C. 1840, Giallo Antico, Grand Tour Model of The Phocas Column (Italian).

Crafted from Giallo Antico (yellow marble), surmounted by a bronze Emperor, inscribed with Latin to the pedestal, and set on a stepped Levanto marble base.

This striking depiction is inspired by the Colonna di Foca, the giallo antico Corinthian column of Phocas, a monumental Roman column that marked the final addition to the Roman Forum in Rome, Italy.

On 1 August AD 608, the column was dedicated in honour of the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas, who had seized the throne in AD 602 after murdering his predecessor, Emperor Maurice.

The inscription on the pedestal, also depicted in this marble model, reads:

‘To the best, most clement and pious ruler, our lord Phocas, the perpetual emperor, crowned by God, the forever august triumphator, did Smaragdus, former praepositus sacri palatii and patricius and Exarch of Italy, devoted to His Clemency for the innumerable benefactions of His Piousness and for the peace acquired for Italy and its freedom preserved, this statue of His Majesty, blinking from the splendour of gold, here on this tallest column for his eternal glory erect and dedicate, on the first day of the month of August, in the eleventh indiction in the fifth year after the consulate of His Piousness.’

Yet the monument's dedication proved a fleeting tribute to imperial power. Just two years later, in AD 610, Phocas was overthrown and executed by Heraclius, who claimed the throne and ushered in a new chapter in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire.

CONDITION:

Overall, excellent. No cracks or breaks.

DIMENSIONS: 43cm H