Equestrian Statues of Marcus Nonius Balbus Senior and Junior, Naples.

 

 

The Roman Marble Equestrian Statues

of Marcus Nonius Balbus, Senior and Junior.

First Century BC.

 

Buried by the Eruption of Vesuvius in 79 BC.

 

Both excavated from the front of the Basilica at Herculaneum in 1748.

 

Height 250 cms approx.

 

 National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

 

I include this Roman piece as an example of an ancient equestrian statue. The study of these statues is outside the remit of this blog but I am posting these two for comparison.

 

The head is a replacement based on fragments of the original shattered by a bullet in 1789 during the revolt against the Bourbons when a short lived Neapolitan Republic was established.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Roman Marble Equestrian Statue

of Marcus Nonius Balbus Junior.

 

The horses and bodies of the men are practically identical.