Art Humanities Section 6: Ancient Rome Supplement/Reference Roman Art (750 BCE -­‐ 200 CE) Although Rome was founded in 750 BCE, it led a precarious existence for several centuries. Initially, Rome was ruled by Etruscan kings who commissioned a variety of Etruscan-­‐
style paintings and sculptures for their tombs and palaces, and to celebrate their military victories. After the founding of the Roman Republic in 500 BCE, Etruscan influence waned and, from 300 BCE, as the Romans started coming into contact with the flourishing Greek cities, they fell under Model of an Etruscan Temple the influence of Greek art and culture -­‐ a process known as Hellenization. Soon many Greek works of art were being taken to Rome as booty, and many Greek artists followed to pursue their careers under Roman patronage. The reclining banquet was a frequent subject in
the civilizations of antiquity. In a funerary context,
it might be a funeral meal, the banquet of the
blessed in the afterlife, or simply a representation
of the deceased in an activity characteristic of his
social status.
Unlike women in Greece at this time, Etruscan
women attended banquets, testifying to their
important role in society.
The couple is portrayed as banqueters, halfreclining on beds covered with mattresses. They
belonged to the elite of Etruscan society.
The "Sarcophagus of the Spouses"
c. 520-510 BC Status of Art in Rome The arts were still not a priority for Roman leaders who were more concerned about survival and military affairs. It wasn't until about 200 BCE when it won the first Punic War against Hannibal and the Carthaginians, that Rome felt secure enough to develop its culture. Even then, the absence of an independent cultural tradition of its own meant that most Roman painting and sculpture was borrowed or copied from Greek artworks. In fact, Rome was unique among the imperial powers of the ancient world in developing only a limited artistic culture of its own. Roman architecture and engineering was always innovative and impressive, but its paintings and sculptures were largely imitative of Greek art and also influenced also by art forms from Egypt and Persia. Roman Art Seen as Inferior to Greek Art To put it another way, despite their huge military successes, the Romans had an inferiority complex in the face of Greek artistic achievement. Their ultra-­‐pragmatic response was to recycle Greek sculpture at every opportunity. Greek poses, reworked with Roman clothes and accessories, were pressed into service to reinforce Roman power. Heroic Greek statues would even be supplied headless, to enable the buyer to fit his own portrait head. 1 Style of Roman Art Like the Romans themselves, early Roman art (c.510 BCE to 27 BCE) tended to be representational, realistic and direct. Portraits in both paintings and sculpture were typically detailed and not idealized, although later during the Imperial age of Augustus onwards Hellenistic-­‐Roman art (c.27 BCE -­‐ 200 CE), the Romans were keenly aware of their propaganda value, and sought to convey political messages through the poses and subject matter, particularly in portraits of their Emperors, as well as in reliefs, friezes and wall paintings. For example, when commemorating a battle, the artwork used would be executed in a realistic -­‐ almost 'documentary' style. This realistic down-­‐to-­‐earth Roman style of art contrasts with that of Greek artists who typically celebrated their military achievements indirectly, using mythological allegories. Roman Sculpture Heavily influenced by Greek statues and reliefs of the Hellenistic period, Roman sculpture includes free-­‐standing statues, reliefs or friezes and Augustus busts, in bronze or stone. Being designed as public art, their impact on the viewer was paramount. Thus many Roman sculptures (like many examples of Roman architecture) were designed to impress the public -­‐ be they Roman citizens or 'barbarians' -­‐ and communicate the power and majesty of Rome. Reliefs and friezes of military scenes were highly detailed, while the mood and expressions of Roman statues was typically solemn and unsmiling. Imperial or military groups of figures were carefully arranged to reflect rank. As Rome grew more confident from the reign of Augustus (31 BCE -­‐ 14 CE), Emperors and other sculpture-­‐subjects might appear in more magnanimous poses, but an underlying sense of Roman greatness was never far from the surface of most Roman sculpture. Portrait Busts and Statues These artworks are seen as the most important Roman contribution to the sculpture of Antiquity. Effigies of Roman leaders had been displayed in public places for centuries, but with the onset of Empire in the late first-­‐century BCE, stone or bronze representations of the Emperor -­‐ which were copied en masse and sent to all parts of the Roman world -­‐ served an important function in reminding people of Rome's reach. In addition, one of the greatest contributions of Bust of a Roman Citizen Roman sculpture to the history of art, lies in its replication of original Greek statues, most of which have disappeared. Without these copies, Greek art would never have received the appreciation it deserves, and the Renaissance (and Western Art along with it) might have taken a very different course. -­‐ http://www.visual-­‐arts-­‐cork.com/roman-­‐art.htm Roman Patrician with Busts of his Ancestors
(a.k.a. The Barberini Statue), marble, lifesize,
c. 30 B.C. (Capitoline Museums, Rome) 2