l

Structural analysis of the equestrian monument to

Marcus Aurelius in Rome

G. Accardo, A. Bennici and M. Torre

Centra! Institute for Restoration, Rome, /taly

D. Amodio, P. Cappa and G. Santucci

Department of Mechanics and Aeronautics, 'La Sapienza' University, Rome, /taly

Tbe Marcus Aurelius equestrian monument bas been analyzed by tbe finite element metbod. Tbe
stress and strain fields, relevant to tbe rider load and tbermal effects bave been calculated. Tbe finite
element modcl bas been used to evaluate tbe best constraint conditions between tbe monument
and its pedestal and to design an internai stiffening frame. Tbe numerica! results bave been
validated by experimentally evaluating strains and displacements in tbe borse occurring due to
loading by tbe rider.

INTRODUCTION Institute for Restoration, and the Departrnent of

Acting on bebaif of tbe 'Comune di Roma', tbe Centrai
Institute for Restoration of tbe 'Ministero per i Beni
Culturali ed Ambientali' is taking care of tbe restoration
work of tbe equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius.
Tbe bronze was hand-manufactured in tbe second century
BC and placed, during tbe sixteentb century, on tbe
Capitoline Hill in Romel.2. Tbe monument, standing on a
sto ne base, is constructed of two different parts: t be borse,
witb a raised front rigbt leg, and tbe effigy oftbe emperor,
rested on tbe edge of a iarge boie iocaiized in tbe upper
part of tbe animai. Tbe restoration work necessitated tbe
disassembly of the statue into tbe two constituent pieces,
tbe disconnection of tbe horse from its ancient pedestal
and tbe transfer ofthe group to the Pbysics Laboratory of
tbe Institute. Tbe horse is now resting on a steel frame
wbich was previousiy used to protect it during
transportation (Fig. l).
Before doing any work on tbe monument, the Centrai
Institute for Restoration performed a long series of
bistorical and experimental investigations. Amongst
tbese, we will rnention bere those aiming to obtain a
deeper knowledge about tbe tecbniques used for casting
and assembling the statue 3 ; we should also rnention tbe
investigations on the chemical composition and on the
chemical-pbysical properties of tbe alloys used 4 •
Pbotogrammetry and non-destructive (ultrasonic) tecb-
niques bave also been used to obtain information on tbe
monument's geometry (sbape, dimensions and tbickness
distribution) 5 •6 and on tbe structural integrity (presence
of holes, inclusions, weldings an d cracks )7 • At tbe same
time tbe nature and extent of previous restoration work
bas been carefully evaluated 8 . Finally, tbe temperature
field in tbe monument bas been carefully analyzed
tbroughout tbe day and in different seasons 9 • 10 .
During such preliminary investigations, the Physics
and Environmental Contro! Laboratory of tbe Centrai
Paper accepted November 1989. Discussion closes October 1990.
Mechanics and Aeronautics of Rome, University 'La
Sapienza', have carried out a study on the structural
stability of the monument 11 · 12 . The verification of the
stress distribution in the horse, due to the rider's weight,
has been the main aim of this study. The thermal stresses
due to the non uniform environment temperature
distribution have then been evaluated. Looking toward
the future, and the replacing of the monument onto its
base, the best restraining conditions ha ve been studied in
order to reduce the stress leve! in the horse. At the same
time, investigations have been carried out on the
possibility of creating an internai stiffening frame to
partially release the weight of the rider o n the horse. The
study bas been carried out using finite element models
validated by measuring horse displacements during
loading and unloading.
FINITE ELEMENT MODEL
Three hundred and sixty-five shell elements an d 406 nodes
ha ve been used to mode! the borse's body: the tail and the
head were not introduced in tbe model. The lower part of
the three load-bearing legs ha ve been modelled by beams
of circular section. A seri es of radially placed high stiffness
beams link each lower part ofthe legs to the shell elcments
belonging to the uppcr part of the lcgs. Square scction
beams have also been used to mode! the stiffening cross
introduced in previous centuries to consolidate the edges
of the ho les o n whicb the rider is resting. The thickness of
each sbell element has been obtained by ultrasonic
investigations. The materia! forming the elements has
been assumed to be isotropic and homogeneous.
Mechanical tests were carried out on specimens whose
chemical properties were very dose to the rea! ones. Those
tests suggested that one should assume the value of
85 G P a as the Young modulus, 0.3 as P o isso n coefficient,
0.000018oc- 1 as thermal expansion coefficient and
80 kN/m 3 as weight density.

© Computational Mechanics Pub!ications 1990

58 Software for Engineering Workstations, 1990, Volume 6, Aprii
 Sn·ut'fw'ul dll<lly.1i.1' 4 the eijtlè.\'l?ialì ilhJ!ìW!iellt tu Meii'WS A me/iii.\' iii Rvme.' O. At't'tll'clrJ et al.
Thc strain and displacement results have been
validated by experimental measurements. Displacements
have been measured by linear variable differential
transformers on the raised leg; strains have been
measured by using 11 electrical resistance strain gauges
located where the calculation results indicated there are
maximum values. Figure 4 shows calculated and
measured values of the three displacement components
examined. Figure 5 shows the experimental and
numerica] principal strain located on the front left le g. The
cxamination of thcsc figures shows an acceptable
agreement between calculated and measured values so
that the finite element mode] can be considered valid and
can therefore be used to perform further investigation.

