ROMAN ART AND
SCULPTURE
6th Year 2016
Why did the Roman’s Paint on Walls?
 They painted on their walls to brighten up and enliven
rooms that were often dark and windowless
 Wall fresco’s also disguised the poor terracotta plaster
that the original wall of the room was made off
 Those who had the financial means were also inclined
to beautify their villa’s or Domus with brightly
coloured paintings.
 The Romans also painted on their walls to give the
notion that the rooms were larger than they actually
were
How did they paint on walls?
 Firstly several rough coats of plaster was applied to a
brick wall.
 Then layers of lime mixed with powdered marble was
applied to the wall, (this made the wall surface finer)
 Then the artist painted background scenes and later
on added people to the painting, when the wall was
still wet.
 Finally , a smooth gloss of wax was applied to the wall
to give it a shine and preserve it (as well as enhance the
painting on the wall)
The four Pompeian styles
 Style one comprised of painted blocks on a wall to look like marble. Between
these blocks the artist painted horizontal and vertical cornice bands to give the
painting a sense of perspective,(no examples in Wheeler)
 Style two is characterised by its focus on realism. The buildings are given 3-D,
the perspective makes it look as if the painting recedes or goes back endlessly.
The garden scene of Livia is a good example. There is very efficient use made of
the wall space.
 In Style three the scene is less realistic – more impressionistic, (loose brush
strokes etc.) There is less emphasis on perspective. Painted architectural
features such as columns tended to be thin and windy rather than sturdy and
realistic. See offering to a seated Dionysius P.195 –this scene is “highly
impressionistic”. Peoples faces are barely recognisable either in this style
 In style four there a return of real perspective or 3D - the architecture is also
realistic. There is also more elaborate us of colour i.e. it is rich. We have
examples also of fantasy in this style, e.g. the theatre scene at Herculaneum
The sections of a wall painting
 A typical wall painting from the Roman Villa’s we have
studied are divided into three parts - “tripartite”
 At the bottom - a dado rail was painted, this marked
the beginning of the painting
 The middle section of the painting was the most
important and contained the main theme or scene
 At the top a cornice architrave was painted or a
decorative painted pediment
 In this way The Romans defined the spaces and
sections of the wall painting
Themes of Roman Wall Paintings
 Landscape – garden of Livia P. 185
 Pastoral – countryside, (Shepherd before a shrine P.198)
 Harbour – seascape, (Harbour at Stabiae P.199)
 Still life – (House of Julia Felix P.202)
 Fantasy – (Theatre scene at Herculaneum P.203)
 Mythological/religious – Offering to a seated Dionysius or Trojan Horse P.195
 Architectural – P.184
 Historical – (Riots outside the amphitheatre at Pompeii P.119)
The Amphitheatre at Pompeii
 See Illustration 96, P.119
 This is a wall painting from a villa at
Herculaneum
 It depicts the riots in and around
the amphitheatre at Pompeii in AD
59
 Note the painted awning – covering
the amphitheatre
 The perspective, or threedimension is all wrong
 The artist more concerned with
recording the history of the event
rather than engross in artistic
finesse
The Amphitheatre at Pompeii
 We are give multiple views of the amphitheatre and the events depicted.
 There an Ariel view, a view of the events from the front and a view of the events
from both sides of the external staircase leading up to the top level of the
amphitheatre.
 Both the matchstick men and the buildings depicted outside the arena are
poorly rendered
 The event this painting depicts has of course is of important historical value –
i.e. the rioting between the Pompeian's and Nucerians
 The painting is probably late third style/fourth style?
Landscape painting
 Illustrations 163, 164, 165
 “Domestic landscapes with huts
and people”
 There was “the pleasant fashion
of painting walls with pictures of
country houses and porticos,
landscape gardens, groves, hills, fish
ponds, canals, rivers, coasts, with
sketches of people going for a stroll
or sailing and approaching country
houses on asses, or on carriages,
and fishing or fowling or hunting or
gathering the vintage” P. 185
 Illustrations 163-165
 These late Republic - early
Empire landscape
paintings are a likened to
the type of landscape
paintings we see during the
Romantic Movement, (late
18th early 19th century AD)
 This “conscious cult of
nature” Is in harmony with
the spirit of the Augustan
period, (27BC-14 AD)
Landscape-paintings
Garden of Livia at Prima Porta
 P. 185 Illustration 166
 “ A master piece of Roman
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Landscape painting”
Gentle and sombre woodland
lie beyond a low garden
paling
Note how the space in the
painting is divided: to give
the painting a sense of
endless distance
“Colours graduate between
blue and green with birds
among the leaves”
The colours are “Penetrating”
Achilles revealed by Diomedes and Odysseus at Scyros
 Wall painting from the house
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of Dioscuri at Pompeii before
AD 79
Achilles has a “gross and
vigorous visage”, (face)
Perhaps
Achilles
is
a
portrayal of some “ham actor
from the stage”
Achilles head was repainted
The head could be that of the
patron himself
Note
the
mythological
background to the painting.
