Unified by the common language Latin, the people of Italy eventually concentrated
their political center in Rome. The Roman government sponsored large scale building
projects that included basilicas, racetracks, theaters, public baths, aqueducts,
housing and new towns (Stokstad, 134). Roman art can be divided into the Republican
and Empirical periods.
The last of the Roman kings were overthrown in 509 BCE, and the Republican form
of rule, controlled by the Senate, was adopted. Art and architecture was influenced
by both Etruscan and Greek models. The standard temple was Etruscan in form,
decorated with engaged Greek columns. Secular architecture included domestic
apartments and houses (examples at Pompeii); aqueducts, or levels of arcades
to transport water; triumphal arches such as the Ara Pacis, to commemorate the
victory of Augustus; colosseums, constructed in concrete and decorated with
increasingly complex engaged Greek columns; and basilicas, great halls used
as administrative centers. The greatest Roman accomplishment in architecture
is the Pantheon, a giant rotunda with an entrance porch featuring Greek elements.
The interior of the building is covered with a coffered dome centered by an
oculous.
Relief sculpture, such as that of the Ara Pacis, became increasingly complex,
depicting individuals and suggesting spatial depth "by carving the closest
elements in high relief and those farthest back in increasingly lower relief"
(Stokstad, 138). Sculptures on the Arch of Titus have an even more dynamic quality,
insinuating that the marchers are moving toward the arch. Free standing sculpture
was used mainly for political propaganda, such as the statue of Augustus of
Primaporta. Equestrian statues, such as that of Marcus Aurelius, were also popular
for the glorification of leaders. Wall paintings included all subjects, even
false architecture. "Trompe l'oeil" was also popular in mosaics, located
mainly on the floor.
For a brief period in the third century there was a shift toward the abstraction
of figures and the simplification of form, as seen in The Tetrarchs, a symbolic
representation of the four-man political rule of the period. The Arch of Constantine
combines new works in this simplified sculptural style with pieces of sculpture
taken from earlier works, executed in a more naturalistic style.
Source:
http://www2.students.sbc.edu/hill00/seniorseminar/summary3.html
TERMS
Republic
Patrician
Podium
Forum
Tablinum - room beyond the atrium that housed urns,
masks, and busts of family ancestors
Atrium
Augustus
Oratorical gesture - (ad locutio)
Barrel vault
Groin vault
Oculus
Basilica
Tetrarch
Nave - columned main central space of a basilica,
usually clearstoried
Aisles - columned side spaces parallel to the nave
Apses - semicircular or octagonal niches at the ends
of basilicas
Linear perspective
Atmospheric perspective
Aeneid
Cuirass Statues, referring to the military breastplate worn by the figures.
This formula documents the military function of the Emperor as the leader of
the army
Panegyrics - laudatory descriptions of the Emperor
SLIDES
Roman Republic 509-27 BC
Temple of Fortuna Virilis, Rome, ca. 75 B.C.
Temple of the Sibyl or of Vesta, Tivoli, early first
cent. B.C.
Patrician carrying two portrait heads, 30 B.C. - A.t). 15
Head of a Roman patrician, Marble, approx. 12 ca. 75 - 50 B.C.
Atrium, House of the silver wedding, Pompeii, early first cent. B.C.
First Style wall painting in the fauces of the Samnite House, Herculaneum, late
second cent. B.C.
Dionysiac mystery frieze, Second Style, Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, 5
4 h. ca. 60 - 50 B.C.
Gardenscape, Second Style, Villa of Livia, Primaporta, 6 7, ca.
30 - 20 B.C.
Thirds Style, Villa of Agrippa Postuxnus, Boscotrecase, 7 8, ca.
10 B.C.
Fourth Style, House of Vettii, Pompeii, ca. AD. 70 - 79
Still life with peaches, detail of a Fourth Style wall painting, Herculaneum,
ca. A.D. 62- 79
Early Empire 27 B.C. - A.D. 96
©1995 by Justin D. Paola
Portrait of Augustus as general, Prim aporta, Marble copy of bronze original,
6 8, ca. 20 B.C.
Ara Paci Augustae, Rome, 13 - 9 B.C.
Female personification (Tellus?), panel from east facade, 5 3
Procession of the imperial family, detail of south frieze, 3 3
Maison Carree, Nimes, France, c. AD. 1 - 10
Pont
du Gaurd, near Nimes, France, c. 16 B.C.
Colosseum, Rome, Italy, AD. 70 - 80
Portrait of Vespasian, Marble, 16 c. A.D. 69 - 79
Portrait of a Flavian woman, Marble, 2 1 c. A.D. 90
Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, after A.D. 81
Spoils of Jerusalem, Marble, 7 10
Triumph of Titus, Marble, 7 10
Arch of Titus, sketch by Jennifer Bush
High Empire A.D. 96 - 192
Trajan
Column of Trajan, Rome, A.D. 112
Pantheon, Rome, 142 c. AD. 118 - 125
Canopus and Serapeum, Hadrians Villa, Tivoli, Italy, c. AD. 130 - 138
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, Bronze, 11 6 c. AD.
175
Late Empire A. D. 192 - 337
Portrait of Caracalla, Marble, c. A.D. 211- 217
Baths of Caracalla, Rome, c. AD. 212 - 216
Battle of Romans and barbarians (Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus), Rome, Marble,
5 c. AD. 250 - 260
Portrait of the four tetrarachs, Porphyry, 43 c. AiD. 305
Palace of Diocletian, Split Croatia, c. A.D. 300 - 305
Arch of Constantine, Rome, c. A.D. 312 - 315
Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, Marble, approx. 86
Ca. A.D. 315 - 330
Basilica Nova, (Basilica of Constantine), Rome, C. AD. 306 - 312
Links:
Nero's Domus Aurea Fresco Preservation
http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0924/tools_1-1.html
An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
LacusCurtius:
Into the Roman World
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/home.html
RomanSites is a bibliographical tool that can be used as a proxy
for searching the Web very rapidly for Roman material – in essence, a
manual search engine
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/RomanSites*/home.html
Vitruvius: On Architecture - online text of the famous tome
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html
DJB Quick Notes
Roman city planning (G9-218):
Pompeii Styles:
I - (incrustation) - wall surface broken into sections - panels made to look like decorative stone
II - (architectural) - large scale landscape-type sceneries set into vertically and horizontally divided panels
III - (ornate) - large frames with illustionistic smaller images treated like small paintings
IV - (intricate)
combinations of previous styles - "trompe l'oeil"
Portrait of Augustus as general from past: contrapustto, oratorian gesture, dressed in armor, bare feet (indicating person is deceased).
DJB In-Depth Notes