What Does the Presence of Veristic Portrait Art of the Romans Say About Roman Culture?

Roman Sculpture nether the Republic

During the Roman Republic, members of all social classes used a variety of sculptural techniques to promote their distinguished social statuses.

Learning Objectives

Describe the defining characteristics of sculpture during the Roman Democracy

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• Continuous narration arose during the Republic as a ways of telling a story from beginning to end in a visual grade . Art patrons used it on public monuments to celebrate their status in society.
• The patronage of public sculpture extended to freedmen, equally seen in the massive and uniquely decorated tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the Baker.
• Veristic portraiture depicts the subject area in hyper- realism , wrinkles and individual facial characteristics are carefully formed in these images.
• Portraits of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar set precedents for futurity imperial portraiture by quoting iconographic characteristics and introducing a likeness of the living imperator on coins.
• Expiry masks provided a means for a family unit to remember their ancestors every bit well every bit to remind others of the illustriousness of their beginnings.

Primal Terms

• verism: The style of portraiture favored during the Roman Republic in which the subjects were portrayed in a super-realistic likeness; from the Latin word for true.
• continuous narration: A visual fine art technique that illustrates multiple scenes of a story within a unmarried frame and without any separation between scenes and actions.
• Imperator: A Latin word meaning general or ruler; a title given to triumphant generals during the Republic.

Roman Art in the Republic

Early Roman art was influenced by the art of Hellenic republic and that of the neighboring Etruscans, themselves greatly influenced by their Greek trading partners. As the expanding Roman Democracy began to conquer Greek territory, its official sculpture became largely an extension of the Hellenistic style , with its difference from the idealized trunk and flair for the dramatic. This is partly due to the big number of Greek sculptors working within Roman territory.

However, Roman sculpture during the Republic departed from the Greek traditions in several ways.

• It was the first to feature a new technique called continuous narration.
• Commoners, including freedmen, could committee public fine art and use it to bandage their professions in a positive low-cal.
• Portraiture throughout the Republic celebrated onetime historic period with its verism .
• In the closing decades of the Republic, Julius Caesar counteracted traditional propriety by condign the first living person to place his own portrait on a coin.

In the examples that follow, the patrons utilise these techniques to promote their condition in society.

The Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus

Despite its well-nigh common title, the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus (late 2d century BCE) was more likely a base intended to support cult statues in the cella of a Temple of Neptune (Poseidon) located in Rome on the Field of Mars. The frieze is the second oldest Roman bas- relief currently known.

Domitius Ahenobarbus, a naval general, likely commissioned the chantry and the temple in gratitude of a naval victory betwixt 129 and 128 BCE. The reliefs combine mythology and gimmicky borough life.

Ane panel of the altar depicts the demography, a uniquely Roman consequence of contemporary borough life. It is one of the primeval reliefs sculpted in continuous narration, in which the viewer reads from left to right the recording of the demography, the purification of the army before the chantry of Mars, and the levy of the soldiers.

Altar of Domitius Ahenobarb: This panel of the chantry depicts the census, a uniquely Roman event of gimmicky civic life.

The other three panels draw the mythological wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite. At the heart of his scene, Neptune and Amphitrite are seated in a chariot drawn by two Tritons (messengers of the sea) who dance to music. They are accompanied by a multitude of fantastic creatures, Tritons, and Nereides (sea nymphs) who form a retinue for the wedding couple, which, like the census scene, tin can be read from left to right.

At the left, a Nereid riding on a sea-balderdash carries a present. Adjacent, Amphitrite's female parent Doris advances towards the couple, mounted on a hippocampus (literally, a bounding main equus caballus) and belongings wedding torches in each hand to light the procession's way. Eros hovers backside her. Behind the wedding couple, a Nereid riding a hippocampus carries another present.

Altar of Domitius Ahenobarb: The other three panels of the chantry describe the mythological wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite.

Tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the Bakery

The patronage of public sculpture was non limited to the ruling classes during the Commonwealth. The tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the Baker (c. l–20 BCE) is i of the largest and best-preserved freedman funerary monuments in Rome. Its sculpted frieze is a classic example of the plebeian way in Roman sculpture.

