roman portraiture

55
Art 108: Ancient to Medieval Westchester Community College Fall 2016 Roman Portraiture

Upload: melissa-hall

Post on 20-Feb-2017

267 views

Category:

Education


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Roman Portraiture

Art 108: Ancient to MedievalWestchester Community CollegeFall 2016

Roman Portraiture

Page 2: Roman Portraiture

Capitoline She-Wolf, 5thc BCE

According to legend, Rome was founded in the 8thc by the twins Romulus and Remus – Descendants of Aeneus, who fled the Trojan War

Page 3: Roman Portraiture

Established Greek origins for the Romans

Page 4: Roman Portraiture

Italy was inhabited by a variety of Latin and Italic tribes

Etruscan kings ruled Rome, until the Romans revolted and established a Republic in 509 BCE

Page 5: Roman Portraiture

Significant expansion over the next few centuries

As it expanded the Republic grew wealthy, but also unstable

Page 6: Roman Portraiture

The Roman Republic (509-27 BCE)Roman society was divided into three classes

Page 7: Roman Portraiture

The Roman Republic (509-27 BCE)A trripartite government was created to be fair to all classes

Page 8: Roman Portraiture

The Romans collected and copied Greek and Hellenistic statuary

Page 9: Roman Portraiture

They used it to decorate private gardens, and public baths, rather than temples or sanctuaries

Page 10: Roman Portraiture

These copies may tell us a lot about Roman taste, but they really don’t tell us much about what was unique to Roman art

Page 11: Roman Portraiture

“The development of realistic portraiture is often said by art historians to have originated with the Romans . . . . It is with the Romans, however, that portraiture became widespread among all levels of society.”Power and Authority in Roman Portraiture, p. 29

Page 12: Roman Portraiture

Anna Sophia Robb flashed a giant smile for a red carpet selfie.

The Romans invented the selfie!

Page 13: Roman Portraiture

Aule Metele (Arringatore), from Cortona, early 1st c. BCE, Bronze, 5’ 7”Archeological Museum, Florence

This statue portrays a man named Aule Metele

Page 14: Roman Portraiture

Aule Metele (Arringatore), from Cortona, early 1st c. BCE, Bronze, 5’ 7”Archeological Museum, Florence

He was Etruscan by birth, but his costume identifies him as Roman (the Etruscans were absorbed by the Romans in the Republican period)

Page 15: Roman Portraiture

Aule Metele (Arringatore), from Cortona, early 1st c. BCE, Bronze, 5’ 7”Archeological Museum, Florence

His arm is raised as if he is about to address an assembly, hence he has been nicknamed the arringatore – “the orator”

Page 16: Roman Portraiture
Page 17: Roman Portraiture
Page 18: Roman Portraiture

Greek Idealism Roman Realism

Nude Clothed

Idealized Realistic portrait

Youthful Older

Generalized Specific

Athletic champion Political role model

Page 19: Roman Portraiture

What was distinctive about Roman [portraits during the Republican period?

Page 20: Roman Portraiture

The distinguishing characteristic of Roman political portraiture is its realism

Portrait bust of a man, Roman, Late Republican Period, about 50 B.C.Terracotta, Museum of fine Arts, Boston

Page 21: Roman Portraiture

Portrait bust of a man, 1st century B.C.; Republican RomanMetropolitan Museum

The portraits usually show older men -- balding, toothless, and wrinkled

Page 22: Roman Portraiture

Veristic portraiture: “warts and all” realism

Page 23: Roman Portraiture

Head of a Roman patrician, from Otricoli, Italy, c. 75-50 BCE. Marble, approx. 1' 2" high. Museo Torlonia, Rome.

They are like mug shots -- blunt records of appearances without flattery or emotion

Page 24: Roman Portraiture

“Classical Greek portraiture had valued an idealizing depiction of the individual . . . . . ”

Page 25: Roman Portraiture

Why did the Romans choose this “veristic” style – what did it convey?

Page 26: Roman Portraiture

“Republican Romans desired portraits that [stressed] age, experience, and lack of vanity . . . men were depicted with wrinkles, baldness, and physical imperfections that were thought to convey a sense of their virtus . . . . ”Power and Authority in Roman Portraiture, p. 35

Page 27: Roman Portraiture

Portrait bust of a man, 1st century B.C.; Republican RomanMetropolitan Museum

Virtus: duty to the state military bravery public responsibility sober morality

Page 28: Roman Portraiture

Roman Patrician with Busts of his Ancestors (a.k.a. The Barberini Statue), marble, lifesize, c. 30 B.C. (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

Influenced by the Roman tradition of collecting wax death masks (imagines) of their ancestors

