Pollux on the Cordonata to the Campodiglio

The two statues of Castor (left) and Pollux with their horses are from the

Temple of Castor and Pollux next to Circus Flaminius near Campus Martius.

Created during the period of Septimius Severus (c. 200 AD), they were found

in many pieces in the early 1500s near the Church of San Tommaso. The

pieces of these statues had been turning up over many years, and it

was decided to restore them to place them on the Campidoglio.

A team of sculptors worked on their restoration, completed

in 1584 with the reconstruction of Castor’s missing head.

 

In Michelangelo’s original design, the Cordonata was supposed to

be flanked by the statues of the Dioscuri located in Piazza Quirinale,

but the Pope had begun construction of their palace on the Quirinal Hill

by the time the balustrade was built and did not want to lose the statues.

Done