The deceased built the tomb for himself and perhaps his wife Atistia in the last decades of the Republic. While the tomb's inscription lacks an L to denote the status of a freedman, the tripartite proper name of the deceased follows the pattern of names given to and adopted by quondam slaves.

The tomb, approximately 33 feet tall, commemorates the deceased and his profession. It 3 main components are a frieze at the top and the cylindrical niches (probably symbolic of a kneading machine or grain measuring vessels) below it.

The surviving text of the inscription translates equally "This is the monument of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces, bakery, contractor, public servant." The frieze represents various stages in the blistering of bread in continuous narration.

Although time-worn, the naturalistic depiction of man and creature bodies in a multifariousness of poses is nonetheless evident. This record of each phase in a mundane procedure demonstrates the sense of pride the deceased must take had in his profession. Because the wearing of togas was not conducive to transmission labor, the uncomplicated clothing on the figures marks them equally plebeians, or commoners.

The Tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the Baker: The frieze represents diverse stages in the baking of bread in continuous narration.

Portraiture

Roman portraiture during the Republic is identified by its considerable realism, known as veristic portraiture. Verism refers to a hyper-realistic portrayal of the subject'due south facial characteristics. The fashion originated from Hellenistic Greece; still, its utilise in the Roman Republic is due to Roman values , community, and political life.

Equally with other forms of Roman fine art, portraiture borrowed certain details from Greek fine art simply adapted these to their own needs. Veristic images often bear witness their male subjects with receding hairlines, deep winkles, and even with warts. While the faces of the portraits often display incredible detail and likeness, the subjects' bodies are arcadian and do non correspond to the historic period shown in the face.

Portrait of a Roman General: When created as full-length sculptures, the veristic portrait busts announced to have been paired with idealized (mass-produced?) bodies that create a sense of disunity.

Bust of an former man: Verism refers to a hyper-realistic portrayal of the subject'southward facial characteristics, such equally the wrinkles on this homo's face up.

The popularity and usefulness of verism appears to derive from the need to have a recognizable image. Veristic portrait busts provided a means of reminding people of distinguished ancestors or of displaying one'southward power, wisdom, experience, and authorisation. Statues were often erected of generals and elected officials in public forums—and a veristic image ensured that a passerby would recognize the person when they really saw them.

The Late Republic

The utilise of veristic portraiture began to diminish in the first century BCE. During this fourth dimension, ceremonious wars threatened the empire, and individual men began to proceeds more power. The portraits of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar, 2 political rivals who were as well the most powerful generals in the Republic, began to change the style of the portraits and their utilize.

The portraits of Pompey are not fully idealized, nor were they created in the same veristic style of Republican senators. Pompey borrowed a specific parting and curl of his hair from Alexander the Nifty . This similarity served to link Pompey visually with the likeness of Alexander and to remind people that he possessed similar characteristics and qualities.

Marble bosom of Pompey the Great: Portraits of Pompey combine a degree of verism with an arcadian hairstyle reminiscent of Alexander the Great.

The portraits of Julius Caesar are more veristic than those of Pompey. Despite staying closer to stylistic convention, Caesar was the first man to mint coins with his own likeness printed on them. In the decades prior to this, it had become increasingly mutual to place an illustrious ancestor on a coin, only putting a living person—especially oneself—on a money departed from Roman propriety. Past circulating coins issued with his image, Caesar directly showed the people that they were indebted to him for their own prosperity and therefore should support his political pursuits.

Julius Caesar portrait: A portrait of Julius Caesar on a denarius. On the contrary side stands Venus Victix holding a winged Victory.

Death Masks

The cosmos and use of death masks demonstrate Romans' veneration of their ancestors. These masks were created from molds taken of a person at the time of his or her decease. Made of wax, statuary , marble, and terracotta , death masks were kept past families and displayed in the atrium of their homes.

Visitors and clients who entered the dwelling house would have been reminded of the family unit'due south beginnings and the honorable qualities of their ancestors. Such displays served to eternalize the reputation and credibility of the family.

