Tiber River

A marble allegory of the Tiber, discovered in Rome in 1512 and now housed at the Louvre.

The Statue of the Tiber river with Romulus and Remus is a large statue from ancient Rome exhibited at the Louvre museum in Paris, France. It is an allegory of the Tiber river that waters the city of Rome. The statue is 3.17 m wide, 2.22 m tall, and 1.31 m deep, carved from Luna marble (Carrara marble). It is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original.

Last updated 2026-09-28 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Mouth location: Tyrrhenian Sea
Length: 406 km / 252 mi
Basin size: 17,375 km² / 6,709 sq mi

Facts from the source article.

Lore & Background

The Tiber is depicted as a middle-aged man, bearded and reclining, according to the typical pattern for representations of river gods. In his left hand, an oar represents navigation; in his right hand, a cornucopia represents the nourishing virtues of the river. Under the right arm of the god lies the she-wolf which, according to legend, suckled the twins Romulus and Remus who had been abandoned in the Tiber and would later go on to found the city of Rome. The base of the statue is decorated with reliefs depicting a scene of grazed fields, one of boatmen, and another relating to the tale of Aeneas. The statue was discovered in 1512 in the area of the Iseum Campense in Rome, near the present-day basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It undoubtedly decorated a fountain situated on the path leading to the sanctuary. It mirrored a statue of the Nile river (now preserved in the Vatican) in which Romulus and Remus are replaced by a crowd of putti or children representing fertility.

Reader's Guide

The statue of the Tiber is a large marble sculpture from ancient Rome, now exhibited at the Louvre museum in Paris. It measures 3.17 m wide, 2.22 m tall, and 1.31 m deep, and is carved from marble taken from Mount Pentelicus near Athens, Greece. The statue depicts the Tiber as a middle-aged, bearded, reclining man, holding an oar in his left hand (representing navigation) and a cornucopia in his right hand (representing the nourishing virtues of the river). Under his right arm lies the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. The base is decorated with reliefs of grazed fields, boatmen, and a scene from the tale of Aeneas. Discovered in 1512 at the site of the Temple of Isis and Serapis in Rome, it originally decorated a fountain. After the Treaty of Tolentino (1797), it was transferred to the Louvre, and in 1815 Pope Pius VII offered it to King Louis XVIII, so it remained in Paris. Its date is uncertain: probably after a fire at the Temple of Isis in 80 CE, or possibly from the Hadrian period (117–138 CE).