Capitoline Wolf
Sign in to saveAlso known as Capitoline She-wolf, Capitoline She-Wolf, Capitoline Wolf (Capitoline She-Wolf), Lupa Capitolina, Capitoline she-wolf
bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling twin infants, inspired by the founding legend of Rome
Key facts
- Artist
- Unknown (wolf) , Antonio del Pollaiuolo (twins)
- Year
- Etruscan, 5th century BC or 11th–12th centuries AD (wolf), Late 15th century AD (twins)
- Type
- Bronze
- Dimensions
- 75 cm × 114 cm (30 in × 45 in)
- Location
- Capitoline Museums , Rome , Italy
via Wikipedia infobox
Described at
Capitoline She-wolf | Musei Capitolini
museicapitolini.org →The She-wolf, with its evocative power, is the symbol of the city. The donation of Sixtus IV brought the statue to the Capitoline Hill. Initially, it stood in the fifteenth century facade of the palace. Then, it was transferred inside the palace, on the occasion of Michelangelo's architectural interventions. At that time, the twins were added, attributed to some by Pollaiolo. They transformed the ancient Lateran symbol of justice into "Mater Romanorum" . Ever since the middle of the 16th century, when it was an open three-arched loggia, this room has contained the bronze Capitoline She-wolf, which has become the symbol of Rome. Embedded in the walls are fragments of Consular and Triumphal Fasti, lists of magistrates and triumphal victors from the time of the republic to the Augustan Age discovered in the Roman Forum and part of an arch dedicated to Augustus.
Excerpt from a page describing this subject · 40,000 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Lupa Capitolina, Rome.jpg
- Height
- 75
- Width
- 114
Show 6 more facts
- Commons gallery
- Lupa Capitolina
- inventory number
- MC1181
- described at URL
- www.museicapitolini.org/en/opera/lupa-capitolina
- Commons category
- Capitoline she-wolf (Musei Capitolini)
- title
- Lupa Capitolina
- inception
- 0500-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Article
The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: Lupa Capitolina) is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. According to the legend, when King Numitor, grandfather of the twins, was overthrown by his brother Amulius in Alba Longa, the usurper ordered them to be cast into the Tiber River. They were rescued by a she-wolf that cared for them until a herdsman, Faustulus, found and raised them.
The age and origin of the Capitoline Wolf are controversial. The statue was long thought to be an Etruscan work of the fifth century BC, with the twins added in the late 15th century AD, probably by sculptor Antonio del Pollaiuolo. However, radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating in the 21st century has concluded that the wolf portion of the statue was almost certainly cast between 1021 and 1153. A 2025 lead isotope analysis of the bronze suggests that its metallic composition is consistent with copper obtained from various mines in the Holy Roman Empire.