A Carolingian-era

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning ' knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is ...

tte in bronze depicting either

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

or his grandson

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

, a rare example of surviving Carolingian sculpture in metal, is exhibited in the Louvre Museum. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it was kept in Metz Cathedral. The statuette consists of three parts: the horse, the rider's body with the saddle, and the rider's head. It has a total height of 24 cm. The rider is depicted with a moustache, an open crown on his head, a sword in his right hand (lost), an imperial orb in his left hand, and a riding cloak fastened with a fibula. It was most likely made around 870, i.e. during the reign of Charles the Bald. Carolingian metalwork continues the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

tradition of casting and takes as its templates the equestrian bronzes of the Roman imperial period, such as the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius or the

Regisole The ''Regisole'' ("Sun King") was a bronze classical or Late Antique equestrian monument, highly influential during the Italian Renaissance but destroyed in 1796. It was originally erected at Ravenna, in what is now Italy, but was moved to Pavia ...

of Pavia. The features of the rider agree with depictions on Charlemagne on coins as well as with the description by

Einhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; la, E(g)inhardus; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita ...

in his ''

Vita Karoli Magni ''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter long account starting with the full of the Mero ...

'', and the statuette is usually referred to as the "statuette of Charlemagne", but it is possible that the statuette may in fact depict Charlemagne's grandson,

. If so, his depiction in the likeness of his grandfather would have been intentional. Clemens (1890) argued for the statuette's Carolingian age, against Wolfram (1890), and he agreed with Aus'm Weerth (1885) on the point that it is impossible to judge whether it depicts Charlemagne or Charles the Bald. Scholarship of the late 20th century appears more inclined to opt for depiction of Charles the Bald, based on the circumstantial evidence that the work most likely dates to his reign and was kept at Metz Cathedral, suggesting that it may have been commissioned in 869 on the occasion of Charles the Bald's coronation as

King of Lotharingia The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...

there.Egon Boshof, "Karl der Kahle — novus Karolus magnus?" in: Franz-Reiner Erkens (ed.), ''Karl der Große und das Erbe der Kulturen: Akten des 8. Symposiums des Mediävistenverbandes'', Walter de Gruyter, 2001, 135–152
p. 135
. Charles was crowned in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

in 869 following the death of Lothair II;

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durabl ...

was divided between East and

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

in the following year with he

Treaty of Meerssen The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of ...

. Metz passed to

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

and remained part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

for the remainder of the medieval period, being incorporated into the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

only with the

Treaty of Chambord The Treaty of Chambord was an agreement signed on 15 January 1552 at the Château de Chambord between the Catholic King Henry II of France and three Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by Elector Maurice of Saxony. Based on the terms o ...

of 1552. See J. L. Nelson, ''Charles the Bald'', The Medieval World Series, Longman, London (1992), 68f. The inventories of Metz cathedral from the 16th century on list two statuettes of Charlemagne; one of gilded silver, made by the Metz silversmith François in 1507, and the other of bronze or "gilded copper", first inventorized in 1567. Both statuettes re-appear in inventories of the 16th century. In 1807, the bronze statuette was acquired by Alexandre Lenoir, founder of the Musée des Monuments Français, in 1807. After Lenoir's death in 1839, his heirs sold it to the private collector Madame Evans-Lombe, who exhibited it at the '' Exposition Universelle'' of 1855, after which she sold it to the city of Paris for 5,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th cent ...

. It was kept in the Carnavalet Museum for some time, and it was transferred to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the '' Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central ...

in 1934 (accession number OA 8260).

References

*Gaborit-Chopin Danielle, "La statuette équestre de Charlemagne", ''collection SOLO'', musée du Louvre, Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux'', 1999, nr. 13. *Ernst aus'm Weerth, "Die Reiter-Statuette Karls des Grossen aus dem Dome zu Metz" in: ''Jahrbücher des Vereins von Altherthumsfreunden im Rheinlande'' 78, 1885, 139–166. *Gunnar Heuschkel, "Metzer Reiterstatuette" in: Frank Pohle (ed.): ''Karl der Große – Charlemagne'', Dresden 2014, 32–33.

External links

*{{in lang, fr Marie-Cécile Bardoz
Statuette équestre : "Charlemagne" ou Charles le Chauve
(louvre.fr) Cultural depictions of Charlemagne Carolingian art Equestrian statues in France 9th-century sculptures Sculptures of the Louvre by French artists Bronze sculptures in France category:Objets d'art of the Louvre Statues of monarchs Statues of military officers

See also

References

External links