Roman sculptural portrait. "Villa of the Mysteries" near Pompeii
- "Royal" period of Ancient Rome: 8 - 6 centuries. BC.
- Republican period of Ancient Rome: 5th - 1st centuries. BC.
- The Imperial period of Ancient Rome: 1 - 5 centuries. AD (fall of Rome in 476 AD).
Etruscan art
The development of Roman art is largely due to the old artistic culture of the Etruscans.Before Roman rule in Italy, the most significant cultural area was Etruria (except for the Greek cities) - an area lying on the western side of the Apennine Peninsula.
The period of the greatest political heyday of Etruria is the 6th century. BC.
Architecture
Etruscan temples are very similar in type to Greek ones, but
- stood on a high pedestal,
- had a strongly protruding cornice,
- usually richly decorated with terracotta details.
The Etruscans used the so-called Tuscan order, similar to the Doric (columns without flutes, but had a base and a capital similar to the Doric). This architecture was formed under the influence of Greece of the archaic period.
art
From the second half of the 7th c. BC. Etruscan art developed under the influence of Greece.As in Greece of the Hellenistic period in the murals of the late 5th - 3rd centuries. BC. the mood in painting changes, gloomy pictures of the underworld are depicted, the lords of Hades - Pluto and Proserpina, ... In the image of funeral feasts, the participants are full of sadness and sadness. It was in the 5th c. BC. Rome began military operations against Etruria.
Painting of the tomb of the Shields in Tarquinia. Detail of a female figure. Fresco. OK. 280 BC
From the 4th c. BC. and in the following centuries, a large place in Etruscan art is occupied by a portrait - in the paintings of the tombs and in sculpture.
By 280 B.C. Etruria was already all conquered by Rome. In the 3rd - 2nd centuries. BC. Etruria, under the rule of Rome, experienced its second rise, although not as brilliant as in the 5th - 4th centuries. BC e.
Art continues to develop in two directions: one is associated with Hellenistic art, the other is traditionally local.
The originality of Etruscan art was most evident in the portrait. Now the custom includes burial in sarcophagi and urns with the image of the reclining deceased on the lid.
Such a portrait is most often only physiognomic and rarely rises to a psychological one.
Old Etruscan traditions are visible in the large bronze statue of the orator.
The portrait clearly shows the attention of the Etruscans to physiognomic features.
Art of the Roman Republic
By the end of the 6th c. BC. Rome became an aristocratic slave republic.The highest authority is the Senate, which could only include representatives of the aristocracy (patricians).
The Roman poet Horace said: “Greece, taken captive, captivated the wild conquerors, bringing art into the stern Latius ...” Although there is no doubt a poetic exaggeration in these words, Horace figuratively emphasized the fact that the Romans bowed to the artistic genius of the Greeks.
In the middle of the 2nd c. BC. Rome dominated the entire Mediterranean. Carthage was destroyed, Greece and Macedonia were turned into Roman provinces.
From the end of the III century BC. e. Roman commanders began to take out works of art on ships from the conquered Greek cities. This contributed to the development of the artistic taste of the Romans. Public buildings, temples and squares of Rome were filled with beautiful statues. Among them were the creations of such great masters as Phidias, Myron, Polykleitos, Skopas, Praxitep, Lysippus.
According to legend, the city of Rome arose as early as the 8th century. BC.
According to legend, the Vestal gave birth to two twins from the god Mars. Vestals - priestesses of the goddess Vesta, had to take a vow of celibacy. She was condemned to death for breaking her vow.
The king ordered the twins to be thrown into the Tiber. But the slaves who were entrusted with this left the basket with the twins in a shallow place, because due to the flood of the river it was difficult for them to approach deep water. When the spill subsided, the basket found itself in a dry place. To the crying of the twins, a she-wolf came running down from the surrounding mountains to the river to get drunk, and fed them with her milk.
Soon the children were found by the royal shepherd. He brought them home and gave them to his wife to raise. The twins were given the names Romulus and Remus. Growing up, in addition to hunting, they also began to engage in the fact that they attacked the robbers, took their prey from them and divided it among the shepherds.
In the end, the secret was revealed that they were the grandsons of the king. The brothers decided to found a new city in the places where they were found. At the foundation of it, they quarreled, and Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after himself.
Architecture
Rome was formed on several hills (Capitol, Palatine and Quirinal).The central square of Ancient Rome is the Roman Forum (forum Romanum). In the future, five more forums (squares) joined the first. As a result of gradual development, the forum acquired an asymmetric character.
The buildings of the time of republican Rome testify to the complete mastery of the Greek orders. Basically, the buildings were built of limestone, tuff, and partly of marble.
In Roman architecture, a type of round temple, the tholos, became widespread.
In these temples, the Corinthian order, beloved by the Romans, adopted by them from the Greeks, was used.
1 in. BC.
At the Bull Forum there is another temple from the time of the Roman Republic. A unique example of a pseudo-peripter.
Features of Roman architecture - a podium, a four-column deep portico.
Another temple, round in plan.