Achilles revealed by Odysseus and Diomedes at Scyros
 Achilles mother Thetis sends her son disguised as a girl to Scyros (ruled
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by King Lycomedes).
The kings daughter Deidamea fell in love with Achilles and they had a
son called Neoptolemos.
The Greeks could not capture Troy without Achilles (prophecy) so
Odysseus and Diomedes went to Scyros to search for him.
The painting captures the moment when Achilles is unmasked
The painting is realistic and has depth/perspective
In the fore ground an object has been upended – on the other side a
helmet lies unattended
Achilles is gripped by Odysseus and Diomedes – whilst he himself
reaches out for a shield on his other side.
In the background we notice king Lycomedes and some armed guards
The king seems to be approaching out from the palace to investigate all
the commotion. To his right a there is young girl, (distressed)
Deidamea?
Achilles Revealed.....
 Different spacial levels are defined in the painting -
1.foreground, 2.centre figures (the three heroes)
3.background (palace, girl, king and royal attendants) give
this painting depth and rich perspective
 The motion and movements of the characters are
excellently captured, it is a if everything has been stilled for
a moment in time: Achilles shocked look – Odysseus and
Diomedes determined grip of the hero’s arm – the king
coming out to see what's going on and of course the young
girls’ hysterical distress at the unfolding events.
 Note the colour contrasts used – pale verses bronze
 Painting probably style 4 as is suggested by the colours and
perspective etc.
Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse P.194 Illustration 180
“Bold use of colour and economy
of detail give it great force”
On the right the legs of the horse is
“sturdily splayed forward as if to
emphasise the strain”
 The Trojans pull the horse
 The spectators are linked by a lone
towards the town -Troy
 Their whole weight is being
concentrated in “rhythm” into
the effort
 The light focused on them is the
“functional centre” of the
painting. The dimmer static,
(standing) figures of the Trojan
army in the background contrast
sharply to figures pulling the
horse
emphatic figure who is running
towards the horse, this figure helps to
“coordinate”
the
scene
and
concentrate our eyes on it.
 Cassandra on the left is lightly
sketched, she is moving inward
towards the centre from the
centre from the battlement walls
 The crowded scene is little more
than a sketch- the episode is
vividly displayed and the leaning
figures on the foreground are
“strikingly impressive”.
Landscape Illustrations 182-184
“Good solid landscapes which
stand on their own merit”
 Illustration 182-figures sit and stroll
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in a romantic landscape with trees
and buildings in the background
This scene is “consciously romantic”
It brings first century Pompeii close
to 18th century England
These paintings are described as
“sacro-idyllic”
Scenes are pastoral and peaceful and
reflect the interest that the Romans
had in landscape painting
Illustration 182 is Black and white
Illustration 184
 This is a wall painting of a
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pastoral scene “in the Romantic
style of later centuries”
Painted before AD 79
The landscape is rugged in the
background
In the fore ground is a country
shrine – a shepherd grazes his
goats
This bucolic scene is peaceful
and harmonious
Illustration 183
 Wall painting of houses at noon
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from Pompeii 79 AD
The cluster of houses are bathed
in strong light with “black
shadow”
Black and white figures are
sketched “vigorously” here and
there in the foreground
“It is a modest masterpiece of
impressionism which might hold
its place in a modern setting”
The strong contrast of light and
shade are a “masterpiece” of
Impressionism”
Illustration 185 P.199
 A wall painting of a harbour scene
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at Stabiae
“The busy life of the harbour is
shown with striking force and
with great economy of line”
Vivid but artistically less striking
of a townscape of a port from
Naples
We are shown quays, wharves and
shipping, adjacent ware houses,
market halls and monuments..