Fig. I. The horse of Marcus Aurelius

The restraints linking the monument to its base have

been simulated in different ways depending on the aims of
the calculation. As far as the mode! validation is
concerned the leg tips ha ve bee n restrained in the sa me
way as they are on the transportation frame, because the
validation measurements have been carried out in those
conditions. In order to evaluate the best way to restrain
the legs of 1the horse when it is standing on its stone
pedestal, a simple supported, a complete restraining or an Fig. 2. The finite element model and its deformed shape
intermediate solution ha ve been taken into account in the
numerica! mode!. In a further calculation a plate linking
the three loaded leg tips has been introduced in the finite
element mode!. This plate allows the study ofthe thermal
effect due to different heating between the bronze
monument and the stone base and the effect due to
imposed displacements.
Diffcrcnt Joads havc bccn applicd to thc horsc
depending o n the aims of the calculations. For the mode]
validation only the rider wcight has bcen considered.
Accurate measurements indicated as 6.2 kN the rider
weight. This was subdividcd in equa] parts and applied on
the 18 n od es placed o n the ho le edge in the u p per p art of
the horse. For the constraint optimization the whole
weight ofthe monument also has to be taken into acount;
in this case vertical forces simulated the weight of the
.! missing head and tail.

t
i RESULTS OF CALCULA TION AND
EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS

lI The calculations have been carried out by the finite

element code SAP. Figure 2 shows the mode! and its
deformed shape, obtained by loading the structure with
the rider weight only and with a simple restraining
hypothesis (ilhe displacement scale is 200 times the one
used for n od al coordinates ). Figure 3 shows a vie w of the
von Mises equivalent stress leve! lines on the external
•l surface of the horse. The figure shows t ha t the maximum
stress valuc is loca ted o n the connection be t ween the front Fiy. 3. The von Mises equivalent stress map: (a) latera!

l
t
left leg and the horse body. view; (b) upwards from bottom view

Software far Engineering Workstations, 1990, Volume' 6, Aprii 59

...
,.i
Structural analysis of the equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius in Rome: G. Accardo et al.

AUS. DISPI,\CEMENT [rnm]

~.o,---------·--------'-------------------- fillcd the legs with low casting temperature alloys so that
they are now very rigid and robust and able to support the
rider load with a low stress level.
Figure 9 shows the frame mounted inside the horse
body; the rider weight is applied on the frame top. A
comparison between the deformed shape of the frame,
shown in Fig. 9 and in Fig. 2, indicates the stiffness
increase obtained in the horse; the stress leve! reduction is
shown in Fig. 6. Examination of Figure 7 indicates that

MAX.
1.4 , ---EqU!V.
- - -STRESS
_.:_ (•laN/rnm-2]
_ _ ___c__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _----,

y z
Displacemenl direclion
~ Dlrt.Tnn:~(. ~ Photo~ram. D Cdkul.Siid. C8J Calcul.Pin

Fig. 4. Comparison of displacements

STRAIN ( m/m]
!OO.--~-~-----------------,

SI.IDING PINS FIXED JOINT IMP.DISP. INT.FRA~tE

~ EXT.SURF. !J2l INT.SURF.

Fig. 6. Effect of the constraints (rider weight R W L)

"'AX. ECJUIV. STRF'.SS (daN/mm-2]

3.0,-------~~---~-------------.
-tooL---------------------~
2 3 { 5 6 7 8 9 IO Il
Slrain gauge number
@D EPS.l CALe. '~ EPS.l )(EAS. 0 EPS.2 CALC. emi! EPS.2 !>IEAS.

Fig. 5. Comparison of principal strains

CHOICE OF BE:ST CONSTRAINING METHOD

Figure 6 shows the highest equivalent stress values on the
external and internai horse surfaces obtained by different
constraint hypotheses. In this figure only the rider's SLIDING PINS FIXED JOI:NT lMP.DlSP. INT.FRAME
weight has been taken into account while in Fig. 7 the
whole weight of the monument has been considered. ~ EXT.SURF. !iii§ INT.SURF.
Among the different constraint solutions the imposed
Fig. 7. Effect of the constraints (total weight M W L)
displacements at the leg tips seem to be the best
possibility. In the finite element mode! these imposed
displacements ha ve been obtained by a thermal dilatation {rM~AX~·~E~q_u~~-S~T~R~ES~S~(~d~aN~/~m~m~--2~]_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _~
(positive or negative) of the base shell element whose
stiffness is extremely high. A previous investigation
indicated the best imposed displacement at the leg tips in
order to minimize stresses, as shown in Fig. 8, for the
Rider Weight Load (RWL) and for the whole Monument
Weight Load (MWL). The relative leg tip displacement
which gives the minium stresses is about 0.1% and this
value has been used in Figs 6 and 7 to determine the best
constraining solution.

