From February 6, 2024, the colossal statue of the emperor Constantine can be admired in the Garden of Villa Caffarilli in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
The 13-metre-high replica statue, reconstructed in full scale from the original marble fragments from the fourth century AD, is preserved in the courtyard of Palazzo dei Conservatori, in the Capitoline Museums.
The fragments were found in 1486 inside the Basilica of Massenzio on the Via Sacra.
At first, they appeared to belong to a statue of the emperor Commodus and, only at the end of the 19th century, scholars understood that the marble pieces actually belonged to the Colossus of Constantine.
What remains of the original statue are: the head, the right hand, the right elbow, both knees, the left ankle, and both feet.
The reproduction exhibited in the Garden of Villa Cappellolli in Rome depicts the emperor as a seated Jupiter, with his body partially uncovered, a cloak on his shoulder, the globe in his left hand and the sceptre in his right one.
It is possible to admire the statue for free every day.
