The Art of RomeThe Art of Rome

Discovering Roman ArtDiscovering Roman Art• Portraits: done in Republican times • Wax masks of dead carried in funerals.• Very realistic. Greeks preferred ideal.• Served private needs. Pieces were done for

homes as decoration or reminders of rulers or family members.

• Greeks considered portrait heads incomplete. Romans wanted them to portray a persons character.

• Much Roman sculpture copied from the Greeks- either imported or done by Greek sculptors.

Busts and CoinsBusts and CoinsUsed by the emperors to portray their images throughout the

empire.

Why would they choose these particular ways of showing the emperor?

Marc Antony

Julius Caesar

Which is the real Caesar???

Ara Pacis

Gemma Augustea

Personal temple

Shows accomplishments of the person it was designed for.

What is this?

Landscape PaintingLandscape Painting

Wall paintings from “House of Livia”

Flora from Stabiae

Mural work: done directly on walls.

Done to create the illusion of looking out a window.

Pompeii/HerculaneumPompeii/Herculaneum

• Cities that became famous because of a disaster.

Pompeii – House of MysteriesVilla of P. Fannius Synistor

Notice the mosaic tile floor

Herculaneum

House of Neptune

Notice that the painting in the courtyards are different than in the houses.

Christian InfluencesChristian InfluencesRealism is dying.

Human figures become harsh.

Under the influence of Constantine the Great, art was either beautiful or brutal.

The artistic battles between the pagans and Christians

continued.

What were the battles about?

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

What are the panels about?

Roman ArchitectureRoman ArchitectureEtruscans: Romans learned about Greek architecture from them and

from their own observations.

Etruscans used the Greek orders and invented an order of their

own: a simplified version of the Doric called Tuscan.

Maison Carree

Romans used columns as decoration

not support.

Column of TrajanColumn of TrajanExample of Narrative Art

The column shows every battle from the Dacian war.

2,500 figures all the way up the 128 foot high column.

Temple Complex in PlaestrinaTemple Complex in Plaestrina

What is the legend?

What happened to this structure and how was it

rediscovered?

Romans didn’t just imitate the Greeks.

Roman structural inventions: the keystone, the arch, the vault, the dome and concrete.

The ArchOne of civilizations greatest

discoveries.

From the simple arch they created barrel vaulting and cross

vaulting.

Barrel Vault

Cross Vault

Vitruvius:

Roman architect and engineer.

Wrote a textbook on how to make buildings that were both practical and beautiful called De Architectura.

Urged Roman architects to design based on the symmetry and proportions of the human body.

Architecture should use three essentials:

Strength

Utility

Aesthetics.

The advice in his book was followed for 2,000 years.

Emperor Hadrian –

Followed the classical Greek traditions.

His artists turned out more sculptural tonnage than for any patron in Western history.

Hadrians Villa

Arch of ConstantineArch of ConstantineArt or propaganda??

Concrete

Romans discovered that by mixing volcanic ash and lime with sand, water and gravel you get a strong, cheap,

rocklike material. You no longer have to cut and transport stone.

Because of this they were able to create the first major public spaces of consequence.

Buildings were not designed to be freestanding.

They were part of the whole that represented the power of Rome.

At the center of all Roman cities were large open squares called Forums.

Dominated by a temple at one end.

Forum Romanum

First level

Second level

Upper levels

The ColiseumThe ColiseumCould seat 50,000 to 75,000 spectators on three tiers of stone

benches and a top gallery of wooden bleachers for women, children and the lower classes.

160’ walls, covered in stone and decorated according to the classical orders: Doric on the bottom, Ionic on the second

story and Corinthian on the third and fourth levels. This was a Roman invention.

Built over a labyrinth of tunnels, passageways and rooms and recently discovered water ways.

How were animals and people moved around?

After the fall it was used as a fortress, bullfight arena and a religious shrine. Tourist site since late 1800’s.

During the middle ages people moved with the protective walls and erected a small city.

Circus MaximusCircus MaximusSpecial stadium designed for chariot and horse races.

Very popular. Over 150,00 might attend. Scheduled 64 days a year.

…and what did you do with your Legos???

Temples in RoundTemples in RoundThe PantheonThe Pantheon

• Built by Hadrian• Temple to all gods.• Said to be like entering heaven.• What are the three zones it is divided into?• 27’ oculus in the center of the roof to let in sunlight.• Had a specially designed drainage system.• Niches may have contained statues of the gods.• What is a coffered ceiling? • Is in excellent condition because it has been in almost

continuous use.

BasilicasBasilicas

• Roman meeting halls, a functional building made to hold large numbers of people, that became the first floor plan for Christian churches. Why would this be a logical choice??

• Had many different functions: courthouse, meeting place, lecture hall.

• Twice as long as it was wide.• Most famous is Basilica of Constantine.

Roman BathsRoman BathsTwo largest were the Baths of Diocletian

(3,200 bathers) and Caracalla (1,600 bathers).

Series of rooms:

Calidarium: hot water

Tempidarium: warm water

Fridigarium: cool water

What else did they contain?

Styles was used for other places such as the ceiling of Penn Station.

Baths of CaracallaBaths of Caracalla