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