The Colossus of Constantine

At the Capitoline Museums, in the garden of Rome’s Villa Caffarelli, the impressive life-size reconstruction of the Colossus of Constantine now towers over visitors.

The statue, about 13 metres high, has been realised through innovative reconstruction techniques, starting from the original pieces from the 4th century AD preserved in the Capitoline Museums.

Of the entire statue, discovered in the 15th century at the Basilica of Maxentius, today only a few marble fragments remain: the head, right arm, wrist, right hand, right knee, right shin, right foot, left foot.

The project to reconstruct the colossal statue of Constantine started from these fragments. At the end of March 2022, a team from the Factum Foundation spent three days in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museums to scan the fragments. Each fragment was modelled in 3D and positioned on the digital body of the statue created using other statues from the time as a guide.

Resin and polyurethane, together with marble powder, gold leaf and plaster, were chosen as materials to render the material surfaces of marble and bronze, while an easily assembled and removable aluminium support was used for the internal structure.

The final result makes it possible to admire the Colossus in its original imposing size from February 6, in the garden of Villa Caffarelli. Romans are divided: there is no shortage of comments from those who believe that this operation accelerates the transformation of the capital’s historic center into an amusement park for tourists.