St Mark’s Horses

The famous four horses that for centuries graced the facade of the church of St Mark in Venice have now been moved just inside, replicas having taken their places out in front. They are mostly made of copper and some of the gilding still clings to them, though there are hundreds of scratches, likely made by people trying to get off what little gold there was. Indeed, it may have been Venetians themselves who did the scraping. These horses have a storied history. Where and when they were made is a mystery. Some think that they are late-Greek works, Hellenistic, made in Chios or for a Roman emperor. It’s probable they were linked to a chariot and stood at the famous Circus Maximus in Rome. At some point, either at the bidding of the emperor Septimius Severes or Constantine, they were moved to the hippodrome in Constantinople, and there they graced that legendary city for about a thousand years, until 1204 when the Venetians sacked the city and stripped Constantinople of all its finery, shipping all the loot back to Venice. The horses, too, were part of the spoils. There they overlooked the Piazza San Marco for another 800 years. Finally, they get to retire inside. If only these horses could talk.