Following history’s trails. Who is the Sun King?

Not just any monument is praised by great figures such as Francesco Petrarca and Leonardo Da Vinci.

Both were astonished during their respective visits to Pavia, by a sculpture that enclosed the idea of movement with such technical skill and raw expressiveness.

The former wrote about it in an epistle to his contemporary Giovanni Boccaccio, while the latter mentioned it in his diaries.

The Sun King's equestrian statue has been a city landmark for centuries and still raises several questions to this day.

The one that can be admired in front of the imposing Cathedral is a copy, and not an exact one at that, of the one hailing from Roman times, built as explained by numerous testimonies, using the lost-wax casting method.

The first Sun King was destroyed in the eighteenth century and later replaced with the current version by Francesco Messina in 1937 for the millenial celebrations of August's empire.

The monument, just as Petrarca and Da Vinci saw it, featured a bearded man riding a horse and a small dog near its raised hoof.

Perhaps it was supposed to represent an emperor such as Marcus Aurelius or Aurelian, from which the title Sun King might come and worshipped by military ruling class.

Who might this illustrious figure be? See for yourselves and reveal its secrets!

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