33 meters of Thorvaldsen
The high relief with the Entrance of Alexander the Great into Babylon by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, is one of the masterpieces of Villa Carlotta.
It is an impressive work which, because for its history, was dear to Gian Battista Sommariva(the second owner of the villa): it was brought about in a first version in stucco for the Quirinale Palace in Rome on the occasion of Napoleon’s visit. Completed in June 1812, it was so beautiful that Napoleon ordered a marble replica for the Pantheon in Paris. The changed political conditions and the fall of the Empire radically changed the fate of the work, wich Sommariva obtained in 1818, spending an exorbitant sum.
The marble slabs of the frieze arrived in the villa of Tremezzo(Lake Como, Italy) between 1818 and 1828.
On over 33 metres of marble the sculpor composed an extraordinary narrative in a succession of scenes, figures and quotations from Antique and Renaissance art arranged around the figure of Alexander.
Alexander is on a quadriga, guided by a winged Victory; he is followed by two squires with weapons, the impetuous horse Bucephalus, his cavalry and his infantry, an elephant with the spoils of war and a slave king.
On the other side of the frieze Peace is guiding the Babylon citizens: the satrap Mazzeo with his sons, priests and dancers, soothsayers and musicians, fishermen and shepherds.
The last two characters at the end of the frieze are the sculpor himself and Sommariva: the artist is represented showing to his patron, with legitimate satisfaction, what he created.
