Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius

The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is an over-life-size bronze portrait of the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, cast in the 2nd century AD and one of the very few large ancient bronzes to survive intact into the modern era. Its survival was accidental: medieval Christians mistook it for a depiction of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, and spared it from the smelting furnace. Ancient sources suggest a kneeling barbarian figure once crouched before the horse — that element is now lost entirely. Scholars still dispute the precise date: proposals range from a commemoration of the Parthian triumph of 166 AD to the Marcomannic Wars of the 170s, or even the reign of Commodus after 180 AD. The original bronze is now preserved indoors at the Capitoline Museums; a replica has stood on the Capitoline Hill since 1997.