Many of the columns carry
statues,
The artist and patron all display a
“lively interest” in the daily scene
Illustration 187-189
 Still life –from Herculaneum
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Kingfisher, vase, trident and sea
fish
Still life wall painting from the
house of Julia Felix (AD 79)
“Thrushes, eggs and domestic
utensils”
Still life with fruit bowl and
amphora
Note excellent use of lines,
shadows, colour and light.
Also realism (everyday life) a
feature of the 4th Pompeian style
Illustration 190- P.203
 Fantastically elaborate architectural
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detail is probably derived from a
theatre
“fantastic baroque of the 4th style”
These painting were unbelievably
elaborate and were designed to lighten
and
enlarge
rooms
of
the
sophisticated townhouse
A porch is sustained by gilded
columns
and
carry
dolphins,
hippocampus and a drama mask”
Beyond recede interior views loaded
with ornament and with a sufficient
scene of perspective both in line and
colour to suggest “endless distance”
This painting drew its inspiration
from the theatre
Resembles the Scaenae frons of a
theatre stage
How did the Roman’s lay down Mosaic
 Firstly the wall or floor was cleaned and made smooth
 Secondly the artist drew the scene on the floor or wall – i.e. made out a
sketch of the scene
 Thirdly the artist carefully placed the small one inch marble tessarae onto
the sketch. The small square pieces were glued on to the coloured sketch
 The mosaic was left to set and dry
 Finally the mosaic (when dry) was once more cleaned, and swept. A gloss
or varnish may also have been applied to give it a shine and protect the
mosaic.
Battle of Issus
Mosaic of Alexander at Issus Illustration 154 P. 172
 Found in the house of Faun
 Depicts the battle of Issus,
Alexander against Darius 3rd
333BC
 The mosaic is derived from a
painting from Philoxenos or
by Aristeides
 Pliny says Aristeides was one
of the first painters to “paint
the soul and give expression
to the affections of man and
his emotions”
 This battle scene is
Tumultuous, i.e. emphasising
the chaos and din of battle:
the drama is rendered vividly.
 There is an attempt to
distinguish the personalities
involved
 The little tesserae sensitively
shows us how the picture
moves or changes -the light
and shade mixes with the
“dun” colours and as a result
there is a convincing
reproduction of the lost
original, (painting)
Landscape Mosaics P.188-189
 Landscape
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Nilotic mosaics –
Nilotic means from the area
around the river Nile.
Hippopotamus, crocodile and
ducks all show us the influence of
the city Alexandria , (in Egypt) on
Roman art
Lower mosaic from a Roman Villa
at Zliten around 200 AD: horses
and cattle are depicted trashing
corn
Small birds in a nest
Such mosaics panels would have
been made in a skilled workshop
and set in locally made floors
Scenes depict country life and
activity theme is rural and bucolic
Mosaics
Landscape Mosaics P.189
 These mosaics are to be found at
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Hadrian’s great palace at Tivoli AD
130
A lion attacks a bull, the action is
“lively”
Below is a more peaceful pastoral
scene with goat and a goatherd
Both mosaics are set in a
convincing rugged landscape
The depiction of these country
scenes is graceful and realistic
They are evidence of the Roman’s
interest in landscape art.
Portrait Sculpture
 Statue of Pericles P.161
 Intellectually a “barbers
dummy”
 The bust is nothing like
the intellectually creative
genius of 5th century
Athens
 This is a copy of a fifth
century statue
 Roman portrait statues
were far from idealised
Portrait Sculpture
 Greek statues had no “emotional or
intellectual content”
 The Hellenic ideal was perfect in
shape
 The Handsome young men of the
great frieze on the Parthenon in
Athens are utterly unresponsive –
they do not share a “mental reaction
among them”, (the Parthenon is the
great temple to Athena on the hill
top of Athens)
 In other words these figures are
“type”
 There was no attempt to capture the
moment or movement let alone the
personality of the characters carved
on the frieze of the Parthenon
 This type of sculpture was “child art”
 While this art had “technical
sophistication” the concern was
with generalised outlines not with
“individual thought”
 This began to change in the 4th
century
 There was a new appreciation of the
“individual”
 The statue of Mauslous ruler of
Caria for example shows a calm,
strong, majestic presence.
