Roman Art and Sculpture - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Roman Art and Sculpture

6

th

Year 2016Slide2

Why did the Roman’s Paint on Walls?

They painted on their walls to brighten up and enliven rooms that were often dark and windowless

Wall fresco’s also disguised the poor terracotta plaster that the original wall of the room was made off

Those who had the financial means were also inclined to beautify their villa’s or Domus with brightly coloured paintings.

The Romans also painted on their walls to give the notion that the rooms were larger than they actually wereSlide3

How did they paint on walls?

Firstly several rough coats of plaster was applied to a brick wall.

Then layers of lime mixed with powdered marble was applied to the wall, (this made the wall surface finer)

Then the artist painted background scenes and later on added people to the painting, when the wall was still wet.

Finally , a smooth gloss of wax was applied to the wall to give it a shine and preserve it (as well as enhance the painting on the wall)Slide4

The four Pompeian styles

Style one

comprised of painted blocks on a wall to look like marble. Between these blocks the artist painted horizontal and vertical cornice bands to give the painting a sense of perspective,(no examples in Wheeler)

Style two

is characterised by its focus on realism. The buildings are given 3-D, the perspective makes it look as if the painting recedes or goes back endlessly. The garden scene of Livia is a good example. There is very efficient use made of the wall space.

In

Style three

the scene is less realistic – more impressionistic, (loose brush strokes etc.) There is less emphasis on perspective. Painted architectural features such as columns tended to be thin and windy rather than sturdy and realistic. See offering to a seated Dionysius P.195 –this scene is “highly impressionistic”. Peoples faces are barely recognisable either in this style

In

style four

there a return of real perspective or 3D - the architecture is also realistic. There is also more elaborate us of colour i.e. it is rich. We have examples also of fantasy in this style, e.g. the theatre scene at HerculaneumSlide5

The sections of a wall painting

A typical wall painting from the Roman Villa’s we have studied are divided into three parts - “tripartite”

At the

bottom

- a dado rail was painted, this marked the beginning of the painting

The

middle section

of the painting was the most important and contained the main theme or scene

At the

top

a cornice architrave was painted or a decorative painted pediment

In this way The Romans defined the spaces and sections of the wall paintingSlide6

Themes of Roman Wall Paintings

Landscape – garden of Livia P. 185

Pastoral – countryside, (Shepherd before a shrine P.198)

Harbour – seascape, (Harbour at Stabiae P.199)

Still life – (House of Julia Felix P.202)

Fantasy – (Theatre scene at Herculaneum P.203)

Mythological/religious – Offering to a seated Dionysius or Trojan Horse P.195

Architectural – P.184

Historical – (Riots outside the amphitheatre at Pompeii P.119)Slide7

The Amphitheatre at Pompeii

See Illustration 96, P.119

This is a wall painting from a villa at Herculaneum

It depicts the riots in and around the amphitheatre at Pompeii in AD 59

Note the painted awning – covering the amphitheatre

The perspective, or three-dimension is all wrong

The artist more concerned with recording the history of the event rather than engross in artistic finesseSlide8

The Amphitheatre at Pompeii

We are give multiple views of the amphitheatre and the events depicted.

There an Ariel view, a view of the events from the front and a view of the events from both sides of the external staircase leading up to the top level of the amphitheatre.

Both the matchstick men and the buildings depicted outside the arena are poorly rendered

The event this painting depicts has of course is of important historical value – i.e. the rioting between the Pompeian's and Nucerians

The painting is probably late third style/fourth style?Slide9

Landscape painting

Illustrations 163, 164, 165

“

Domestic landscapes with huts and people

”

There was

“

the pleasant fashion of painting walls with pictures of country houses and porticos, landscape gardens, groves, hills, fish ponds, canals, rivers, coasts, with sketches of people going for a stroll or sailing and approaching country houses on asses, or on carriages, and fishing or fowling or hunting or gathering the vintage” P. 185

Illustrations 163-165

These late Republic - early Empire landscape paintings are a likened to the type of landscape paintings we see during the Romantic Movement, (late 18

th

early 19

th

century AD)

