Item from Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
A monumental equestrian statue — a crowned figure on a rearing horse, commanding a hall with the authority of someone who ruled a kingdom that may never have existed outside of marble.
The King on Horseback is one of the largest statues Piranesi has found, and one of the most imposing. It stands in a hall large enough to accommodate its scale, and even so it dominates the space — the rearing horse seems to push against the ceiling, the king's outstretched arm seems to direct traffic through the vestibules on either side. Piranesi respects this statue but does not visit it as often as the others. He finds its energy unsettling in a way he struggles to articulate — something about the assumption of authority over others, the suggestion of violence in the battlefield base, sits uneasily with his gentle nature. But he acknowledges its magnificence in his journal and has sketched it from multiple angles, because the House made it, and everything the House makes deserves attention.
Twice life-size. A king in armour sits astride a warhorse that rears up on its hind legs, forelegs striking at the air. The king's face is stern and resolute beneath a crown carved with such delicacy that its points seem sharp enough to cut. His cloak streams behind him in a frozen wind. The horse's mane flies, its mouth is open, its eyes wild. The base is carved to suggest a battlefield — broken weapons, fallen banners, the suggestion of bodies. The entire composition radiates command: this figure is not requesting obedience, it is assuming it.
Also known as: The Horseback King, The Equestrian Statue, The Mounted King