Equestrian statue

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An equestrian statue or equestrian monument is the public and mostly larger-than-life bronze form of representation of a ruler or a general on horseback, adopted from Roman antiquity . With very few exceptions, equestrian statues stand on high stone pedestals in prominent places (mostly squares) and in the open air in cities.

Equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz

Demarcation

The "equestrian statue", which is mostly reserved for military leaders and rulers (cf. vandalism and monument fall ), must be distinguished from the statue , which is mostly reserved for speakers or politicians, and the seated image reserved for musicians, poets and scholars (e.g. Theodor Mommsen monument in Berlin) . The monument bust, on the other hand, is the public form of portrait sculpture .

Since the High and Late Middle Ages, a few Christian religious fighters have also been depicted as under-life-sized "equestrian figures" (see below); stone and wood were used as material for this. Such figures are mostly placed inside churches (more rarely in town halls etc.).

Forms of representation

While smaller equestrian statues were mostly made in stone or wood, monumental equestrian statues are usually cast in bronze in specialized foundries ; They are mostly cast in parts that are only assembled on site. The ancient origin of this form of representation requires a stone base . Statically difficult to manage and therefore very rare are equestrian portraits with a rearing horse.

The large-format equestrian picture is also a theme of monumental painting .

Well-known equestrian statues

Picture gallery

See also

Other equestrian figures

Occasionally the term "equestrian figure" is also used generally for depictions of people on horses; Mention should be made in this context of the high medieval statues of the “ Bamberg Rider ” or the “ Magdeburg Rider ” as well as related portraits.

Medieval and early modern equestrian figures of the dragon-slaying St. George and St. Martin ; in Spain, Santiago is shown regularly as a rider on horseback in his role as the “ moor killer ” ( matamoros ) .

literature

  • Hjalmar Friis: Rytterstatuens Historie i Europe. Fra Oldtiden intil Thorvaldsen . Copenhagen 1933
  • Wolfgang Vomm: Equestrian statues of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany . Dissertation, University of Cologne 1979
  • Joachim Poeschke, Thomas Weigel, Britta Kusch-Arnhold (eds.), Praemium Virtutis III - equestrian statues from antiquity to classicism . Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-930454-59-4
  • Raphael Beuing: Equestrian Images of the Early Renaissance - Monument and Memoria . Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-930454-88-4

Web links

Commons : Equestrian Still  Images - collection of images, videos, and audio files
Wiktionary: Equestrian statue  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations