Equestrian statue of Augustus (Mérida)
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| 38°54′18″N 6°21′51″W / 38.904871°N 6.364105°W | |
| Location | Mérida, Spain |
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| Designer | Eduardo Zancada Pérez |
| Material | Bronze, granite |
| Height | 3.75 m (statue) |
| Weight | 2.5 tonnes (statue) |
| Opening date | 25 April 2007 |
| Dedicated to | Augustus |
The equestrian statue of Augustus is a bronze statue of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, riding a horse. It dates from 2007 and is in Mérida, Spain, located on a roundabout at the intersection of the Avenida de Portugal and the Avenida Reina Sofía. Emerita Augusta, today Mérida, was founded as a Roman colony in 25 BC at the order of Augustus to serve as a retreat for the veteran soldiers (emeritus) of the legions V Alaudae and X Gemina.
History and description
[edit]The sculpture was initially intended to be erected on the roundabout of Tres Fuentes,[1] yet plans changed along the way. With a budget of 112,780 € in disposal, the municipal managing board awarded the project in September 2005 to Eduardo Zancada, the only artist who had entered the public competition,[1] and himself a son of the mayor of Mérida between 1952 and 1954, Eduardo Zancada Alarcón.[2] There is another sculpture of Augustus in a city's roundabout, near the Lusitania Bridge.[3]
Cast in bronze in Madrid at Codina's foundry,[4] the sculpture weighs 2.5 tonnes.[5] The 3.75 metre high sculpture,[6] features the Roman emperor riding a horse without stirrups, wearing a muscle cuirass, and brandishing a staff while keeping the sword in the belt.[7] It lies on top of a granite plinth.[8]
Shortly before the 2007 municipal elections, the sculpture was inaugurated in April 2007 along the whole reform of the traffic circle, with an inner radius of 7.50 m and an outer radius of 17.50 m,[9][5] at about the same time that another equestrian statue also by Zancada featuring Augustus' son-in-law Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.[9]
References
[edit]- Citations
- ^ a b "El consistorio encarga a Zancada la estatua del emperador Octavio". El Periódico Extremadura. 14 September 2005.
- ^ Pinero, Félix (28 January 2019). "Eduardo Zancada Pérez, el escultor de Augusto, Agripa y Carlos III". Mérida y Comarca.
- ^ Vinagre, C.J (1 February 2007). "La estatua ecuestre de Augusto coronará la glorieta de Cepansa". Hoy.
- ^ Bazán de Huerta 2016, p. 172.
- ^ a b Peguero, César (26 April 2007). "La avenida Reina Sofía estará acabada en mayo". El Periódico Extremadura.
- ^ Vinagre, C.J (12 February 2007). "Zancada ultima para la ciudad una estatua ecuestre de Agripa". Hoy.
- ^ Bazán de Huerta 2016, p. 174.
- ^ Bazán de Huerta 2016, pp. 172–173.
- ^ a b Bazán de Huerta 2016, p. 173.
- Bibliography
- Bazán de Huerta, Moisés (2016). "Referencias romanas en la escultura pública emeritense". Norba Arte (36). Badajoz: Universidad de Extremadura: 157–188. ISSN 0213-2214.