INTERNAL FRAME SUPPORTING THE RIDER

-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 o 0.1 0.2 O.J
Finally, a stainless stecl frame structure has bee n design ed Relative dtsplacement l%J
to support the rider directly by the horse legs in order to
-+-- i~<T.SUP.F.R"K!. --1<- EXT.SL'RF.RWL -+-- I~'T.SUP.F.\IWL ....,._. EXT.S\:P.F.""l.
unload the body of the horse. Twenty-two beams form
this frame: their sections are hollow and circular with Fig. 8. Effect of the imposed displacement of the
5 mm thickness and 30 mm diameter. In 1835, G. Spagna constraints

60 S(~(tware .for Engineeriny Workstations, /990, Volume 6, Apri/

 Struclural analysis of the equestrian monumenl to Afarcus Aurelius in Rome: G. Accardo et al.

obtain a reliable finite elemcnt mode! of the rnonument a

dee p knowledge of the geometry, the mechanical
properties of the materia! and the load nature and
intensity are required. Once we have verified, by
appropriate experimental techniques, that the finite
element mode! is able to simulate the rea! behaviour ofthe
monument, it is possible to use this tool in order to
undertake structural restoration.

REFERENCES
Fig. 9. Thejìnite element mode/ with internai frame aml
its deformed shape
the stainless steel frame weight nearly eliminates the
benefits the frame itself introduces, so that a lighter weight
frame such as an aluminium alloy frame may be
recommended.
CONCLUSIONS
The decision on what type of restoration work to
undertake for the case of composite large dimension
monuments such as the equestrian cast of Marcus
Aurelius demands careful analysis of the mechanical
behaviour of the: statue structure. The uniqueness of such
a monument and its immense cultura! value requires one
to use as Iittle rnodification as possible. When stiffening
structures are designed it is necessary to analyze their
effect on the monument without actually having to build
and rnount such structures. The finite element method
provides a valid help to choose the more effective
restoration work on the monument structure. In this
paper we are shown how to use this method and its
integration with experimental techniques. The procedure
adopted in this case can be easily generalized to find a
systematic methodology to be followed in the future. To
Ackerman, J. S. M Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill, Renaissance
News, 1957, 2, 69-75
2 Gregorovius, F. Storia della Citta di Roma nel Medio Evo,
Einaudi editore, Torino, Italy, 1973
3 Marabelli, M. La struttura e le tecniche di fabbricazione, Marco
Aurelio - Mostra di cantiere (Catalogue), ICR, Rome, Italy,
1984, 39--41
4 Cesareo, R., Ferretti, M., Guida, G. and Marabelli, M. Le leghe:
il metodo e i risultati, Marco Aurelio - Mostra di cantiere
(Catalogue), ICR, Rome, Italy, 1984, 42--44
5 Sena, C. Rilievo mediante metodi della 'Fotogrammetria del
Vicino' della statua equestre di Marco Aurelio in Roma,
Proceedinys 1!( the l st /nternational Coi!/Ì!rence on Non-
destructive Testing in Conservation of Works of Art. Rome, Italy,
1983
6 Cam~lla, G., Marabelli, M., Marano, A. and Micheli, M. Esame
ultrasonoro della statua equestre del Marco Aurelio, Proceedings
of the 1st Intemational Conference on Non-destructive Testiny in
Conservation of Works of Art. Rome, Italy, 1983
7 Micheli, M.lndagine radiografica della statua equestre di Marco
Aurelio, Proceedings of the I st lnternational Conference o n
Non-destructive Testiny in Conservatimi of J.t'!Jrks ()(Art, Rome,
ltaly, 1983
8 Tabak, G. Nota sul restauro del Marco Aurelio al tempo dì
Gregorio XVI, Rassegna Archivi di Stato, XLII, I, Rome, ltaly,
1982
9 Accardo, G. et al. Il sistema ambiente-monumento, Marco
Aurelio - Mostra di cantiere (Catalogne), ICR, Rome, Italy,
1984, 65-70
10 Accardo, G., Caneva, C. and Massa, S. Stress monìtorìng by
temperature mappìng and acoustìc emìssion analysis: a case
study of Marcus Aurelius, Studies in Conservation, 1983, 28,
67-74
11 Accardo, G., De Santis, P., Gorì, F., Guattari, G. and Webster,
J. M. The use of Speckle Interferometry in the study of large
works of art, Journal of Photographic Science, 1985, 33(5),
174--176
12 Accardo, G. and Santucci, G. Metodo di calcolo agli elementi
finiti e misure estensimetriche per l'analisis strutturale di
manufatti storico-artistici, 2nd lnternational Conference an
Non-destructive Testing, Microanalytical Methods and
Environmental Evaluation for Study and Conservation of Works of
Art, Perugia, ltaly, 1988

Software for Engineering Workstations, 1990, Volume 6, Aprii 61

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