Capitoline Wolf | The she-wolf that nurtured the eternal city

Capitoline Wolf | A symbol of Rome’s founding myth

Meet the Capitoline Wolf, Rome’s most famous mother! This bronze masterpiece shows the fierce she-wolf nurturing Romulus and Remus, the twins destined to build the Eternal City. Housed in the Capitoline Museums, the statue is designed to be admired from every angle, showcasing the wolf’s protective stance and the origins of a powerful myth. 

Fun fact: The Lupa Capitolina statue might not seem like it’s heavy, but don’t let its size fool you—it weighs over 1,500 pounds! That’s because it’s made of solid bronze, so it’s as hefty as it is legendary!

The Lupa Capitolina folklore

In Roman mythology, the legendary tale of the city's founders, Romulus and Remus, begins with their abandonment as infants by the Tiber River. The twins were the grandsons of King Numitor, who had been usurped by his brother Amulius. To eliminate any potential threat, Amulius ordered the infants to be cast into the river. However, they were saved by a she-wolf, who nurtured them by allowing them to suckle. This miraculous act quickly became a symbol of Rome, first appearing on coins in the third century BCE and later adorning public monuments. Eventually, a herdsman named Faustulus found the twins and raised them, setting the stage for their legendary future.

Timeline of the controversy over the dating of Capitoline Wolf

• 295 BC: Livy records the erection of a statue at the foot of the Palatine Hill.
• 1st Century AD: Cicero mentions a gilt statue of the she-wolf that was struck by lightning in 65 BC, believed to be linked to the Lupa Capitolina. Pliny the Elder also notes a similar statue in the Roman Forum.
• 18th Century: German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann attributes the Lupa Capitolina to an Etruscan artist from the fifth century BC, based on the depiction of the wolf’s fur. He correctly identifies that the twins were added in the Renaissance, likely around 1471 AD.
• 19th Century: Scholars start to challenge Winckelmann's timeline.
• 1854: August Emil Braun proposes that the damage to the wolf's paw resulted from casting errors rather than ancient events.
• 1878: Wilhelm Fröhner argues that the statue's style is characteristic of the Carolingian period, not Etruscan.
• 1885: Wilhelm von Bode also suggests that the statue is likely a medieval creation, although these ideas fall into relative obscurity.
• 2006: Art historian Anna Maria Carruba and archaeologist Adriano La Regina conduct a detailed analysis of the statue's casting technique, concluding it was made in a single piece—a method prevalent in the Middle Ages, not antiquity. They assert that the damage to the paw stemmed from errors during the molding process.
• 2007: Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating performed at the University of Salento suggests the statue was created between the 11th and 12th centuries AD.
• 2019: A radiocarbon study based on organic residues from the casting cores supports the claim that the statue dates to the 11th-12th centuries CE.
• Recent developments: John Osborne, from the British School at Rome, raises concerns about the validity of the dating results, arguing that the metal composition is consistent with Etruscan techniques. He posits that the Lupa Capitolina should be classified as an Etruscan work, as there are no signs of medieval alterations.

Cultural significance of the Capitoline she wolf

The Capitoline Wolf is a significant cultural icon, prominently featured as the emblem and poster for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In popular media, it appears in Rick Riordan's The Son of Neptune, where Lupa trains demigods, and in the film Agora, showcasing its historical significance. Additionally, the statue symbolizes Latin heritage in Romania and Moldova, where replicas were gifted by Italy in the early 20th century.