The present pair of Centaurs are directly inspired by the antique statues found in December 1736 during the excavations of Hadrian's Villa by Monsignor (later Cardinal) Furietti. On their discovery, the Centaurs were placed in Furietti's rooms in the Palazzo di Montecitorio, before being bought from his heirs for thirteen thousand scudi by Pope Clement XIII and installed in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. It was at this point that the making of copies in bronze and marble was initiated. The added decorative possibilities that a pair of Centaurs offered greatly enhanced their appeal and thus, in the latter half of the eighteenth century pairs were to be found framing bridges in parks at Pavlovsk and at the Château de Malmaison and adorning numerous entrance halls.