SET OF FOUR GILT BRONZE MODELS OF THE HORSES OF SAINT MARK'S BASILICA

SET OF FOUR GILT BRONZE MODELS OF THE HORSES OF SAINT MARK'S BASILICA, 20th century, cast after the Antique, all naturalistically portrayed with one foreleg raised, atop rectangular stained wood bases; overall dimensions, 18cm high, 16.5cm long Note: The Horses of Saint Mark (also known as the Triumphal Quadriga), are Roman bronzes which originally formed part of a monumental quadriga group at Constantinople. The horses were looted during the 1204 sack of that city during the abortive Fourth Crusade, and brought to Venice where they were placed atop the loggia above the porch of St Mark's Basilica. They remained in-situ there until they were pilfered by Napoleon Buonaparte in 1797 but were returned in 1815 after his happy defeat at Waterloo. Modern environmental concerns lead to the removal of the bronzes into the interior of St Mark's in the early 1980s, with the emplacement of replicas in their position on the loggia above