Paris, France’s capital. There the
horses were put atop a triumphal
arch built in Napoleon’s honor,
theArc du Carrousel.But after
Napoleon was defeated in 1815,
the horses went back to Venice and
Saint Mark’s. They stayed there,
except for two excursions — for
safekeeping during World War I
and World War II.Did you know?In more recent
times, another danger threatened
the horses: air pollution. So, the
last journey the four horses made
brought them to a museum inside
Saint Mark’s. Replicas of the statues
took their place outside (see photo
above).Sarah Novakis a writer who explores the less
traveled byways of history and tells tales from
folklore and legend.36The Four Horses of Byzantium
by Sarah NovakS
trong and spirited, these four horses are forever poised
to surge into battle, show off in a victory parade, or
dash onto a racetrack. The life-size statues, made
of bronze, were created as a team for a four-horse
chariot, called a quadriga. Their epic journey through
the Byzantine Empire and beyond began somewhere in the ancient
world, probably Rome. Later — no one is sure exactly when or how
— they ended up in Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine empire.
Here they were most likely displayed at the city’s huge racetrack, the
Hippodrome.
Centuries later, in 1204, Constantinople was captured by armies
of the Fourth Crusade, with forces from Venice (see page 5). The
Venetian victors helped themselves to Constantinople’s treasures,
including the four horses. The statues were set over the entrance to
Saint Mark’s church in Venice, overlooking the city’s main square.
The 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch wrote admiringly that the
horses “stand as if alive, seeming to neigh from on high and to paw
with their feet.” They became a beloved symbol of the city’s power
and beauty.
But five centuries later, another military victor claimed the horses.
The French general Napoleon Bonaparte took control of Venice in- He sent the statues, as well as many other works of art, to
DIDYOU
KNOW?