The settings

1.8 The settings

1.8.1 Settings, good and bad

The famous Renaissance artist Michelangelo knew better than anyone else that a statue needs a context; an environment that does justice to the work. When he was asked to come up with a proposal for the setting of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, he therefore did not limit himself to developing a simple design for a suitable placement of the monument, but instead transformed the statue into the visual focus of such a wonderful setting: the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome.

An equestrian statue can improve a square or a courtyard in such a way that it becomes a remarkable place, as well as the other way around. Statue and square can strengthen and enhance each other mutually. A statue has to be in harmony with its environment and needs space. One must be able to see it equally well from close by and from a distance. A statue also needs emptiness around it. A square might be spacious and beautiful, but if it is used as a car park, the statue will not get the chance to show off. The statue of José I in Portugal is a good example of one that has flourished since the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon stopped being used as a parking place (see Section 2.2.7).

Someone who understood this very well was Louis XIV. His equestrian statues in France were not made in order to decorate a square, but the square had to be made to strengthen the impression the statue was supposed to create. Some good examples of this vision are his equestrians in the Place Bellecour in Lyon, the L’Esplanade du Peyrou in Montpellier and the Place Vendôme in Paris (see Section 2.3.1).

Historic battlefields often offer a good setting for equestrian statues.

The site of the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is such a beautiful setting. It is as far as I know the only place where equestrian statues of both sides of a conflict can be found; Union generals as well as Confederate generals (see Section 2.11.5).

Another example of a historic battlefield is Bannockburn in Scotland. The impressive statue of Robert the Bruce stands on the spot where the warring parties are believed to have camped on the night before the battle in which the Scots defeated the English devastatingly in 1314.

Historic squares are often dominated and embellished by equestrian statues. Some good examples of this are the Piazza del Duomo in Milan with Vittorio Emanuele, the Plaza Mayor in Madrid with Philip III, Wenceslas Square in Prague with Wenceslas and the Theaterplatz in front of the Opera House in Dresden with Johann, König Von Sachsen

Some equestrian statues not only embellish the square but offer, together with their environment, a superb view. Some outstanding examples of this are the Washington monument at Eakins Oval in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Copper Horse (George III) on Snow Hill, the end of the Long Walk in Windsor Park, UK (see Section 2.4.2).

But it is not only squares that can look much better with an equestrian statue. Parks, castles and cathedrals can do so as well. Some examples of these are Friedrich Franz II in the castle garden in Schwerin (see Section 2.7.3), George Washington in the Boston Public Garden (see Section 2.11.3) and Nuno Álvares Pereira next to the Batalha Monastery (see Section 2.2.7).

The statue of Montmorency in Chantilly has one of the most beautiful settings that I have seen for an equestrian statue: a splendid setting in front of the castle where he was born.

The combination of two statues can not only embellish a place, but also enhance the two statues mutually.

Some examples of successful combinations of two equestrian statues are: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in Glasgow by Carlo Marochetti and in Liverpool by Thomas Thornycroft (see Section 2.4.3), Allesandro Farnese and his son Ranuccio in the Piazza Cavalli in Piacenza by Francesco Mochi (see Section 2.1.5) and Barbarossa and Wilhelm I in front of the eleventh century Imperial House in Goslar (Germany).

Examples of a decorative combination of two equestrian sculptures include Castor and Pollux, at the entrance of the Palazzo Reale in Turin (see Section 2.1.8) and the two powerful, gilded equestrians by Leo Friedlander, called The Arts of War, Sacrifice and Valor, on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington DC, a gift from the Italians to the people of the US.

A mediocre statue can be enhanced by its setting, but unfortunately a poor or neglected setting can take away from a splendid statue.

A good example of the latter is the impressive statue in New York of Jeanne d’Arc, by Anna Hyatt-Huntington (see Section 2.11.11). This beautiful equestrian is hidden in the bushes and can only be admired from up close. In a similar way, the statue of General Slocum in Brooklyn, New York, has only one ankle visible, as it is overgrown by the surrounding bushes (see Section 2.11.7).

Quite a number of equestrian statues nowadays find themselves in the middle of a car park. This fate has even befallen the famous Gattamelata statue in Padua, the oldest renaissance statue, as well as Vittorio Emanuele in Livorno, Jeanne d’Arc in Chinon and the two famous equestrian statues by Fernkorn in Vienna, to name but a few.

Other statues stand on traffic islands or roundabouts and can only be approached with danger to one’s life. The fate of the oldest equestrian statue in the UK is extremely sad. Charles I is not only looking down upon the scene of his execution, but he is also in the centre of a continuous traffic jam.

Another example of poor placing concerns the four equestrian statues (of the King of Prussia and three emperors of the German Empire) on the corners of the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, Germany. It may have been the right choice at the time of installation, but nowadays with the trains and other heavy traffic passing over the bridge it is a poor setting. Not only are the statues barely approachable, it must also be feared that the air pollution, caused by the traffic, will further harm the poor physical condition of these statues (see Section 2.7.1).

The city of Gloucester in the UK is proud of its roots, going back to Roman times. To promote this fact, the decision was made to install an equestrian statue of Emperor Nerva, notwithstanding that he had probably never visited the place. A good idea, were it not for the fact that the statue is situated at the entrance to a dreary shopping centre.

Sometimes the statues can only be seen from afar, as they are located in military areas, for example most of the equestrian statues in Kathmandu, Nepal. One famous equestrian sculpture has proven to be inaccessible for me over the years: the statue of Emperor Constantine by Bernini. It stands at the north end of the narthex of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and can only be seen from a distance. Swiss guards block your way and refuse consistently to discuss this. I shall keep on trying.

