The Venue
Mario Ceroli‘s Cavallo con gualdrappa was made in 1985 on a commission from the Banca Popolare di Bari. In 2003, on the occasion of the major exhibition dedicated to the artist in Bari, the bank decided to donate the work and to move it from its original discrete position in via Sparanti to the current, central one. Influenced by Pop Art, the artist approached Arte Povera, preferring the use of traditional and common materials, such as poplar wood for his sculptures. In this work the material is bronze, typically used for equestrian statues, which celebrate figures of captains or sovereigns. In this case, however, the knight does not exist and the monument is therefore ironically dedicated only to the horse.