This “conscious cult of nature” Is in harmony with the spirit of the Augustan period, (27BC-14 AD)Slide10

Landscape-paintingsSlide11

Garden of Livia at Prima Porta

P. 185 Illustration 166

“ A master piece of Roman Landscape painting”

Gentle and sombre woodland lie beyond a low garden paling

Note how the space in the painting is divided: to give the painting a sense of endless distance

“Colours graduate between blue and green with birds among the leaves”

The colours are “Penetrating” Slide12

Achilles revealed by Diomedes and Odysseus at Scyros

Wall painting from the house of Dioscuri at Pompeii before AD 79

Achilles has a “gross and vigorous visage”, (face)

Perhaps Achilles is a portrayal of some “ham actor from the stage”

Achilles head was repainted

The head could be that of the patron himself

Note the mythological background to the painting.Slide13

Achilles revealed by Odysseus and Diomedes at Scyros

Achilles mother Thetis sends her son disguised as a girl to Scyros (ruled by King Lycomedes).

The kings daughter Deidamea fell in love with Achilles and they had a son called Neoptolemos.

The Greeks could not capture Troy without Achilles (prophecy) so Odysseus and Diomedes went to Scyros to search for him.

The painting captures the moment when Achilles is unmasked

The painting is realistic and has depth/perspective

In the fore ground an object has been upended – on the other side a helmet lies unattended

Achilles is gripped by Odysseus and Diomedes – whilst he himself reaches out for a shield on his other side.

In the background we notice king Lycomedes and some armed guards

The king seems to be approaching out from the palace to investigate all the commotion. To his right a there is young girl, (distressed) Deidamea?Slide14

Achilles Revealed.....

Different spacial levels are defined in the painting - 1.

foreground

, 2.

centre figures

(the three heroes) 3.

background

(palace, girl, king and royal attendants) give this painting depth and rich perspective

The motion and movements of the characters are excellently captured,

it is a if everything has been stilled for a moment in time

: Achilles shocked look – Odysseus and Diomedes determined grip of the hero’s arm – the king coming out to see what's going on and of course the young girls’ hysterical distress at the unfolding events.

Note the colour contrasts used – pale verses bronze

Painting probably style 4 as is suggested by the colours and perspective etc.Slide15

Trojan HorseSlide16

Trojan Horse P.194 Illustration 180

“Bold use of colour and economy of detail give it great force

”

On the right the legs of the horse is “sturdily splayed forward as if to emphasise the strain

”

The Trojans pull the horse towards the town -Troy

Their whole weight is being concentrated in “rhythm” into the effort

The light focused on them is the “functional centre” of the painting. The dimmer static, (standing) figures of the Trojan army in the background contrast sharply to figures pulling the horse

The spectators are linked by a lone emphatic figure who is running towards the horse, this figure helps to “coordinate” the scene and concentrate our eyes on it.

Cassandra on the left is lightly sketched, she is moving inward towards the centre from the centre from the battlement walls

The crowded scene is little more than a sketch- the episode is vividly displayed and the leaning figures on the foreground are “strikingly impressive”.Slide17

Landscape Illustrations 182-184

“Good solid landscapes which stand on their own merit”

Illustration 182 is Black and white

Illustration 182-figures sit and stroll in a romantic landscape with trees and buildings in the background

This scene is “consciously romantic”

It brings first century Pompeii close to 18

th

century England

These paintings are described as “sacro-idyllic”

Scenes are pastoral and peaceful and reflect the interest that the Romans had in landscape paintingSlide18

Illustration 184

This is a wall painting of a pastoral scene “in the Romantic style of later centuries”

Painted before AD 79

The landscape is rugged in the background

In the fore ground is a country shrine – a shepherd grazes his goats

This bucolic scene is peaceful and harmoniousSlide19

Illustration 183

Wall painting of houses at noon from Pompeii 79 AD

The cluster of houses are bathed in strong light with “black shadow”

Black and white figures are sketched “vigorously” here and there in the foreground

“It is a modest masterpiece of impressionism which might hold its place in a modern setting”

The strong contrast of light and shade are a “masterpiece” of Impressionism”Slide20

Illustration 185 P.199

A wall painting of a harbour scene at Stabiae

“The busy life of the harbour is shown with striking force and with great economy of line”

Vivid but artistically less striking of a townscape of a port from Naples

We are shown quays, wharves and shipping, adjacent ware houses, market halls and monuments..

