The Stolen Ancient Greek Masterpiece: The Horses Of St. Mark’s

The stolen ancient Greek masterpiece from the sculptor Lysippos!

The horse sculptures come from the island of Chios (the fifth largest of the Greek islands).

The Greek Origins of Saint Mark's Horses in Venice - GreekReporter.com

Since four horses and a quadriga (a type of chariot that was also used in the Ancient Olympic Games) were mentioned in the Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai, more commonly called “brief Historical Notes” text dated from the 8th or ninth century. The horses stayed there until 1204 when they were looted by Venetian forces as part of the sack of the capital of the Byzantine Empire in the Fourth Crusade. Interestingly, the collars on the horses’ necks that you can see in the pH๏τos below were added around this time to cover the areas where their necks and heads had been removed to allow them to be transported from Constantinople to Venice.

Có thể là hình ảnh về đài kỷ niệm

The horse sculptures come from the island of Chios (the fifth largest of the Greek islands). Since four horses and a quadriga (a type of chariot that was also used in the Ancient Olympic Games) were mentioned in the Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai, more commonly called “brief Historical Notes” text dated from the 8th or ninth century. The horses stayed there until 1204 when they were looted by Venetian forces as part of the sack of the capital of the Byzantine Empire in the Fourth Crusade. Interestingly, the collars on the horses’ necks that you can see in the pH๏τos below were added around this time to cover the areas where their necks and heads had been removed to allow them to be transported from Constantinople to Venice.

Four Horses of St Mark - Images of Venice

Soon after the Fourth Crusade, Doge Enrico Dandolo (Doge meaning a civil officer or lay judge in Venice or Genoa) sent the horses to Venice, where they were installed on the terrace of the facade of St. Mark’s Basilica in 1254.

HorsesStMarkVenice

In 1797, Napoleon forcibly removed the horses from the basilica and carried them off to Paris, where they were used in the design of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel together with a quadriga.

In 1815, the horses were returned to Venice by Captain Dumaresq, who had fought at the Battle of Waterloo and along with the allied forces in Paris. He was selected by the Emperor of Austria to take the horses down from the Arc de Triomphe and return them to their original place at St. Mark’s in Venice. For doing an excellent job bringing the horses back to Venice, the Emperor gave him a gold snuff box with his initials in diamonds on the lid.

Until the early 1980s, the horses remained untouched above St. Mark’s. But with growing air pollution that would make the statues deteriorate quicker, they were removed and brought inside St. Mark’s and can still be seen inside the basilica. They were replaced with exact copies that can be seen outside.

Related Posts

Alien hunters claim a mysterious ‘monolith’ on Mercury is a doorway to another world—fueling bizarre theories of interplanetary portals.

Hold on to your tin foil hats, because this is a good one. Alien hunters have found what they claim to be an unexplained shadow on Mercury,…

The Whispering Stone: Ancient Art or Alien Echo?

The Whispering Stone: Ancient Art or Alien Echo?

This enigmatic carving is a Rorschach test etched in stone. Two figures peer out from the weathered surface, their oversized, almond-shaped eyes and bulbous heads mirroring the…

The Ancient Sentinel: A Baobab’s Whisper Across Time

The Ancient Sentinel: A Baobab’s Whisper Across Time

This is no ordinary tree. Gnarled and colossal, its trunk a tapestry of time-worn grooves, the baobab rises from the earth like a monument carved by forgotten…

The Bent Pyramid: A Monument to Imperfection

The Bent Pyramid: A Monument to Imperfection

The Bent Pyramid does not tower with the flawless geometry of Giza’s great tombs. Instead, it rises from the Dahshur desert like a question carved in limestone—its…

Guardians of the Eternal: The Silent Dialogue of the Desert Coffins

Guardians of the Eternal: The Silent Dialogue of the Desert Coffins

Standing sentinel in the vast emptiness of the desert, the two ancient Egyptian sarcophagi cut a striking silhouette against the endless horizon. Their once-vibrant colors, though faded…

The Enigma of the Alien-Like Artifact: A Mirror of Human Curiosity

The Enigma of the Alien-Like Artifact: A Mirror of Human Curiosity

Discovered under ambiguous circumstances, the mysterious stone carving depicting a humanoid figure with an exaggeratedly large, bulbous cranium continues to captivate both scholars and enthusiasts of the…