DiscussionColossal bronze statue of emperor in cuirass. Probably from Constantinople (now in Barletta). Late fourth to fifth century. DESCRIPTION (OBJECT)The statue was restored in 1431 by an artist named Fabio Alfano who cast both legs from the bottom of the tunic down; the right arm, including elbow; and the left arm from edge of mantle. Missing are: the top of the head above the diadem, and the fibula at the right shoulder. The lost-wax casting is extraordinarily thin for the scale of the figure which may account for the worn spots on certain surfaces and for some of the above-mentioned losses. However, these may be ascribable to the fact that in the 14th century Dominicans were allowed to use the bronze of the statue for the founding of bells for their monastery in Manfredonia. According to Delbrueck, traces of gilding on flesh surfaces are identifiable, a fact denied by von Heintze; Delbrueck also mentions silver in whites of eyes, niello in pupils, and tin eyelashes. DESCRIPTION The emperor, who is at, or past middle age, wears two jeweled tunics under the cuirass, and a mantle over the cuirass. The cuirass is tied with a commander’s sash and pelta-shaped fasteners, one of which is preserved on the right hip. The round flaps attached to its bottom edge are decorated with snake-haired and winged gorgoneia; under them is a skirt of leather straps with fringed ends covering the tunica visible above the knees. The mantle is fastened on the right shoulder by a now lost fibula, but traces of its pendilia with ends in the form of pearls are still visible on the surface of the mantle itself. The right arm is raised and holds a cross. This was added in the 15th century; originally the statue probably brandished a spear or a labarum, now lost. The left arms holds a globe (smaller than the original one) and the falling mantle covered nearly the whole left side of the body. The face is asymmetrical and fixed in a grimace characterized by moulded forehead masses and complicated eyebrows framing the determined stare. A light beard is rendered through chisel marks. Under the diadem the hair falls in rolls; the strands are carefully delineated. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The colossal bronze statue now stands in front of the medieval church of the Holy Sepulchre (Santo Sepolcro) on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Barletta. It was moved to its present site in 1491 and is, in fact, first recorded in a rescript of Charles of Anjou dated to 1309 at a site by the harbour. This location seems to confirm local tradition according to which the colossus was taken by the Venetians from Constantinople (possibly in 1204) but lost in a shipwreck on the Apulian coast during a storm. Certainly Constantinople is much the most likely place of origin for an imperial colossus of the late 4th or 5th century.. HONORAND AND DATE In contrast to local tradition at Barletta which has long identified the statue as Heraclius, modern scholars have identified it with various emperors from Honorius onwards; it has even been considered Carolingian. From a stylistical point of view, the closest resemblance is offered by the portrait of Eutropius from Ephesus and now in Vienna (LSA-690) and the porphyry head of an emperor set in the balaustrade of the exterior balcony of the basilica of San Marco in Venice, the so-called ‘Carmagnola’ (LSA-454), and some diptychs, all dated to the mid or the second half of the fifth century. Delbrueck believed that the bronze statue was set on the column for Marcian (450-7) (LSA-2461) in Constantinople, the base of which still bears a figure of Victory in relief with drapery details not unlike those of the Barletta colossus. However, the scale of the colossus is too large for Marcian's column (which is only 8,74 m high). The statue is however compatible with the scale of the upper drum, Corinthian capital and plinth of the column erected by the sister of Leo I (457-74) in honour of her brother at the Pittakia, north-east of Hagia Sophia (LSA-2462), and may possibly have come from here. A later 5th century date is probable, and the identification with Leo possible. Main ReferenceWeitzmann, K. (ed.), Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century : catalogue of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, through February 12, 1978, New York 1979, 29-30, no. 23 (J.D. Breckenridge)Demougeot, É. 'Le Colosse de Barletta', Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Antiquité 94/2, , Rome 1982, 951-978 Testini, P. 'La statua di bronzo o ‘colosso’ di Barletta', Puglia Paleocristiana, Bari 1973, 310-34 Picozzi, V. 'Contributi numismatici all’identificazione del Colosso di Barletta', Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, 73, Milan 1971, 11-31 Delbrueck, R., Spätantike Kaiserporträts. Von Constantinus Magnus bis zum Ende des Westreichs , Leipzig 1933, 219-26, pls. 116-20 Discussion ReferencesHeintze, H. von 'Römische Bildniskunst' in, Das römische Weltreich. Propyläen Kunstgeschichte II , Berlin 1967, no. 331 La Rocca, E. 'Divina ispirazione' in, S. Ensoli and E. La Rocca (eds.), Aurea Roma, Rome 2000, 30-31 Peschlow, U., Eine wiedergewonnene byzantinische Ehrensäule in Istanbul, Studien zur spätantiken und byzantinischen Kunst, Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann gewidmet. Teil 1, pp.21-34, Bonn 1986, 21-33 Sande, S., Zur Porträtplastik des sechsten nachchristlichen Jahrhunderts, Institutum Romanum Norvegiae, Acta ad archeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia 6, Roma 1975, 65-106, 75-6 Severin, H-G., Zur Portraitplastik des 5. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., Munich 1972, 106-112 Stichel, R. H. W., Die römische Kaiserstatue am Ende der Antike, Roma 1982, 61-3, pls. 30-31 |
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