The Marcus Curtius Throwing Himself into the Chasm statue in the Borghese Gallery is a composite work featuring a 1st–2nd century AD Roman marble horse and a 1618–1619 rider carved by Pietro Bernini. [1, 2]

No, it is not included in the classic text Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500–1900 by Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny (which you likely referred to as Petty lure of the antique). The book catalogs highly replicated, purely ancient "canonical" statues, whereas this piece is a Baroque hybrid "integrative restoration". [1, 2, 3]

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Provenance of the Sculpture

The statue is a pastiche, meaning its history is split between its ancient and early modern components: [1]

• The Ancient Horse (1st–2nd Century AD): The horse torso and head are ancient Roman relics. Based on the chisel and drill work on the mane, archaeologists date the carving to between the late Augustan and early Antonine eras. It was unearthed during an archaeological excavation in Rome during the early 17th century. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• The Baroque Addition (1618–1619): Cardinal Scipione Borghese acquired the damaged ancient horse fragment. Rather than leaving it as a fragment, he commissioned Pietro Bernini (the father of Gian Lorenzo Bernini) to perform an "integrative restoration". Pietro carved the rider, Marcus Curtius, heavily modifying the horse’s positioning to look like it was leaping downwards. [1, 2, 3]
• Display History:
  • 1620s–1770s: The completed sculpture was originally built high into the exterior façade of the Casino of the Villa Borghese, set against a relief background to make it look as if the horse was leaping from a cliff.
  • Late 18th Century: During the massive neoclassical renovation of the villa overseen by architect Antonio Asprucci for Prince Marcantonio IV Borghese, the statue was brought inside. It was placed in its current, highly prominent location on the ceiling/wall framing of the Salone (Entrance Hall), where it remains today. [1, 2, 3, 4]

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Why it is Omitted from Taste and the Antique

The landmark book Taste and the Antique specifically tracks 95 world-renowned ancient sculptures that formed the backbone of European taste, art education, and Grand Tour replication. The Marcus Curtius group was excluded for several reasons: [1, 2]

• It is a Heavy Baroque Hybrid: Because a massive portion of the statue—the entire narrative hero—was carved in 1618 by a modern master, it was classified more as a Baroque artwork than a pure antiquarian benchmark. [1]
• Lack of Historical Copies: The book focuses on statues that were widely copied in bronze, plaster, and marble for European palaces. The Marcus Curtius was mostly famous as a fixture of the Borghese estate rather than an internationally duplicated model. [1]

If you are researching other pieces in the Borghese Collection that are featured in Taste and the Antique, you might want to look into the Borghese Gladiator or the Borghese Hermaphroditus (both of which were later sold to Napoleon and moved to the Louvre). [1, 2]

Would you like to explore other hybrid restorations from the Borghese collection, or perhaps learn more about the specific pieces that did make it into Haskell and Penny's book?

 Yes, the tragic Roman story of Virginia, her father Virginio, her fiancé Icilio, and the corrupt decemvir Appio Claudio (who used his client Marco Claudio to falsely claim Virginia as a slave) has been heavily treated by Italian librettists. [1, 2]

This classic historical episode from Livy's Ab Urbe Condita—where a father kills his daughter to save her virtue, sparking a rebellion that overthrew the Decemvirate—was a highly popular subject in Italian opera, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Prominent Italian Libretti on the Decemvir Episode

The narrative has been adapted into several major Italian opera libretti:

• Salvadore Cammarano: One of the most famous Italian librettists of the 19th century (widely known for writing Lucia di Lammermoor), he penned the libretto for Virginia (1850). The music was composed by Saverio Mercadante. Cammarano based his text directly on the celebrated Italian tragedy Virginia by Vittorio Alfieri. Due to its themes of a popular uprising against a tyrannical government, the Bourbon censors banned it. It finally premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples in 1866. [1, 2]
• Silvio Stampiglia: A highly influential early 18th-century librettist, he wrote La caduta de' Decemviri(The Fall of the Decemvirs). This libretto features all the exact historical figures you mentioned, including Appio Claudio, Lucio Virginio, Virginia, and Icilio. It was most famously set to music by the prominent Baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti and premiered in Naples in 1697. [1, 2]
• Domenico Bancalari: He wrote an Italian libretto titled Virginia, which was set to music by the Venezuelan composer José Ángel Montero. Premiering in 1873, it is celebrated as the first opera ever composed in Venezuela, yet written entirely in the traditional Italian libretto style. [1]
• Fello Giuliani: He authored another 19th-century Italian libretto titled Virginia, which was set to music by composer Niccola Vaccaj and published around 1840. [1]

Summary of Operatic Characters & Roles

In these Italian libretti, the dramatic conflict closely tracks the ancient Roman account: [1]

• Appio Claudio: The tyrannical antagonist and chief of the Decemvirs.
• Virginia: The tragic, virtuous heroine.
• Virginio (Lucius Virginius): Her heroic father, a centurion who stabs her to protect her freedom.
• Icilio: Virginia's passionate fiancé and former tribune who rouses the public against the tyrant.
• Marco Claudio: The client used by Appio to falsely claim Virginia as his runaway slave. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Would you like more details on a specific composer's musical setting of this story, or do you want to explore how the plot changes between Alfieri's original play and Cammarano's opera libretto?

 Yes, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus were indeed the first two consuls of the Roman Republic, elected in 509 BCE after the overthrow of the last Roman king. [1]

Etymologists have extensively researched the root following the prefix co(n)- (derived from cum, meaning "with/together"), proposing two primary linguistic theories for the second element. [1, 2]

Theory 1: The Root of "Taking" or "Gathering Together" (Modern Consensus)

Modern historical linguists trace the word consul back to the Proto-Italic compound *kom-sel-e-. [1]

• The Prefix: *kom- (which became con-) meaning "together".
• The Root: *selh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), meaning "to take, grab, or gather".
• The Meaning: Combined, the literal meaning is "to gather together". This evolved into the verb consulere ("to deliberate, take counsel, or meet and consider"). Under this dominant theory, a consul is fundamentally "one who deliberates or consults the Senate together with a colleague". [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Theory 2: The Root of "Leaping" or "Going" (Older Alternative)

An older, classic etymological theory proposed by 19th-century scholars (like Wilhelm Corssen) links the second element to a different root: [1]

• The Root: sal-, from the Latin verb salire (meaning "to leap, spring, or go"). [, 2]
• The Meaning: In this interpretation, con-sul means "one who goes together with another."
• Parallels: This theory relies on the structural mirroring found in other Roman official titles:
  • Exsul (Exile) \(\rightarrow \) ex- (out) + salire = "one who leaps/goes out".
  • Praesul (Protector/Leader of a dance) \(\rightarrow \) prae- (before) + salire = "one who leaps/goes before". [1]

While the "leaping/going together" theory elegantly explains the companion nature of the dual-magistracy, modern linguistics firmly favors the PIE root *selh₁- (gathering/deliberating together) as the most accurate origin. [1, 2]