The Capitoline Wolf of Galați (Lupoaica Capitolină din Galați) is a monument in central Galați, standing opposite the Lower Danube University. Created by local sculptor Gheorghe Terescenco in 1992, it is a replica of the famous Capitoline Wolf in Rome, showing the she-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus.
The composition comes from the legend of Rome’s foundation, in which the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus were rescued and nursed by a she-wolf before Romulus later founded the city. The image became one of the best-known symbols of Rome and was reproduced in numerous monuments outside Italy. Several Capitoline Wolf statues were installed in Romanian cities during the 20th century, reflecting the importance traditionally given to Romania’s Roman heritage.
Terescenco based the Galați sculpture on the Capitoline Wolf monument in Bucharest, which had been presented to the Romanian capital by the Municipality of Rome in 1906. The Galați version was completed in 1992 and inaugurated several years later, in 1996, following an initiative by the Ginta Latină Cultural Society and the Vatra Românească Union.
The bronze group stands on a tall stone pedestal decorated with a relief portrait of Emperor Trajan and the Latin inscription “Romanae virtuti in Dacia redivivae sacrum,” referring to Roman virtue reborn in Dacia.
