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The Art of Rome. Discovering 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.
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Discovering 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 Coins Used by the emperors to portray their images throughout the empire. Why would they choose these particular ways of showing the emperor? Julius Caesar Marc Antony Which is the real Caesar???
Gemma Augustea What is this? Ara Pacis Personal temple Shows accomplishments of the person it was designed for.
Landscape Painting Mural work: done directly on walls. Wall paintings from “House of Livia” Done to create the illusion of looking out a window. Flora from Stabiae
Pompeii/Herculaneum • Cities that became famous because of a disaster. Notice the mosaic tile floor Pompeii – House of Mysteries Villa of P. Fannius Synistor
Herculaneum House of Neptune Notice that the painting in the courtyards are different than in the houses.
Christian Influences Realism 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 Architecture Romans used columns as decoration not support. Etruscans: 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
Column of Trajan Example 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 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 Arch One 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 Constantine Art 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.
First level Second level Upper levels
The Coliseum Could 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 Maximus Special stadium designed for chariot and horse races. Very popular. Over 150,00 might attend. Scheduled 64 days a year.
Temples in RoundThe 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.
Basilicas • 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 Baths Two 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.