To end with: the dreariest equestrian in the dreariest place one can imagine: the statue of Giuseppe Missori by Ricardo Ripamonti (1916) in Milan. Apart from the dreariness of the horse, the statue looks bad. It is rusty, and Missori’s sword has been broken. This brave man once saved the life of Garibaldi, but not on this horse and with this sword. His statue looks gloomy (the ‘weary’ horse was originally part of another statue called Waterloo), the setting is poor (in a car park between two traffic flows) and its maintenance has been neglected. The contrast between the horse and the luxury car on the advertisement behind could not be more striking.

1.8.2 Large monuments with equestrian statues

Equestrian statues are often part of large monuments, for example:

• The Friedrich der Grosse monument in Berlin, by Christian Daniel Rauch (1851). A huge statue of the first King of Prussia surrounded by his advisors and generals, 74 people all together, including four generals on horseback (see Section 2.7.1).
• The Maria Theresa monument by Carl Hasenauer (1888) in Vienna. Maria Theresa is on top in a chair, surrounded by her most prominent political and military advisers, including four equestrian statues of her field marshals (see Section 2.8.1).
• The Kyffhäuser monument by Emil Hundrieser (1896). This combines a nine-metre high equestrian statue of Wilhelm I (Whitebeard) with a statue of emperor Friedrich I, known as Barbarossa (Redbeard), sitting in his cave (see Section 2.7.1).
• The Wilhelm I monument by Adolf and Karl von Donndorf (1902) in Hohensyburg near Dortmund, Germany, is in a lovely setting with a view over the Ruhrtal and Sauerland. This features the emperor on horseback in front of a 34-metre high tower, with statues of Bismarck, Moltke and the princes Friedrich Wilhelm and Friedrich Karl next to him (see Section 2.7.1).
• The Grant memorial in Washington DC by Shrady (1922). The tall equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant is surrounded by an artillery and a cavalry group and four bronze lions (see Section 2.11.7).
• The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument in Des Moines, US (see Section 2.11.7), and the Asen Dynasty monument in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (see Section 2.10.2). Each with four equestrian statues.
• The Millennium Monument in Budapest (1900), commemorating the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Hungary, and showing the founder of the Hungarian royal dynasty, Arpad, together with six other tribal chiefs, all on horseback (see Section 2.8.2).

1.8.3 Pedestals

Most equestrian statues are placed on a pedestal, and this creates the often-required distance between the spectator and the subject. One realises this distance all the more if one sees an equestrian statue without a pedestal, such as the statue of Longstreet in Gettysburg (see Section 2.11.6) and the statue of Sheridan in Fort Sheridan.

Being at ground level makes a statue much more approachable. One can touch it. For me, this is an attractive characteristic of bronze sculptures, a characteristic that most works of art lack.

A pedestal can be just an ordinary stone base, but can also be a structure, exuberantly decorated with depictions of significant battles won and other key events in the life of the portrayed rider or accompanied by statues of his or her advisers and generals. In quite a number of examples, the pedestals were designed and created by other artists than the sculptor of the equestrian.

Examples of simple but tasteful pedestals are those for the statues of Marcus Aurelius in Rome and of Cosimo I in Florence. Moderately decorated pedestals include those for the statues of Charles II in Windsor, Prince Albert in Glasgow and the relatively simple but tasteful pedestal for the marvellous equestrian statue of Ranuccio Farnese in Piacenza.

Some examples of heavily decorated pedestals are Friedrich Franz II von Mecklenburg in Schwerin (see Section 2.7.3), Christian V in Copenhagen (see Section 2.5.1), Vittorio Emanuele in Milan (see Section 2.1.6), José de San Martin in Buenos Aires and in Mendoza (see Section 2.13.2), and George Washington in Philadelphia (pictured earlier in the current section).

A simple, but extraordinary pedestal is the one in Saint Petersburg on which the famous equestrian statue of Peter the Great by Etienne Falconet (1782) stands.

For this pedestal, an enormous boulder known as the Thunder Stone was found six kilometres inland. The stone gained its name from a local legend that thunder split a piece off the rock. The Russians had to develop new methods to dig up and transport the colossal piece of granite, as it was embedded to half its depth in the ground, and the area was marshy terrain. In winter, the massive stone was dragged over the frozen ground to the sea for shipment. The labour was done entirely by hand; no animals or machines were used in moving the stone from its original site to the Senate Square. It took 1,000 men eighteen months to move the stone, with an estimated weight of 1,500 tons, and an enormous barge was constructed exclusively for the sea transport. The vessel had to be supported on each side using two full-size warships. At the end of this short sea voyage, the Thunder Stone reached its final destination after nearly two years of work. The largest stone ever moved by humans.

The statue of Goncalo Mendes de Maia by Lima de Carvalho (1984) is an unconventional combination of pedestal and horse, and an outstanding example of a tasteful contemporary equestrian statue. Located in Maia (Portugal), the ‘horse’ is a tall, dark marble pedestal with some subtle marble and bronze equine characteristics. The rider himself is in bronze.

1.8.4 Objects on pedestals

It is always worth the effort to pay attention to the base of a statue. Often one can see there not only the ‘signature’ of the sculptor, the year of creation of the statue or the name of the founder, but also a variety of subjects such as trampled enemies, vanquished dragons, attacking lions, broken wheels, cannons and cannonballs. These are often part of a story that the statue tells us or have a more practical function in supporting the structure, especially in those cases where the horse is running or rearing.

That a detail on a pedestal could be a threat to a statue was proven by the depiction of an Aztec quiver underneath one of the hooves of the statue of Charles IV in Mexico City. Mexicans, striving for independence, interpreted this in 1821 as a sign of allegiance to Spain, and threatened to melt the statue down. Fortunately the destruction of this old statue could be prevented.