Equestrian statue of Felipe IV in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid in Spain
Do you know the scientist Galileo Galilei helped in the technical design of the Equestrian statue of Philip IV of the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid?
This statue was commissioned to the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca at the beginning of the 17th century by King Felipe IV himself, who wanted a more majestic statue than his father's Philip III. For his artistic design, the sketches of painter Velazquez were taken as the basis for the equestrian painting of Felipe IV that can now be seen in the Prado Museum.
But precisely said statue of Philip IV, which is considered as the most important currently in Madrid, has its greatest value in the case of the first equestrian statue in which the horse rested only on two hind legs, as well as on the tail.
To solve the technical problem that this implied, Tacca requested the Galileo Galilei technical advice who proposed as a solution that the front of the statue be hollow and the back solid. Finally, Galileo made the technical measurements to achieve the proper balance in this nine-ton bronze statue.
