Verrocchio's Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni: A Bronze to Die For
When Bartolomeo Colleoni died in 1475, he left a significant portion of his wealth to the Venetian Republic he had ably served as a professional soldier (condottiere). The will included a provision that a bronze equestrian statue of himself be erected in Piazza San Marco. The Venetian Signoria dithered for four years, desiring to accept the rich bequest but hesitant to honor a private individual in the city's most prominent location.
Equestrian statues generally were reserved to honor rulers and emperors, the Marcus Aurelius in Rome being the well-known antique exemplar. Given the political potency of such a sculpture, the Venetians understandably were leery of erecting an imperial monument in a city that prided itself on its egalitarian ethos. As one Venetian contemporary complained, we should not be 'imitating the custom of the pagans.' Florence too shied from placing an equestrian statue in Piazza della Signoria until 1594, when Giambologna's Cosimo de' Medici appeared on the square. The Venetians were cleverer. In a brilliant legalistic maneuver, the Signoria finally agreed to accept the terms of Colleoni's bequest: The equestrian statue would be erected—not in Piazza San Marco, but in front of the Scuola di San Marco on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, an important but politically neutral location that served as a favorite trysting spot of the infamous lover Giacomo Casanova.
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