 Lysippus’ statue of Alexander
captured the vital feature of an
abrupt neck, stormy hair, similarly
marks a turning point in this art
form which the Romans took to a
logical conclusion
Roman Portraiture
 Roman Portrait (sculpture) are among the greatest portraiture in the history of art
 We must add in the Etruscan influences to its development, such as the custom of
storing death masks
 This made a contribution to the development of Roman portrait art
 “In the halls of our ancestors, models of faces were displayed to furnish a likeness
in funeral processions, so at the funeral the entire family was present”
 Here we have a interest in the individual rather than type
 When the custom of burying the dead, (inhumation) rather than cremation
developed by the 2nd century, “an intense an impassionate conviction as to the
reality of the individual survival” developed
 By the second half of the 4th century BC there was a recipe for “a new
individualism” –after Aristotle there was a “new interest in the individual rather
than the community”
 The generalised and idealised outline began to give way and what evolved were
shapes “imposed by individual thought and emotional experience”
Patrician carrying bust P163 Illustration 142
 This
patrician, (or rich
Roman) is carrying a bust of
his ancestors to a funeral
 The making of such images
helped to develop the Roman
art of portraiture
 It dates from the first
century BC/AD
 Note the realism in all three
heads, eyes, nose, balding
hair, folds of toga etc,
(typically Roman)
Corn relief merchants P.169
 This is a grave relief of corn
merchant Ampudius, with
wife and daughter 1 cent’ AD
 It contrasts to the aristocratic
assemblage, ( i.e. group of
people in procession) of the
Ara Pacis – but has the same
poise and certainty, (i.e. it is
more humble-but the realism
is just as good)
 Portraits, such as these were
of solid, worthy, prosperous
Roman tradesmen, whose
patronage
must
have
contributed
to
the
maintenance of an immense
multitude of
“competent
portrait-sculptors through the
empire”
Portraits P. 170-172 Illustrations 150, 152
 This is “callously realistic”
It comes from the latter
part of 1st century BC. It is a
head of an aging woman
 The
uncompromising
features are emphasised by
“thin hair, which is pulled
carefully if stringily to a
tight bun at the back of the
head. The head of an aged
woman is characteristic of
a “cruder portraiture” of
the third century AD
Aged Woman
Realistic Portraits
Commodus
Commodus P. 170 Illustration 151
 Portrait bust of the emperor
Commodus AD 180-193, “he is
grotesquely portrayed in the
compensating role of Hercules”
 “A masterpiece of Roman
Sculpture” – The emperor is
smooth and effeminate, with
weak arms, a flaccid feeble face
in its aureole of drilled over
barbed hair reeking of pomade,
the lion scalp and club and the
tiny apple of Hespirdes, in that
tenuous manicured hand is a
delicate but brutally expressive
charade”
 The sculpture with some delight
revealed the sadistic pervert
that was Commodus, and
faithfully immortalised him for
what he was.
 The skilfully if exaggerated use
of the drill in the hair and beard
is balanced by the rendering of
the pupils in the eyes which,
from now on indicate the impact
of light by means of a solid vshaped segment
Philip the Arabian P171, Illustration 153
 Roman portraitists were no
“flatterers”, i.e. showed warts
and all, etc.