Many of the columns carry statues,

The artist and patron all display a “lively interest” in the daily sceneSlide21

Illustration 187-189

Still life –from Herculaneum Kingfisher, vase, trident and sea fish

Still life wall painting from the house of Julia Felix (AD 79)

“Thrushes, eggs and domestic utensils”

Still life with fruit bowl and amphora

Note excellent use of lines, shadows, colour and light.

Also realism (everyday life) a feature of the 4

th

Pompeian styleSlide22

Illustration 190- P.203

Fantastically elaborate architectural detail is probably derived from a theatre

“fantastic baroque of the 4

th

style”

These painting were unbelievably elaborate and were designed to lighten and enlarge rooms of the sophisticated townhouse

A porch is sustained by gilded columns and carry dolphins, hippocampus and a drama mask”

Beyond recede interior views loaded with ornament and with a sufficient scene of perspective both in line and colour to suggest “endless distance”

This painting drew its inspiration from the theatre

Resembles the Scaenae frons of a theatre stageSlide23

How did the Roman’s lay down Mosaic

Firstly the wall or

floor was cleaned

and made smooth

Secondly the artist drew the scene on the floor or wall – i.e.

made out a sketch of the scene

Thirdly the artist

carefully placed the small one inch marble tessarae onto the sketch

. The small square pieces were glued on to the coloured sketch

The

mosaic was left to set and dry

Finally the mosaic (when dry) was once more cleaned, and swept. A gloss or varnish may also have been applied to give it a shine and protect the mosaic.Slide24

Battle of IssusSlide25

Mosaic of Alexander at Issus Illustration 154 P. 172

Found in the house of Faun

Depicts the battle of Issus, Alexander against Darius 3

rd

333BC

The mosaic is derived from a painting from Philoxenos or by Aristeides

Pliny says Aristeides was one of the first painters to “paint the soul and give expression to the affections of man and his emotions”

This battle scene is Tumultuous, i.e. emphasising the chaos and din of battle: the drama is rendered vividly.

There is an attempt to distinguish the personalities involved

The little tesserae sensitively shows us how the picture moves or changes -the light and shade mixes with the “dun” colours and as a result there is a convincing reproduction of the lost original, (painting)Slide26

Landscape Mosaics P.188-189

Landscape Nilotic mosaics – Nilotic means from the area around the river Nile.

Hippopotamus, crocodile and ducks all show us the influence of the city Alexandria , (in Egypt) on Roman art

Lower mosaic from a Roman Villa at Zliten around 200 AD: horses and cattle are depicted trashing corn

Small birds in a nest

Such mosaics panels would have been made in a skilled workshop and set in locally made floors

Scenes depict country life and activity theme is rural and bucolicSlide27

MosaicsSlide28

Landscape Mosaics P.189

These mosaics are to be found at Hadrian’s great palace at Tivoli AD 130

A lion attacks a bull, the action is “lively”

Below is a more peaceful pastoral scene with goat and a goatherd

Both mosaics are set in a convincing rugged landscape

The depiction of these country scenes is graceful and realistic

They are evidence of the Roman’s interest in landscape art.Slide29

Portrait Sculpture

Statue of Pericles P.161

Intellectually a “barbers dummy”

The bust is nothing like the intellectually creative genius of 5

th

century Athens

This is a copy of a fifth century statue

Roman portrait statues were far from idealisedSlide30

Portrait Sculpture

Greek statues had no “emotional or intellectual content”

The Hellenic ideal was perfect in shape

The Handsome young men of the great frieze on the Parthenon in Athens are utterly unresponsive – they do not share a “mental reaction among them”, (the Parthenon is the great temple to Athena on the hill top of Athens)

In other words these figures are “type”

There was no attempt to capture the moment or movement let alone the personality of the characters carved on the frieze of the Parthenon

This type of sculpture was “child art”

While this art had “technical sophistication” the concern was with generalised outlines not with “individual thought”

This began to change in the 4

th

century

There was a new appreciation of the “individual”

The statue of Mauslous ruler of Caria for example shows a calm, strong, majestic presence.

