Roman Sculpture
Revision
Introduction
• Roman sculpture had a public target:– Make known Roman heroes– Reflect Rome’s History
• The main characteristics are:– Detail– Fidelity to the model– Respect of the canon– Beauty is lost in favour of the truth
• The two main genres were:– Portrait– Historical relief
Influences
• Roman sculpture received influences from– Etruria
• Funerary portrait• Realistic depiction of the people
• Greece– Portraits of famous people– Representation of the psychology in addition to
physical characteristics– Taste for collections (Greek works were admired and
collected).
Roman Portrait
• Origins:– Wax portraits of
dead member of the family to put in the houses (lares)
– Portraits of the emperor to send to the provinces
Roman Portrait
• Republic• Imagines Maiorum:
there were the masques of the ancestors made of wax
• They were “positivated” in different materials
• It was forbidden to depict people who did not have a public job.
Roman Portrait
• The first images had only the head, but without any part of the body.
• Due to superstitious believes, they so be very realistic and capsize the features of the dead person.
Roman Portrait
• Portraits are realistic, imitating even defects
• They aim at glorying authorities, not the artists, so they are anonymous
• Bear witnesses of things that happened.
Roman Portrait
• Evolution
Republic
VI-I BC
High Empire I-III AD
Low Empire IV- V
Realistic Idealised Realistic Simplified
Roman Portrait
• Republic: Until 1st century BC– Only head and neck– Bronze or polychrome stone– Grave and serene expressions– Individualization of the character– Trend to idealise public characters.
Roman Portrait
• High Empire (1st-3rd centuries AD)– Official portrait is idealized– They aim at underlining the importance of the
character– Individual features– Expression of character– Face without beard
Roman Portrait
– With the Flavian dynasty (2nd century AD)• Realism• Hair gains volume• Beard appears• Chiaroscuro effects
Roman Portrait
• Low Empire (4th-5th centuries AD) – Anticlassicism– Lineal and hieratic– Lost humanity– Monumental– Schematic
Women Portrait
• It was the reflect of fashions
• It is a realistic depiction of woman
• Special attention to hair style.
Portrait Typology
• Thoracatae: victorious emperor
• Apoteosic: as a good, naked and crowned
Portrait Typology
• Togatae: as a civilian, wearing the toga.
• Pontifex Maximus: wearing the toga and with head covered
Imperial Portrait
• Was used as propagandistic• It used the Greek canon• A bit idealised • Inspired in classical images (Doriforo)• Psychological portrait• Barefoot = divinity• Use of symbols• Polychrome
Equestrian Portrait
• Depicted as military addressing to the citizens
• Pacific character wearing as a philosopher
• Influenced in Renaissance
• Psychological portrait
• Equilibrated image
Historical Relief
• It appeared in different locations:– Altars
– Triumphal arches
– Commemorative columns
– Sarcophagus
Historical Relief
• Characteristics:– It aimed at glorifying immortality– They wanted to commemorate something
important– Propaganda
Historical Relief
• Technical characteristics:– Pictorial effects– Perspective and different plans– Movement and volume– Landscape elements– Evolution from naturalism to realism– Influenced on Renaissance
Historical Relief
• Altars– The Ara Pacis is the most famous– It reflects traditions of Augustus times– Remains the friezes of the Parthenon
Historical Relief
• Triumphal Arches– Two of the most famous are those of Tito and
Constantine– They explain a historical event– Realistic with spatial references– Different plans.
Historical Relief
• Commemorative Columns– The most famous is Trajan’s Column– Helicoidally organised – It narrates the campaign against the Dacians – Numerous characters– War scenes– Perspective– Landscape
Historical Relief• Sarcophagus
– The relieves are ornamental and memoirist – Continuous depictions– At least the frontal part is worked– It can be completely full of images– Characters may appear lying on the top
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