 Philip was the alleged son of a
Arab brigand, he was
emperor of Rome, AD 244249
 Here we have exhibited the
“anxious, shifty, opportunist
character of the insignificant
ruler in whose reign was
celebrated the thousandth
anniversary of the founding
of Rome”
Ara Pacis P164 Illustration 143
 Best illustrates the early climax of
Roman portrait sculpture
 The Altar is set on the Campus
Maritus at Rome between 13-9 BC to
commemorate the return of Augustus
in the former year
 It consists of an altar on a podium,
flanked north and south by tall
screens and approached by a stairway
from the west
 The screens are carved on the outside
with life-size figures – those on the
south representing Augustus and his
family – those on the north are
magistrates, senators and members of
the religious fraternities with wives
and children
Frieze of the Ara Pacis P.166
 Subjects are displayed
with “vivid realism”
 The
figures
have
paused during the
procession and are
engaged
in
conversation – caught
in a moment in time
 Theses
figures of
senators
and
magistrates etc. are
located on the north
screen (on the outside
of the altar)
P. 167 Illustrations 145-146
 A veiled lady in the background
places her fingers to her lips in
silent rebuke to a couple
chatting in the foreground
 A small child shows its boredom
or interest and tugs at a toga of
the man next to him, “manifestly
desires to be picked up”
 All of these figures contribute to
the overall “dignity of the scene”
in which the living people of
that time of whom several can
be identified are “caught in
marble, just as they were at a
given moment on 4th July, 13 BC
Ara Pacis
Ara Pacis
 These friezes show representative
groups of officials and there families
 The eye travels freely from living
head to head whether they are
carved in the foreground or
background – there is no dramatic
concentration on the emperor
 With some effort his wreathed and
veiled presence can be identified
near the western end on the
southern screen
 Augustus is merely “primus inter
pares” , (first among equals)– we
have here the beginnings of the
personality cult that was yet to be
carried to its “melodramatic
extremes of later centuries”
 If we want to understand the
Augustan period - “its quite good
manners and undemonstrative
confidence, in a single document,
that document is the Ara Pacis
Augustae” Wheeler, P.165
 The sculpture is no more interested
in the aspects of the emperor than
that of any other person on the
relief – this was to change markedly
by the time of the emperor Titus, “a
century later the whole perspective
was already undergoing a significant
and theatrical change”. i.e. the focus
in later sculpture highlighted the
significance of the emperor. The cult
of the personality was taken to a
new level in monuments such as the
Arch of Titus or Trajan’s Column
Ara Pacis
 Wheeler does not believe that
these scenes are “frigid” i.e.
lacking emotion – nor does he
believe that they found there
inspiration in the “humble
procession
of
Republican
sculpture, but in the great
panathenic procession of the
Parthenon”
 These figures are aloof in so far
as they show a calm, assured,
un-anxious society which they
represent
 It is like the frieze on the Parthenon
only in so far as it shows a
ceremonial
“concourse”,
i.e.
procession
 Unlike the Parthenon which gives a
pictorial account of the ceremony,
the Ara Pacis supersedes the
sculptures on the frieze of that
Greek temple in Athens, because we
get a portrait gallery of celebrants
who not only screen an altar but
dominate the scene.
 In other words the figures on the
Ara Pacis are not just for decorative
purposes - the have a personality of
there own and these dominate and
stand out.
Trajan's Column P.177
 100 foot in height, the carved
bands winds spirally for 215
yards up ward- it was erected
in the Roman forum in AD 113
to commemorate and
illustrate the emperors two
Dacian campaigns
 It is a “masterpiece of Roman
historical art” –the great relief
was tricked out with colour it could be seen at easier
range from the roofs of the
two libraries that lay at either
side of the column
Illustration 157 P.179
 At the bottom the roman army
emerges from a fortified city and
cross the Danube in two columns,
one of the columns is led by Trajan
himself – the busy life of the river is
vividly shown – the river god
Danube, surveys the goings on from
a nearby cave – then the emperor is
seen outside the camp – later on he
holds a war council- there after he is
veiled as the high priest readying a
sacrifice to mark the beginning of
the campaign. He “harangues” his
troops whilst fortifications are being
built –later on a captured spy is
brought before him. Trajan is
everywhere!
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Through a long succession of mounting
episodes details of the campaigns, (some
of them very ordinary) are shown with
authority and liveliness – we learn more
about the roman army in the field than
any other single document
The action flows un- hesitatingly from
episode to episode
The strange convention of the continuous
style works , as does that other convention
whereby further figures rise head and
shoulders above nearer ones
The perspective is at sixes and sevens but
this serves to add to the “Tumultuous
vivacity of the scene”
We find ourselves committed to the midst
of a crowd of men hurrying about with
their business - the calm commanding
figure of the emperor is close at hand.
Trajan’s column is “ history scribed around
the presence of a great man- the
apotheosis of the individual”
Trajan’s Column
The Great Trajanic Frieze P. 180 Illustration 159
 From the 2nd century – reworked
into the arch of Constantine at
Rome AD 312 – the features of the
mounted Trajan were altered to
resemble those of Constantine
 The frieze originally came from the
temple of the deified Trajan – the
monument also depicts the Dacian
wars, but in a more “monumental
and constrained manner” – the
display on the frieze seems over
crowded and lacks the easy
continuity that marks the display of
events on Trajan's column
 “never again ..was the full mastery
of that column repeated”