Lysippus’ statue of Alexander captured the vital feature of an abrupt neck, stormy hair, similarly marks a turning point in this art form which the Romans took to a logical conclusionSlide31

Roman Portraiture

Roman Portrait (sculpture) are among the greatest portraiture in the history of art

We must add in the Etruscan influences to its development, such as the custom of storing death masks

This made a contribution to the development of Roman portrait art

“In the halls of our ancestors, models of faces were displayed to furnish a likeness in funeral processions, so at the funeral the entire family was present”

Here we have a interest in the individual rather than type

When the custom of burying the dead, (inhumation) rather than cremation developed by the 2

nd

century, “an intense an impassionate conviction as to the reality of the individual survival” developed

By the second half of the 4

th

century BC there was a recipe for “a new individualism” –after Aristotle there was a “new interest in the individual rather than the community”

The generalised and idealised outline began to give way and what evolved were shapes “imposed by individual thought and emotional experience”Slide32

Patrician carrying bust P163 Illustration 142

This patrician, (or rich Roman) is carrying a bust of his ancestors to a funeral

The making of such images helped to develop the Roman art of portraiture

It dates from the first century BC/AD

Note the realism in all three heads, eyes, nose, balding hair, folds of toga etc, (typically Roman)Slide33

Corn relief merchants P.169

This is a grave relief of corn merchant Ampudius, with wife and daughter 1 cent’ A

D

It contrasts to the aristocratic assemblage, ( i.e. group of people in procession) of the Ara Pacis – but has the same poise and certainty, (i.e. it is more humble-but the realism is just as good)

Portraits, such as these were of solid, worthy, prosperous Roman tradesmen, whose patronage must have contributed to the maintenance of an immense multitude of “competent portrait-sculptors through the empire”Slide34

Portraits P. 170-172 Illustrations 150, 152

This is “callously realistic” It comes from the latter part of 1

st

century BC. It is a head of an aging woman

The uncompromising features are emphasised by “thin hair, which is pulled carefully if stringily to a tight bun at the back of the head. The head of an aged woman is characteristic of a “cruder portraiture” of the third century ADSlide35

Aged WomanSlide36

Realistic Portraits

CommodusSlide37

Commodus P. 170 Illustration 151

Portrait bust of the emperor Commodus AD 180-193, “he is grotesquely portrayed in the compensating role of Hercules”

“A masterpiece of Roman Sculpture” – The emperor is smooth and effeminate, with weak arms, a flaccid feeble face in its aureole of drilled over barbed hair reeking of pomade, the lion scalp and club and the tiny apple of Hespirdes, in that tenuous manicured hand is a delicate but brutally expressive charade”

The sculpture with some delight revealed the sadistic pervert that was Commodus, and faithfully immortalised him for what he was.

The skilfully if exaggerated use of the drill in the hair and beard is balanced by the rendering of the pupils in the eyes which, from now on indicate the impact of light by means of a solid v-shaped segmentSlide38

Philip the Arabian P171, Illustration 153

Roman portraitists were no “flatterers”, i.e. showed warts and all, etc.

Philip was the alleged son of a Arab brigand, he was emperor of Rome, AD 244-249

Here we have exhibited the “anxious, shifty, opportunist character of the insignificant ruler in whose reign was celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome”Slide39

Ara Pacis P164 Illustration 143

Best illustrates the early climax of Roman portrait sculpture

The Altar is set on the Campus Maritus at Rome between 13-9 BC to commemorate the return of Augustus in the former year

It consists of an altar on a podium, flanked north and south by tall screens and approached by a stairway from the west

The screens are carved on the outside with life-size figures – those on the south representing Augustus and his family – those on the north are magistrates, senators and members of the religious fraternities with wives and children Slide40

Frieze of the Ara Pacis P.166

Subjects are displayed with “vivid realism”

The figures have paused during the procession and are engaged in conversation – caught in a moment in time

Theses figures of senators and magistrates etc. are located on the north screen (on the outside of the altar)Slide41

