480 BC
Exam question:
In 480 BC, the Greeks fought a major battle
with the Persians. We consider this date to
be the beginning of the _________ era.
a. Hellenistic
b. Archaic
c. Good Times
d. Classical
e. Imperial
(don’t bother to copy down wrong answers!)
SUMMARY
Roman art was about
POWER, PLEASURE & PRACTICALITY
ARCHitecture
ART: media: mosaic, fresco
SCULPTURE: Realism
MUSIC: not much to say
ANCIENT ROME
The Spirit of
Empire
map
better map
p. 72
Romulus & Remus
Etruscan
Apollo from Veii
500 b.c
Life size
Baked clay
(terracotta)
Archaic Greek
influence (smile, stance)
p. 71
3 Roman Periods
• Roman Republic 509 - 27 BC
• Early empire
27 BC - 180 AD
PAX ROMANA
ends with the reign of Marcus Aurelius
• Late empire
180 - 395 AD
about 900 years
But first some connections and
comparisons . . .
Ancient Greek Hellenistic Age ends in
145 BC – why?
ROMAN
CONQUEST
Other cultures
Ancient Egypt 3150 – 702 BC
about 2500 years
China
ROME – 900
years
Shang Dynasty starts 1523 BC; more-or-less
continuous Chinese culture since then,
about 3500 years
Qin Dynasty consolidates China,
221-206 BC, about 16 years
Han Dynasty 206 BC – 220 CE
classical phase of Chinese civilization,
about 400 years
3 timelines
Roman Republic
Classical Greek
Early & Late Imperial Rome
Hellenistic
Archaic
Greek
HAN DYNASTY - CHINA
Zhou
Qin
Chin
3
Kingdoms
0
Classical – some definitions
1. [culturally inclusive] Definitive
(defining) and enduring
2. [narrow sense] art & architecture
of Greek & Roman antiquity
3. [another general sense] ‘art which
aspires to emotional and physical
equilibrium, rationally rather than
intuitively constructed’
Roman contributions
• Literature
• Continuation of Greek models in
art & philosophy
• Architecture
Post & Lintel
construction
LINTEL
P
P
O
O
S
S
T
T
GREEK
PARTHENON
Post & Lintel
drawbacks
LINTEL
P
P
O
O
S
S
T
T
thick
narrow
thick
Something new
under the sun . . .
Roman ARCHitecture
Arches – strength
through
compression
Pont du Gard (in France)
Inventions reached their limit a long time ago, and I see no hope
for further development.
Julius Frontius, 1st century AD
Archways for Aquaducts
Pantheon
p. 82-83
Pantheon
Pantheon plan
Interior
views
Engineering
marvel
Concrete!
Interior more
spectacular than
exterior
Pantheon
later used
as church
Tuscan order of
columns (with
Corinthian capitals)
Missing pedimental
sculpture
comments
(would have been
like Parthenon)
Coliseum
• Brings together the violence and the
achievements of Roman society
• Home of gladiatorial contests…man vs.man,
man vs. animal, animal vs. animal
• Seating designed for comfort with an
expandable covering over the top
• Plumbing which could wash away the blood
or create an ‘inland sea’ on which to have
mock sea battles
POWER (POLITICS) & PLEASURE
plan
Art as
propaganda
Hail, Caesar Augustus!
a.k.a. Octavian
Ruled 27 BC – 14 AD
PAX ROMANA
MEMORIZE DATE: 0
Hailing Caesar
p. 74
Taxi
!
Ara Pacis Augustae
p. 75
Altar of Augustan Peace
2:1 length:height
p. 76
A family affair
Column of Trajan
SCALE!
p. 77
art as propaganda
Portrait Sculpture
Roman Realism
Life as it is –
fidelity to nature
Livia
Augustus’
Wife
Livia
Young Flavian woman
Middle Aged
Flavian
woman
Statue of an old market woman, 1st century A.D.; Roman
On the way to a
rite of Dionysus?
Probably
intentionally
damaged by Early
Christians
Emperor
Caracalla
Philippus the Arab,
ruled 244-249
2-D work
• Mosaics
• Wall painting - fresco
MEDIA
Mosaics
•
•
•
•
•
From Greek Hellenistic period
Tessare - colored glass
Ceramic pieces
Narrow color range
Technology and artistry improves to
create what look like paintings
Unswept Floor Roman copy of Hellenistic original. p. 86 Trompe l’oiel
“fool the eye”
Roman Painting
• Fresco (buon affresco, true frecso,
compared to fresco secco, dry fresco)
• Pigment mixed with limewater and
added to wet plaster
• Wax added to surface after paint had
dried to give a sheen to surface.
Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii 65-50 b.c.
p. 87
Pompeii
Buried by volcanic eruption of Vesuvius 79 AD
Prosperous community of 25,000
depicts initiation Rites of the Cult of Bacchus
p. 87
from the Villa of Mysteries Pompeii
NOT actually
religious—just
decorative
Summer house
of wine
merchant,
richest in town
Content not
currently fully
explained
Characteristic
p. 87 red background
From Pompeii, c. 62- 79 CE.
Sacral-idyllic (sacred and ideal) landscapes depict
allegorical scenes in Nature.
"Gardenscape"
Villa of Livia, Primaporta (Rome),
c. 30 - 20 B.C.E.
Still Life from
Herculaneum
50 a.d.
small town
near
Pompeii
Still life – a genre
of painting
featuring
inanimate objects
(usually (?)
associated with
material wellbeing)
SUMMARY
Roman art was about
POWER, PLEASURE & PRACTICALITY
ARCHitecture
ART (2-D) – media: mosaic, fresco
SCULPTURE: Realism
MUSIC: not much to say
KEY IMAGE
WHAT:
PANTHEON
WHERE:
ROME
IDEA:
INNOVATIONS -ARCH, concrete
KEY IMAGE
WHAT (SUBJECT):
CAESAR AUGUSTUS
CULTURE:
ROMAN
IDEA:
ART AS PROPAGANDA
WHEN:
around 0
p. 74
Taxi
!
KEY IMAGE
CULTURE:
HELLENISTIC/ROMAN
IDEA:
REALISM, PLEASURE
MEDIUM:
MOSAIC
TECHNIQUE:
TROMPE L’OIEL
p. 86
KEY IMAGE
WHERE:
from Pompeii
CULTURE:
ROMAN
IDEA:
PLEASURE
MEDIUM:
p. 87
FRESCO
Up to Dates?
480 BCE BEGINNING OF GREEK CLASSICAL
ERA/GOLDEN AGE
0-
CAESAR AUGUSTUS IN POWER
– END OF REPUBLIC, START OF
EMPIRE – PAX ROMANA
UP NEXT
ROME FALLS 410
CONSTANTINE AND EARLY
CHRISTIANITY
Chapter 5
http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf
Earlier Periods
• Pre-Etruscan
1000-700 BC
• Ertruscan
700-509 BC
- strong enough to resist Greeks
And then came the LATINS
Domestic Architecture
•
•
•
•
•
Domus = house
Atrium = entrance to house
Outside plain, inside elaborate.
Homes were considered sanctuaries
Atrium would often have sculptures of
family members
Atrium
House of Vettii Garden
Large scale rural architecture
Hadrian’s Villa (2nd c.)
•1/2 square mile in size (c. 250 acres)
• 30 buildings (now in ruins)
• hundreds of statues (over 500)
• mosaic floors
• “Antiquarian Spirit” – Greek,
Egyptian revival