The Constantine Colossus: Reconstruction

Speranza

 

The Roman Emperor Constantine went down in history as a unscrupulous politician (307-337 AD).

His famous 3 m high colossal portrait in the Capitolinian Museums Rome is one of the most visited and depicted portrait of Ancient Rome.

The head once set on top of a sitting statue od app. 12 m in height, which is only preserved in further monumental fragments.

It once stood in the Maxentius Basilica on Via Sacra between the Forum Romanum and Colosseum.

In close cooperation with Claudio Parisi-Presicce of the Capitolinian Museums, the fragments were modelled with the computer and checked unter static characteristics.

With reference to antique sources, they were then positioned and put together to a reasonable reconstruction proposal with multimedia visualisation.

In a further project step, a process chain was developed with cooperating companies (Prometheus, Frankenschotter, EEW, Delcam), in order to rebuild the colossal head 1:1 with latest milling technology out of a 25t Carrara-marble block.

The elaborately milled result was finally corrected and patinated by a traditional sculptor, in order to get as close to the original as possible.