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 One of the very rare sculptural groups to have survived from the territory of the Roman Empire is the beautiful gilded bronze equestrian group of Cartoceto from Cartoceto di Pergola in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, Le Marche. The group comprises four figures, two men on horseback and two standing women cloaked and veiled, who are deemed to represent the members of a prominent Roman aristocratic family.
The first fragments were found by chance while two farmers were working the land in 1946. After extensive digging the finds added up to 318 but they were in such a poor condition and so badly fragmented that they needed urgent and thorough restoration. It was a long process, accomplished in Le Marche and in Florence, that finally brought the gilded bronze equestrian sculptural group back to its marvelous former splendour. Investigations dated the sculptures to the 1st century BC, between the reign of Caesar and the empire of Augustus (50-30 BC). A fascinating theory holds that one of the two men, or perhaps both, may have been involved in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
The absolutely stunning gilded bronze equestrian group can be seen at the town museum in Pergola which has purposely been set up.
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