Page 29: Roman Portraiture

Modern masks made of beeswax, imitating ancient Roman practicesImage source: http://io9.gizmodo.com/ancient-roman-funeral-masks-made-from-wax-were-freakish-1496284227

Page 30: Roman Portraiture

Ancient Roman Funeral processionImage source: http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1619933

Masks were worn or carried in funeral processions

Page 31: Roman Portraiture

Roman Patrician with Busts of his Ancestors (a.k.a. The Barberini Statue), marble, lifesize, c. 30 B.C. (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

More ancestors = higher status

Page 32: Roman Portraiture

Portrait bust of a man, 1st century B.C.; Republican RomanMetropolitan Museum

Many Roman portraits exist in the form of busts, reflecting the Roman belief that the face was the most distinguishing feature of the individual

Page 33: Roman Portraiture

Cippus (funerary altar) of Cominia Tyche, ca. 90-95 A.D.; late Flavian Roman Metropolitan Museum

Funerary altars and tombs were adorned with portrait reliefs, or they were displayed in communal tombs known as columbaria

Page 34: Roman Portraiture

Via Appia (Rome, Italy), the second columbarium of Vigna Codini, west and north sidesImage source: http://aarome.idra.info/index/index2/tsk/pkpr

Page 36: Roman Portraiture

Marble funerary relief of Lucius Antistius Sarculo and Antistia Plutia, c 10 BCE – 30 CEBritish Museum

Couples were often depicted together, recalling Egyptian and Etruscan customs

Page 37: Roman Portraiture
Page 38: Roman Portraiture

Portrait head of an elderly woman, Late Republican or Early Imperial, Augustan, ca. 40–20 B.CE, .RomanMetropolitan Museum

Roman patrician women were also honored with portraits

Page 39: Roman Portraiture

Portrait head of an elderly woman, Late Republican or Early Imperial, Augustan, ca. 40–20 B.CE, .RomanMetropolitan Museum

Page 40: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of an old woman, late 1st century BCE, National Museum of RomeWikimedia

Page 41: Roman Portraiture

Portrait Bust of Livia, from Arsinoe, Egypt, eary 1st century CE. Marble, Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Under the Emperor Augustus a new “classicizing” style of portraiture was introduced

Page 42: Roman Portraiture

Bust of a Flavian Woman, c. 90 CECapitoline Museum

Hairstyles became more elaborate during the Imperial period

Page 43: Roman Portraiture

Bust of a Roman woman, ca. 80 CEGlypthotek, MunichWikimedia

But many portraits retained a high degree of realism

Page 44: Roman Portraiture

Funerary Relief of a vegetable vendor, from Ostia, Italy, 2nd c. CE

The practice of commissioning funerary portraits eventually filtered down to more common people

Page 45: Roman Portraiture

Funerary Relief of a vegetable vendor, from Ostia, Italy, 2nd c. CE

This plaque exemplifies the style of “plebeian” art that coexisted with official style

Page 46: Roman Portraiture

Vegetable and Poultry shop sign from Ostia

Page 47: Roman Portraiture

Imperial Portraiture

When slaves were freed they often had portraits made to proclaim their new social status. This funerary relief depicts three members of a family

Tomb Relief of the Publius Gessius family, c. 30-20 BCEMuseum of Fine Arts Boston

Page 48: Roman Portraiture

Tomb Relief of the Publius Gessius family, c. 30-20 BCEMuseum of Fine Arts Boston

Publius Gessius

Fausta – freed slave and wife

Primus -- son

Page 49: Roman Portraiture

Grave Monument of Publius Curtilius Agatus, Silversmith; Roman, made in Italy A.D. 1-25, marble

This freed slave was a silversmith, and is depicted with the tools of his trade

Page 50: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of a husband and wife, from a house in Pompeii, c. 70-79 CE, Archaeological Museum, Naples

Painting was also used for portraiture, though few survive

Page 51: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of a husband and wife, from a house in Pompeii, c. 70-79 CE, Archaeological Museum, Naples

This one depicts a baker and his wife, holding a stylus and scroll to show that they are educated

Page 52: Roman Portraiture

Mummy with an inserted panel portrait of a youth, ca. A.D. 80–100 Metropolitan Museum

In Roman Egypt the veristic style was adopted for mummy portraits

Page 53: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of a woman, A.D. 100–20, Encaustic on limewood; British Museum

Panel painting of a woman in a blue mantle, Roman, 54-68 CE, from EgyptMet Museum

Page 54: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of the Boy Eutyches, Encaustic on wood100–150CE Metropolitan Museum

Portrait of a man, ca. A.D. 125–50, Encaustic on wood; Antikensammlung, Munich

Page 55: Roman Portraiture

Portrait of a priest of Serapis, from Hawara (Faiyum), Egypt, c. 140-160 CE