproduction copies is also at the Capitoline (in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori).

These pieces were found in-situ in the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius, in 1486, which Constantine had modified after assuming control of Rome. The face of Constantine shows signs of rework and is understood to have been recut from an original of another emperor or deity.

The "reproduction" was made by Factum Foundation who have a fairly detailed account of the work here:

https://factumfoundation.org/our-projects/3d-sculpting/re-creating-the-colossus-of-constantine/

I put "reproduction" in scare quotes since this is as much interpretation and assumption as it based on the original which doesn't give a whole lot more to go on other than a seated Constantine (per the bent knee) holding some sort of staff-like object in his left hand. The "original" hand has an extended index finger which is understood to have been a renaissance addition, which is why they've changed the hand into a more natural (?) gripping pose.

Here's a screen grab from the Factum video which show how much of the statue was of necessity invented out of thin air (well, almost). The seated figure is all conjecture, as are the staff, globe and clothing.

One might ask why the figure is anatomically correct (well, at least for someone who has suffered an unpleasant injury 😃) when it's about to be covered up with clothing, and the answer is because the seated figure itself is based on a 3-D scan of the seated Hercules at the Palazzo Altemps.

 

 

This isn't the first time the Colossus of Constantine has been copied. This one is in resin, but another life-size copy of the head was made from marble (CNC machined from a 3-D scan) for the Trier Landesmuseum 1700 anniversary held in 2007.

 

Edited February 10 by Heliodromus

[DonnaML]

11 minutes ago, Heliodromus said:

That's actually a different statue, although the one this reproduction copies is also at the Capitoline (in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori).

These pieces were found in-situ in the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius, in 1486, which Constantine had modified after assuming control of Rome. The face of Constantine shows signs of rework and is understood to have been recut from an original of another emperor or deity.

The "reproduction" was made by Factum Foundation who have a fairly detailed account of the work here:

https://factumfoundation.org/our-projects/3d-sculpting/re-creating-the-colossus-of-constantine/

I put "reproduction" in scare quotes since this is as much interpretation and assumption as it based on the original which doesn't give a whole lot more to go on other than a seated Constantine (per the bent knee) holding some sort of staff-like object in his left hand. The "original" hand has an extended index finger which is understood to have been a renaissance addition, which is why they've changed the hand into a more natural (?) gripping pose.

Here's a screen grab from the Factum video which show how much of the statue was of necessity invented out of thin air (well, almost). The seated figure is all conjecture, as are the staff, globe and clothing.

One might ask why the figure is anatomically correct (well, at least for someone who has suffered an unpleasant injury 😃) when it's about to be covered up with clothing, and the answer is because the seated figure itself is based on a 3-D scan of the seated Hercules at the Palazzo Altemps.

 

 

This isn't the first time the Colossus of Constantine has been copied. This one is in resin, but another life-size copy of the head was made from marble (CNC machined from a 3-D scan) for the Trier Landesmuseum 1700 anniversary held in 2007.

 

Thanks. I should have realized that because the statue remnants I photographed are in bronze rather than marble, they couldn't be  the same ones that were the subject of this "reproduction."

[Valentinian]

A friend of mine who knows a great deal about Constantine and his coins wrote, 

"We have the head of Constantine which clearly shows notches for a headdress attachment - probably a wreath or less likely, a diadem.  Why did they ignore this obvious feature while imagining his torso?

They imagine him holding a simple globe.  Constantine's propaganda at this time, especially on the coinage, was all about VICTORY.  There should be a Victory on the globe.

AI = Artificial Ignorance."

Constantine minted coins for thirty years. They are very common. If you know them well, I think you will agree he always had a headdress (laureate, diademed, helmeted. or radiate). However, it is true that there are imperial busts in the Capitoline Museum without any headdress. But, the notches seem conclusive. 

 

I have coins of Constantine with some deity or other holding a simple globe, but often the globe has Victory on it:



Maybe people reconstructing statues should consult numismatists. 


 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Very interesting and thanks for sharing the article. I likewise believe the orb would have been surmounted by victory. Certainly very imposing. Historical texts claim that Focas was the last emperor who had a colossal statue of himself erected in Constantinople - whereas in Rome he erected the column of Focas surmounted by a gold statue of himself in the forum - in both cases the last examples of statuary of classical type in Antiquity.

[Heliodromus]

On 2/10/2024 at 4:47 PM, Valentinian said:

They imagine him holding a simple globe.  Constantine's propaganda at this time, especially on the coinage, was all about VICTORY.  There should be a Victory on the globe.

Well, maybe.

But from the surviving fragments of the original it seems pure speculation that his left arm and hand (no pieces of which survive?) were posed like that in the first place. Plenty of other emperors had seated statues with one hand resting on their lap, and on later coins we see Constantine in a similar pose.

Even if he was holding a globe, it could have just been imperial insignia - globe and sceptre rather than with victory.

A rather major problem is that it's believed that the face has been recut from that of a different emperor, which I would take to mean that the entire statue was depicting someone else. Assuming this was the case (which itself seems like speculation) then how much of the statue was adapted for Constantine? If it was too much work to even carve a new head, then how about replacing an arm if it wasn't posed to his liking ?! If we take the idea of this being adapted from a statue of someone else, then guessing who that person was would seem to be key to how they might have depicted themself. Given that the Basilica was built by Maxentius, it would seem he might be a candidate.

Presumably the statue was carved, or reworked as the case may be, at the same time that Constantine made modifications to the Basilica - apparently a new entrance on the south side, and a new apse facing the entrance on the north side (why wasn't the statue placed there?!). Do we know when this work was done? Absent any evidence to the contrary, I'd have guessed that Constantine would have wanted to make his mark on Rome ASAP after he assumed control of the city. If he had any control over the pose of the statue (vs just recutting the head of a statue of someone else's choice), then the date might guide speculation around it.

Too many unknowns.

 

[Magnus Maximus]

That is the most based thing I’ve seen all month. 

[DonnaML]

1 hour ago, Magnus Maximus said:

That is the most based thing I’ve seen all month. 

Based?