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Roman Art
Capitoline Brutus, ca. 300 BC (or later), Etruscan bronze
portrait, Conservatori Mus, Rome
Rome, c. 80 B.C.
Head of a Roman Patrician
• Bust
• Severe, unwavering, resolute
• Knowledgeable, respected
• Romans felt the head was a good enough representation of a person
• Traditional family values
• Influenced by Hellenistic Greek art
• Shows the virtues of old age
• Was old age enhanced on the figure?
Roman Patrician with 2 Heads, c. 15 CE
Temple of Fortuna Virilis (Portunas) Late 2nd BCE
Temple Virilis, Rome• Temple to the Roman god of
harbors, Portunus• Etruscan influence in the
elevation of the temple on a pedestal
• One main entrance in the front• Wide flight of stairs• Ionic columns• Roman desire for big interiors
pushes the walls out to meet the columns
• Influence of the Greeks in overall design
Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the SeasonsRoman, Late Imperial, Gallienic, ca. A.D. 260–270
Roman EmperorsA. Ceasar AugustusB. TiberiusC. NeroD. VespasianE. TitusF. TrajanG. HadrianH. Marcus AureliusI. DiocletianJ. Constantine
• 27 BC – 14AD• 14 – 37• 54-68• 69 – 79• 79 – 81• 98 – 117• 117 -138• 161 – 180• 284 – 305• 306 - 337
Head of Emperor AugustusFirst half of the 1st century A.D.; Roman; Marble; 48.3 cm (19 in.); Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James S. Holden; 24.101
This portrait of Rome's first emperor is an idealized, youthful image, which harks back to the representation of athletes and heroes of 5th-century B.C. Greece. It follows the portrait well known from a marble statue of Augustus, discovered in the villa of Augustus's wife Livia outside of Rome. That handsome likeness was the source of inspiration for hundreds of portraits of the emperor all over the expanding Roman Empire. The statue may have served as the cult figure in a temple to the deified emperor, or stood in a public or private place of honor.
Rome, c.15 CE
Augustus of Primaporta
• Idealization, generalized face
• No personal idiosyncrasies
• Contrapposto
• Suggests a god and a man
• Bare feet gives him heroic stature
• Sharp eyebrow edges
• Oratorical pose
• On military breastplate, the return of a Roman standard from Parthia
• Back not carved, placed in a niche
• Cupid riding on a dolphin is a reference to Venus, Augustus’ great ancestor
• He was 76 when it was carved
L'Arringatore, bronze portrait of orator, from Lake
Trasimene , 1 st c. BC
Gemma Augusta
Ara Pacis and Procession of the Imperial Family• Altar of Peace
• Delicately carved acanthus leaf patterns on the exterior
• Altar connected with Augustus’ homecoming after a long absence
• Romans appear as a ruling class, not as gods
• Actual identifiable Romans depicted
• Children are depicted as children, not shown as small adults
• Crowding of figures in processional, not classically dispersed
• Augustus passed laws to promote family values
Tellus Relief - Allegory of Peace (east side)• Mother Earth suckles her children• Personifications of earth, wind, fire and
water rest at peace around her• Roman peace brings bounty to all
Roman Early Imperial Art
Pont du Gard, Nîmes• Bridge and aqueduct• Largest arch spans 82 feet• Each person in Nîmes
could count on 100 gallons of water a day
• Rough stones left exposed to allow for repair work
• Ashlar masonry
Roman High Imperial Art
Column of Trajan• Ashes of Trajan placed at base• Stood in Trajan’s Forum,
surrounded by buildings so that the reliefs could be read
• Low relief, no shadows to enhance visibility
• Originally painted• Continuous narrative around
column• 2,500 figures in all, 150 separate
episodes• Depicts the war against the
Dacians
Roman ArchitecturePantheon, Rome• Dedicated to all the gods• Porch has 16 columns• Influenced by the Parthenon• Corinthian capitals• Two pediments• Dome made of concrete, at base 20
feet thick• Interior height equals width• A hemisphere shape• Coffers relieve concrete stress on
dome: each contains four recesses except the top contains three
• Ancient metal roof almost gone• Repetition of square and circle
Roman Architecture
Pantheon, Rome (continued)• Original dome decorated with
stucco and painting• Original marble walls survive• Floor has drainage system• Oculus allows light and air in• Light from oculus symbolizes
sun’s movement through the sky
• Base of building made of concrete
Roman Late Imperial Art
Head of Constantine• 8 ½ foot head• Part of a seated statue that
must have been 30 feet• Enthroned in the Basilica of
Constantine• Metal crown was attached to
brow• Enlarged and detailed carving
of eyes• Lack of individuality
Barrel vaults, north exedra, Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, Roman Forum
Roman Late Imperial Art
The Tetrarchs• Depicts four emperors who
ruled at once• Figures are cylinders, lack body
articulation• Same gestures, a Roman salute• Done in porphyry, a purple
stone symbolizing royalty• Stubby proportions• Squat bodies• No emotion on faces• Deeply furrowed lines on
foreheads
Roman Architecture: ColosseumColosseum, Rome• Real name, Flavian Ampitheatre• Accommodates 50,000 spectators• Miles of vaulted spaces• Barrel vaults, groin vaults• Concrete• Elliptical form• 80 entrances• 1st floor: Tuscan, considered the heaviest• 2nd Floor: Doric, considered lighter• 3rd floor: Ionic, fancier• Top floor flat columns in Corinthian style,
most decorative• Imperial box opposite gladiator entrance• Small rectangular windows on fourth floor
let in light into upper corridors
Façade of travertine blocks Flagstaffs balanced on marble buttresses visible on fourth floor held up a sunshield for the spectators Used for gladiator combat, naval battles
Pompeii
Explosion by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried Pompeii
Forum• Large rectangular public square
in center of town• Surrounded by a colonnade• Temple of Jupiter focus of
forum• Surrounding the forum are the
buildings that housed the business, government and religious activities of Pompeii
Atrium, House of the Silver wedding
PompeiiRoman Houses• Faced inward• Interiors lit from atrium, few
windows on exterior• Atrium formed the opening for
rainwater to fall in the impluvium
• Columns surround impluvium• Interiors of rooms are painted;
open up interior space• Shops are outside the house
facing the street• Windows are small and limited
in number
Ixion Room• Fresco, linear perspective, atmospheric
perspective
• Foreshortening
• Ixion murdered his father-in-law and planned to seduce Hera
• Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and ordered him to be tied to a wheel in hell
• Scheme of red and white fields
• On bottom painted to resemble marble slabs
• On top, architectural vistas that do not align to a single viewpoint
• Thin delicate motifs alternate with framed mythological scenes
Villa of the Mysteries
Dionysiac Mystery Frieze• Fresco, Foreshortening
• 2nd Pompeian Style painting
• Large figures in a frieze-like format
• Initiation rites into the female cult of Dionysos
• Figures act out mystery rites
• Painted marble panels at bottom, from the First Pompeian style of painting
• Bright Pompeian red background pushes figures forward
• No linear perspective, but three dimensional illusionism
• Figures interact with each other on adjacent wall spaces
• Over 30 buildings – 250 acres• Multiple architectural orders – mainly
Greek and Egyptian• Multiple sculptural works including
the discobolus
Antinous – a very good freind
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aureliusca. 175 AD
Commodus as Herculesc. 191 – 92 CE
Philip the Arabc. 246 CE
Mummy portrait of a manca. 160-170 AD
