Reply To: Propaganda Art

[Allie Eby]

To me, the most notable piece of Roman propaganda-style art we looked at is the statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback. I think this one is more subtle than some of the statues portraying heroes explicitly placed next to or decorated with gods, but the message – true or not – comes across that Marcus was enormous, powerful, calm, militaristic, and capable of enforcing his will on the world (shown via the calm control of a powerful, muscular warhorse). This is notable to me because it is the first surviving example of a statue on horseback, which we see all over the world in modern day as a way to show leader figures as lofty, powerful and larger than life.