Monument of Spanish King Philip IV on Place de Oriente, Madrid
Title
Monument of Spanish King Philip IV on Place de Oriente, Madrid
Description
Perhaps the most famous figure of the Scientific Revolution is the Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei, known for his contributions to the fields of astronomy and physics. He famously quarreled with the Inquisition due to controversy over his religious interpretations of his astronomical discoveries (Freedberg 123), finally resulting in Galileo’s house arrest in 1633 that would last until his death in 1642. This did not stop him, however, from making great contributions to science and culture. Lost among the many advances attributed to Galileo is the Monument to King Philip IV if Spain.
King Philip IV ruled Spain from 1621 to 1665, which coincided with both the Spanish Golden Age and the Scientific Revolution. Philip commissioned the creation of an equestrian statue of himself similar to the famous statue of his father, Philip III. Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca, who worked on this project from 1633 to 1640, undertook an impossible challenge to support the statue only using the hind legs of the horse. This task had never been successfully completed, and common practice was to have the horse stand on at least three legs so that the weight of the statue could be evenly distributed. Tacca eventually contacted Galileo to help him solve this problem. Galileo’s solution was to hollow the front of the horse while keeping the back solid so that a majority of the statue’s weight would be over the rear legs. He also recommended having the tail connect to the base of the statue, which would provide more support to the rear (Valentiner 36). Galileo’s propositions were successfully implemented, and the equestrian statue of Philip IV still stands today as a monument of Galileo’s ingenuity.
King Philip IV ruled Spain from 1621 to 1665, which coincided with both the Spanish Golden Age and the Scientific Revolution. Philip commissioned the creation of an equestrian statue of himself similar to the famous statue of his father, Philip III. Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca, who worked on this project from 1633 to 1640, undertook an impossible challenge to support the statue only using the hind legs of the horse. This task had never been successfully completed, and common practice was to have the horse stand on at least three legs so that the weight of the statue could be evenly distributed. Tacca eventually contacted Galileo to help him solve this problem. Galileo’s solution was to hollow the front of the horse while keeping the back solid so that a majority of the statue’s weight would be over the rear legs. He also recommended having the tail connect to the base of the statue, which would provide more support to the rear (Valentiner 36). Galileo’s propositions were successfully implemented, and the equestrian statue of Philip IV still stands today as a monument of Galileo’s ingenuity.
Creator
Aklyuch
Source
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos-IV.JPG
Freedberg, David. The Eye of the Lynx: Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004.
Valentiner, W. R. "AN EQUESTRIAN STATUETTE OF PHILIP IV OF SPAIN." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit 15, no. 3 (1935): 34-38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41501407.
Date
17 July 2006
Contributor
Elliot Cahn
Rights
Free Re-use
Original Format
Digital photo
Physical Dimensions
1,200 × 1,600 pixels
Citation
Aklyuch, “Monument of Spanish King Philip IV on Place de Oriente, Madrid,” HIST 139 - Early Modern Europe, accessed April 25, 2026, https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/146.