Dome

Horse, rear; Initially Michelangelo was asked to design a base for the ancient equestrian statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, which Paul III had moved from the Lateran to the Capitoline in 1538. His choice of an oval base is echoed in the oval pavement (from 1561), and Ackerman argued that Michelangelo produced the designs for the whole piazza, including the façade of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, at this early date, although the latter was not executed until after 1561. This is the only equestrian bronze to have survived since Antiquity. The only reason that this sculpture survived, is that it was thought to be a statue of Emperor Constantine, who was the first Emperor of Rome to legalize Christianity in the empire. The bronze now in position is a modern copy; the original is in the Palazzo dei Conservatori nearby. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/5/2008)