Aurelius: A Figure in Time
Aurelius: A Figure in Time
For homes that understand light
Aurelius by Ruth Bateman is a freestanding bronze, a limited edition of three, standing 16 cm high. In early iconography and biblical imagery, animals often carried awareness: a knowing that something is happening before humans register it. This horse has that quality. It is listening.
That sense of inward listening continues in its scale. At 16 cm, it asks to be encountered closely, at domestic height. This piece feels a fitting choice for Christmas, which at its core is a story of movement in the dark: travel, shelter, watchfulness. This horse holds all of these qualities.
The bronze catches light unevenly, so shadows stay active. In low winter light, or carefully lit within a home, the piece would cast a long, living shadow.
The name carries clear philosophical weight. Aurelius points to Marcus Aurelius, Stoic, inward, attentive to time, and to the discipline of movement without spectacle.
In Roman usage, aurelius also carries the sense of “golden” or “of value”, aligning with the material of bronze: metal that holds light and internal worth, earned through time.
So the title frames the work as a figure in ethical motion: a being that knows how to stand inside time, attentive and alive.
“Confine yourself to the present.”
- Marcus Aurelius
Aurelius
18 x 16 cm | 7 x 6 in
Original sculpture in bronze, (freestanding).
Limited edition of 3.
