Serpentine Column and Obelisk of Theodosius Istanbul
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Serpentine Column and Obelisk of Theodosius Istanbul
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Serpent Column and Obelisk of Theodosius, Istanbul, Turkey.
Vertical panorama of the Serpentine Column and the obelisk of Theodosius I, set in their original Roman relocation place for fifteen centuries in the spina of what once was the circus, or hippodrome of Constantinople and now is Sultanahmet Square. Behind iand between them, the minarets of Hagia Sophia.
The Serpent Column, also known as the Serpentine Column, Plataean Tripod or Delphi Tripod, is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It is part of a Greek sacrificial tripod, built to commemorate the Greek victory over the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). Originally in Delphi, it was relocated to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324. The Column was believed to have been forged from the melted swords of the Persian soldiers.
The Obelisk, of Egyptian origin, was carved under Pharaoh Thutmose III, around 1450 BC and originally erected in Karnak.
The Roman emperor Constantius II had two obelisks transported from Egypt in 357. One was erected on the spina of the Circus Maximus in Rome, and is now known as the Lateran Obelisk. The second remained in Alexandria until 390, when Theodosius had it transported to Constantinople and put up on the spina of the Hippodrome there.
The Obelisk was carved in red granite from Aswan and was originally 90 feet tall, like the Lateran Obelisk. The lower part was damaged in antiquity, and only the top 60 feet remained. There are are four bronze cubes between the four corners of the obelisk and the pedestal , used in its transportation and re-erection.
Each of its four faces has a single central vertical inscription celebrating Thutmose's victory over the Mitanni on the banks of the Euphrates in about 1450 BC.
The square marble pedestal was decorated with four bas-reliefs in which Theodosius himself appears offering the crown of victory to the winner in the chariot races.
More images of the Roman, Ottoman and Byzantine capital one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/istanbul
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
October 7th, 2019
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