The Image of Equestrian Roman Emperors from Italy to the Indias

This project examines three salient features of the iconography of Roman Emperors (or Caesars) on horseback. First, I clarify the origins of this iconography in 16th century Italy, which enables me to create a catalogue of current images and elucidate the process of creation (Gonzaga’s scuderie representations, Equile prints and Twelve Equestrian Caesars by G. Stradano, …). Secondly, I will map the movement and itinerary from Italy to the Americas and ultimately to Japan. Finally, by defining its essential features, I explore the successful chivalrous interpretation prevalent in the Renaissance Hispanic world. Consequentially, this case study strongly contributes in its goals towards a greater understanding of the broad geographic scope of the Renaissance, by elucidating aspects of the global circulation and reception of its images in the Indias, aspects that have been previously overlooked. Antiquarianism, taste, hybridity, appropriation, connected, and global images, among other key aspects of art history converge in this fascinating image throughout its voyage from Spanish Italy to the Iberian Americas.