Expiry masks were also worn and paraded through the streets during funeral procession. Once again, this served not simply a memorial for the expressionless, but besides to link the living members of a family unit to their illustrious ancestors in the eyes of the spectator.

Roman Compages under the Democracy

Roman compages relies heavily on the use of physical and the arch to create unique interior spaces and architectural forms.

Learning Objectives

Explicate the importance of both physical and the arch in Roman architecture.

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Roman architecture began as an simulated of the Classical Greek style but eventually grew into its own manner with technological advances and modifications on traditional Greek elements. Roman temple design is based on a mixed use of Etruscan and Greek models. They are typically strictly frontal, on a loftier podium with a flight of stairs, and have a deep, colonnaded portico in front end of the cella .
• Concrete is an essential building material in Roman compages. It is lightweight, strong, and durable and could fifty-fifty be used underwater.
• Almost Roman buildings were constructed with concrete and brick and and then faced in stucco , expensive stone, or marble.
• The arch is a highly significant architectural shape in Roman compages, oft employed to let for wider openings in structures. Arches can be used together to create vaults (butt and groin) and domes , too as to create unique interior spaces .

Cardinal Terms

• pozzolana: A type of volcanic ash used for mortar or for cement that sets under water.
• psuedoperipteral: A building with complimentary standing columns in the front and engaged columns forth the peripheral walls; this style is often used on Roman temples.
• butt vault: A unproblematic roof having a curved, often semicircular, cantankerous section used to span large distances in railway stations, churches, etc., and usually supported on columns.
• exedra: A semicircular recess, with stone benches, used as a place for give-and-take.
• cella: The inner chamber of a temple where the cult epitome or statue is kept.

Roman Architecture

Roman compages began as an imitation of Classical Greek architecture but eventually evolved into a new style. Unfortunately, almost no early Republican buildings remain intact. The earliest substantial remains engagement to approximately 100 BCE.

Innovations such as improvements to the round arch and butt vault , every bit well equally the inventions of physical and the truthful hemispherical dome, immune Roman compages to become more than versatile than its Greek predecessors. While the Romans were reluctant to carelessness classical motifs , they modified their temple designs by abandoning pedimental sculptures, altering the traditional Greek peripteral colonnades , and opting for central exterior stairways.

Likewise, although Roman architects did not abandon traditional column orders, they did modify them with the Tuscan, Roman Ionic, and Composite orders. This diagram shows the Greek orders on the left and their Roman modifications on the right.

Greek and Roman column orders: From top to bottom: Doric and Tuscan, Ionic and Roman Ionic (scrolls on all four corners), Corinthian and Composite.

Roman Temples

Most Roman temples derived from Etruscan prototypes. Like Etruscan temples, Roman temples are frontal with stairs that atomic number 82 up to a podium, and a deep portico filled with columns. They are also usually rectilinear , and the interiors consist of at least i cella that contained a cult statue.

If multiple gods were worshiped in one temple, each god would have its ain cella and cult image. For example, Capitolia—the temples dedicated to the Capitoline Triad—would always exist built with three cellae, 1 for each god of the triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.

The Temple of Portunus: A typical Roman Republican temple. Rome, c. 75 BCE.

Roman temples were typically fabricated of brick and physical so faced in either marble or stucco. Engaged columns (columns that beetle from walls similar reliefs) adorn the exteriors of the temples. This creates an issue of columns completely surrounding a cella, an effect known equally psuedoperipteral . The altar, used for sacrifices and offerings , always stood outside in front end of the temple.

While most Roman temples followed this typical program, some were dramatically different. At times, the Romans erected round temples that imitated the Greek tholos . Examples tin can be found in the Temple of Hercules Victor (belatedly second century BCE), in the Forum Boarium in Rome . The temple consists a round cella inside a concentric ring of 20 Corinthian columns. Similar its Etruscan predecessors, the temple rests on a tufa foundation. Its original roof and architrave are now lost.

Temple of Hercules Victor: A Roman modification of a Greek tholos. Rome, from the late second century BCE.

Physical

The Romans perfected the recipe for physical during the third century BCE by mixing together water, lime, and pozzolana , volcanic ash mined from the countryside surrounding Mt. Vesuvius. Concrete became the primary building material for the Romans, and it is largely the reason that they were such successful builders.