P. 167 Illustrations 145-146

A veiled lady in the background places her fingers to her lips in silent rebuke to a couple chatting in the foreground

A small child shows its boredom or interest and tugs at a toga of the man next to him, “manifestly desires to be picked up”

All of these figures contribute to the overall “dignity of the scene” in which the living people of that time of whom several can be identified are “caught in marble, just as they were at a given moment on 4

th

July, 13 BCSlide42

Ara PacisSlide43

Ara Pacis

These friezes show representative groups of officials and there families

The eye travels freely from living head to head whether they are carved in the foreground or background – there is no dramatic concentration on the emperor

With some effort his wreathed and veiled presence can be identified near the western end on the southern screen

Augustus is merely “primus inter pares” , (first among equals)– we have here the beginnings of the personality cult that was yet to be carried to its “melodramatic extremes of later centuries”

If we want to understand the Augustan period - “its quite good manners and undemonstrative confidence, in a single document, that document is the Ara Pacis Augustae” Wheeler, P.165

The sculpture is no more interested in the aspects of the emperor than that of any other person on the relief – this was to change markedly by the time of the emperor Titus, “a century later the whole perspective was already undergoing a significant and theatrical change”. i.e. the focus in later sculpture highlighted the significance of the emperor. The cult of the personality was taken to a new level in monuments such as the Arch of Titus or Trajan’s ColumnSlide44

Ara Pacis

Wheeler does not believe that these scenes are “frigid” i.e. lacking emotion – nor does he believe that they found there inspiration in the “humble procession of Republican sculpture, but in the great panathenic procession of the Parthenon”

These figures are aloof in so far as they show a calm, assured, un-anxious society which they represent

It is like the frieze on the Parthenon only in so far as it shows a ceremonial “concourse”, i.e. procession

Unlike the Parthenon which gives a pictorial account of the ceremony, the Ara

Pacis

supersedes the sculptures on the frieze of that Greek temple in Athens, because we get a portrait gallery of celebrants who not only screen an altar but dominate the scene.

In other words the figures on the Ara Pacis are not just for decorative purposes - the have a personality of there own and these dominate and stand out.Slide45

Trajan's Column P.177

100 foot in height, the carved bands winds spirally for 215 yards up ward- it was erected in the Roman forum in AD 113 to commemorate and illustrate the emperors two Dacian campaigns

It is a “masterpiece of Roman historical art” –the great relief was tricked out with colour -it could be seen at easier range from the roofs of the two libraries that lay at either side of the columnSlide46

Illustration 157 P.179

At the bottom the roman army emerges from a fortified city and cross the Danube in two columns, one of the columns is led by Trajan himself

– the busy life of the river is vividly shown – the river god Danube, surveys the goings on from a nearby cave – then the emperor is seen outside the camp – later on he holds a war council- there after he is veiled as the high priest readying a sacrifice to mark the beginning of the campaign. He “harangues” his troops whilst fortifications are being built –later on a captured spy is brought before him. Trajan is everywhere!

Through a long succession of mounting episodes details of the campaigns, (some of them very ordinary) are shown with authority and liveliness – we learn more about the roman army in the field than any other single document

The action flows un- hesitatingly from episode to episode

The strange convention of the continuous style works , as does that other convention whereby further figures rise head and shoulders above nearer ones

The perspective is at sixes and sevens but this serves to add to the “Tumultuous vivacity of the scene”

We find ourselves committed to the midst of a crowd of men hurrying about with their business - the calm commanding figure of the emperor is close at hand.

Trajan’s column is “ history scribed around the presence of a great man- the apotheosis of the individual”Slide47

Trajan’s ColumnSlide48

The Great Trajanic Frieze P. 180 Illustration 159

From the 2

nd

century – reworked into the arch of Constantine at Rome AD 312 – the features of the mounted Trajan were altered to resemble those of Constantine

The frieze originally came from the temple of the deified Trajan – the monument also depicts the Dacian wars, but in a more “monumental and constrained manner” – the display on the frieze seems over crowded and lacks the easy continuity that marks the display of events on Trajan's column

“never again ..was the full mastery of that column repeated”