Overview

Statues of the Dioscuri, the twins Castor and Pollux, stand guard over the flight of steps designed by Michelangelo that leads to the piazza del Campidoglio. The twins were the sons of Zeus after he ravished Leda in the form of a swan. In Rome, the inseparable pair is always represented with two faithful horses. In fact, this last pair of statues was commissioned by Pope Paul III to stand guard over the steps of the Campidoglio but their place was won by the current pair that was discovered during that period in the nearby Piazza Cenci: a sign of fate! Since the discovery in the mid-16th century, the two colossal statues have undergone a number of restorations. That of 1744 was undertaken to repair them when the statues were damaged by the crowd that climbed on top of them after spilling over from the Piazza del Campidoglio during the Lottery.