Most Roman buildings were congenital with concrete and brick that was so covered in façade of stucco, expensive stone, or marble. Concrete was a cheaper and lighter fabric than most other stones used for construction. This helped the Romans build structures that were taller, more complicated, and quicker to build than any previous ones.

Wall of a tomb on the Via Appia, Rome: The ruins show the internal cadre of the building, made in Roman concrete.

One time stale, concrete was also extremely stiff, still flexible plenty to remain standing during moderate seismic activity. The Romans were even able to use concrete underwater, allowing them build harbors and breakers for their ports. The ruins of a tomb on the Via Appia (the nigh famous thoroughfare through aboriginal Rome) expose the stones and aggregate that the Romans used to mix concrete.

Arches, Vaults, and Domes

The Romans effectively combined concrete and the structural shape of the arch. These two elements became the foundations for most Roman structures. Arches tin bear immense weight, equally they are designed to redistribute weight from the top, to its sides, and down into the ground . While the Romans did not invent the arch, they were the beginning culture to manipulate it and rely on its shape.

An arch is a pure compression class . It can bridge a large area by resolving forces into compressive stresses (pushing downward) that, in plow, eliminate tensile stresses (pushing outward). As the forces in the curvation are carried to the basis, the arch will push outward at the base of operations (called thrust). As the height of the arch decreases, the outward thrust increases. In order to maintain arch action and prevent the arch from collapsing, the thrust needs to be restrained, either with internal ties or external bracing, such as abutments (labeled 8 on the diagram below).

Schematic analogy of an arch: This diagram illustrates the structural support of an arch extended into a barrel vault. The dotted line extending downward from the keystone (1) shows the strength of the arch directing compressive stresses (represented by the downwardly-pointing arrows outside the arch) safely to the basis. Meanwhile, tensile stress (represented past the horizontal and diagonal-facing arrows) is contained by the surrounding wall.

The arch is a shape that can be manipulated into a variety of forms that create unique architectural spaces. Multiple arches tin can exist used together to create a vault. The simplest blazon is known as a barrel vault.

Barrel vaults consist of a line of arches in a row that create the shape of a tunnel. When two barrel vaults intersect at right angles, they create a groin vault . These are easily identified past the x-shape they create in the ceiling of the vault. Furthermore, because of the management, the thrust is concentrated along this x-shape, so only the corners of a groin vault need to be grounded. This allows an architect or engineer to manipulate the space below the groin vault in a variety of ways.

Arches and vaults can be stacked and intersected with each other in a multitude of ways. One of the nigh of import forms that they tin can create is the dome. This is essentially an arch that is rotated effectually a unmarried indicate to create a big hemispherical vault. The largest dome constructed during the Democracy was on the Temple of Echo at Baiae, named for its remarkable acoustic properties.

Temple of Repeat at Baiae: The dome on Temple of Echo at Baiae creates the building'southward remarkable audio-visual backdrop.

Arches and physical are plant in many iconic Roman structures. The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia (c. 120 BCE) at Palestrina, Italia is a massive temple construction congenital into the hillside in a series of terraces, exedras , and porticoes. Physical was used as the primary edifice material and barrel vaults provide structural support, both as a terracing method for the hill and in creating interesting architectural spaces for the sanctuary.

Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia (scale model): Concrete was used as the primary building cloth and barrel vaults provide structural back up, both as a terracing method for the loma and in creating interesting architectural spaces for the sanctuary.

Roman aqueducts are another iconic utilise of the arch. The arches that make upwardly an channel provided support without requiring the corporeality of building fabric necessary for arches supported by solid walls. The Aqua Marcia (144–140 BCE) was the longest of the eleven aqueducts that served the city of Rome during the Republic. Information technology supplied water to the Viminal Hill in the north of Rome, and from there to the Caelian, Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline Hills. Where the Aqua Marcia had contact with water, it was coated with a waterproof mortar.

Aqua Marcia: These are some ruins from the aquaduct near Tivoli, Italia, c. 144–140 BCE.

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