Colossus of Barletta
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The Colossus of Barletta is a large bronze statue of an Eastern Roman emperor, more than twice life size (5.11 meters) and currently erected in Barletta, Italy.
A legend says the statue washed up on a shore, after a Venetian ship sank returning from the sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade (1204 AD), and that it represents Emperor Heraclius (reign 610-641 AD). Modern scholars think the statue should represent Theodosius II (reign 408-450 AD), even if Honorius (reign 393-423 AD) has been also proposed with some success. An emperor is clearly depicted, identifiable from his imperial diadem and his commanding gesture that invokes the act of delivering a speech, with his right arm raised, now holding a cross, but probably originally wielding a labarum. The emperor wears a cuirass under his short tunic. His cloak is draped over his left arm in a portrait convention that goes back to Augustus. In his outstretched left hand he now holds an orb. His diademed head wears a Gothic jewel, similar to the one worn by Aelia Eudoxia, mother of Theodosius II.
