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About the Artwork
Veranda Park’s Quattro Cavalli (Italian translation meaning "four horses") statue fountain, are a replica of the world-famous Four Horses of St. Mark’s Cathedral.
These gilded bronze horses are one of the great treasures of Venice, Italy . Veranda Park’s Quattro Cavalli was created by the Valese Artistic Foundry, the only bronze sculptors authorized by the Italian Government to cast the ancient horses.
While their origin is debated, the horses are believed by many experts to be the work of the renowned Lysippos of Sicyon, the only sculptor Alexander the Great would allow to do his portrait. Accounts credit the Roman Emperor Nero with bringing the horses to Rome, where they were said to be displayed in his Domus Aurea. History does not recount what happened to the horses after Nero and his Golden Palace fell, and the horses do not appear again until around 320 A.D. when Constantine took them to adorn the starting gates at his new Hippodrome in Constantinople.
The horses remained at the Hippodrome for almost 900 years until Constantinople fell to the Crusaders. The horses then were taken as booty to Venice, where they eventually were mounted above the door of St. Mark’s Cathedral and there they stayed for 500 years.
In 1797, yet another emperor coveted and absconded with the horses. Napoleon had them shipped to Paris and installed atop the Arc du Carrousel, the triumphal arch on the Tuileries end of the Champs-Elysees. Most of Napoleon’s loot was sent back to Venice after the 1815 Congress of Vienna and the horses were reinstalled on St. Mark’s logia.
After almost 2,400 years, the horses’ condition finally began to suffer due to modern air pollution. They now reside inside St. Mark’s, with replicas taking their place on the logia. The Quattro Cavallo of Veranda Park, which will stand at the intersection of Grande Ave and Hiawassee Drive, are the only replicas of the ancient horses in the United States.
About the Artist
Lysippos of Sicyon
Lysippos was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three great sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Taken together, his large workshop, the demand for replicas of his work in his lifetime and later among Hellenistic and Roman connoisseurs, the number of disciples directly in his circle, and the survival of his works only in copies all pose methodological problems to the student.
Did you know?
The tired traveler sitting on the floor of the Orlando airport was actually a bronze statue by Duane Hanson. It was so loved (and abused) that he has now been placed behind plexiglass. Still travelers often argue about whether he is "real".
Discover Art in Central Florida!
For those who have eyes to see, there are hundreds of works of art around them.
This web site provides some information on many of those works of art that can
be regularly viewed in Orange County by any member of the public without an
admission fee. They are outside in public view, or located in an interior area
that is normally open to the public.
Look around this web site and find something that interests you. Then go see it
in person. The information you find here will add to the pleasure of exploring
public art in Central Florida.
If, in your travels around Orange County, you come across some public art that
is not listed here, please let us know so we can add it. If you are aware of
additional information about art or artist that is included here, again, please
let us know. Together we can make this an incredible resource for people seeking
to spice up their life through exploring art.