RA Collection: Art
This is a cast of the head of Castor from the marble group 'Castor and Pollux', which are in the Piazza del Quirinale, Rome. The height of the full size figures is 560 cm. These statues were in the Baths of Constantine in Rome but the figures and their accompanying horses were recorded as being positioned on the Quirinal Hill in the mid-twelfth century pilgrims’ guide Mirabilia Urbis Romae. In the 1780s the states were repositioned in the Piazza Quirinale either side of an Egyptian obelisk and this group was further transformed in 1818 when an antique granite basin and fountain was added.
These statues are Roman copies of Greek originals from the 5th century BC and known as 'Dioscuri' or 'Horse Tamers' as each are holding a prancing horse.
1470 mm