All we know, is that the statues were cast between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. That equestrian group, is the only one of its kind to have survived from the Roman age. The group includes two horsemen and two women (whom experts have not yet been able to identify). For the men, most suggest Nero, Julius Caesar, or Augustus, and Livia Drusilla or Agrippina Major for the women. The gilt bronzes from Cartoceto di Pergola, rested underground for two thousand years, until they were found in 1946 in Santa Lucia di Calamello, Marche. http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/books.htm
They bear precious witness to the policy from the late Republican period, of using monumental images to underline Roman power. http://en.turismo.marche.it/ All the sculptures, are forged using indirect lost wax in a lead-rich (copper alloy and gilded in gold leaf). According one hypothesis, the statues (erected between 23 and 29 AD and destroyed around 30), portrayed the male figures of Nero and Drusus III, while the female figures were Livia (the better conserved statue) and Agrippina Maggiore.
The Museum of the guilded bronzes and of the City of Pergola http://www.bronzidorati.com/bronzidorati_eng/gilded_bronzes/entrata_museo_bronzi_pergola_eng.htm waiting for you at the four sections that make up the museum complex (archaeological, numismatic, historical and contemporary art), are organized around the cloister, in a sort of circular path. In 1946, accidentally, the statues were discovered in Cartoceto Pergola, by two farmers (in a pit where they were buried in debris after an old sack or a less likely “damnatio memoriae”).
The Museum is housed in the 14th century former convent of San Giacomo (Largo San Giacomo 2, Pergola), and collects works of considerable artistic and historical interest (all coming from the territory of the Municipality). The four sections that make up the museum complex, are organized around the cloister, in a sort of circular path. For you admission? http://www.bronzidorati.com/bronzidorati_eng/info/informazioni_pergola.htm Standard: 6,00 EUR (reduced ticket over 65. 5,00 EUR, reduced ticket schools. 4,00 EUR, reduced ticket children from 6 to 11 years. 3,00 EUR). Do not forget: he museum is closed between 12:30 and 15:30