In the 1st century BC e. the engineer and architect Vitruvius created the treatise "Ten Books on Architecture", which was a true encyclopedia of the building practice of his era. Vitruvius formulated the basic requirements that apply to an architectural structure of any time: it must combine utility, strength and beauty. From the architect of Ancient Rome, a comprehensive education was required, including knowledge of climate, soil science, mineralogy, acoustics, hygiene, applied astronomy, mathematics, history, philosophy, and architectural aesthetics.
art
In the visual arts of Republican Rome, the influence of Greek and Etruscan art is noticeable.But in Greek art, images of gods, mythological heroes, and athletes were dominant. The portrait in Greece originated relatively late (in the middle of the 5th century BC).
In Rome, on the contrary, it was the portrait that gained dominant importance. In the portrait, especially in the sculptural one, the originality of Roman art was manifested.
Also in painting, not mythological themes, but plots telling about specific events are gaining popularity.
Architecture
The most ancient work of the first decades of the republic is the famous bronze sculpture:
The excellent technique of bronze casting suggests that this is the work of Etruscan masters.
According to the established cult, noble Romans ordered sculptural images of the deceased either in the form of a stele, which was placed on the grave, or in the form of portrait busts.
Masters of the 1st c. BC, while working on a portrait, they exactly followed nature, often, probably already on a dead face. They did not change anything and kept all the small details.
The facial expression in such portraits is always calm, wrinkles on the forehead are marked, the gaze is lifeless, the corners of the mouth are lowered. The hair is cut short and close to the forehead.
Most often, men are depicted, already in years.
In the female portrait, a characteristic feature of Roman art clearly stands out: the absence of any idealization.
With the development of public life and the growth of the role of the conquering commander, the statesman, not only tombstone, but also secular sculpture appears in Rome. This sculpture is an honorary statue of a Roman wrapped in a toga.
A similar pattern of drapery, only softer, is preserved on statues of the 1st - 2nd c. AD
Painting
In Rome, 2nd - 1st centuries. BC, paintings depicting battles and triumphs are created (known from literary sources). Battle paintings accurately reproduced the area where the battle took place and the disposition of the troops. Such paintings were carried in a triumphal procession and exhibited in public places for all to see. The paintings depicted portraits of victors in white togas with a purple border, marching at the head of an army or in chariots.1st decorative style - inlay.
All architectural details (pilasters, cornices, plinth, shelves, individual squares) were made three-dimensional from plaster, and then painted.
2nd decorative style - architectural and promising.
Architectural details are not created in volume, but are depicted by means of painting (columns, pilasters, complex cornices, niches).
The impression of volume is achieved by using perspective reduction.
Thematic paintings are introduced into the decoration of the walls (most often the repetition of Greek originals).
Villa of the Mysteries.
60s BC.
Roman sculptural portrait
Roman sculptural portrait- one of the most significant periods in the development of the world portrait, covering about five centuries (I century BC - IV century AD), characterized by extraordinary realism and the desire to convey the nature of the depicted; in ancient Roman fine art, in terms of quality, it occupies one of the first places among other genres.
It is distinguished by a significant number of monuments that have come down to us, which, in addition to art, have significant historical value, as they complement written sources, showing us the faces of participants in important historical events. According to researchers, this period laid the foundations for the subsequent development of the European realistic portrait. The vast majority of the images are made in marble, there are also bronze images that have come down in smaller numbers. Although many Roman portraits are identified with specific individuals or directly bear an inscription indicating who served as their model, not a single name of a Roman portraitist has survived.
Ideology
Religious function of the Roman portrait
One of the roots of the realism of the Roman portrait was its technique: according to many scholars, the Roman portrait developed from death masks, which were taken from the dead and kept at the home altar. (lararia) along with figurines of lars and penates. They were made of wax and were called imagines.
In the event of the death of a member of the family, ancestral masks were carried in the funeral procession to emphasize the antiquity of the aristocratic family. (This was a vestige of the cult of ancestors). In addition to wax masks, bronze, marble and terracotta busts of ancestors were kept in the lararium. Cast masks were made directly from the faces of the deceased and then processed in order to give them a greater natural resemblance. This led to an excellent knowledge by the Roman masters of the features of the muscles of the human face and its facial expressions, which led to excellent results even with ordinary posing. The roots of such a funerary cult were adopted by the Romans from the Etruscans, where the portrait was also extremely developed.
The political function of the Roman portrait
During the Republic, it became customary to erect statues (already full-length) of political officials or military commanders in public places. Such an honor was provided by decision of the Senate, usually in commemoration of victories, triumphs, political achievements. Such portraits were usually accompanied by a dedicatory inscription telling about the merits (cursus honorum). In case of a crime of a person, his images were destroyed ( damnatio memoriae). With the onset of the Empire, the portrait of the emperor and his family became one of the most powerful means of propaganda.
The psychological aspect of the appearance of the Roman portrait
The development of the ancient Roman portrait was associated with an increased interest in the individual person, with the expansion of the circle of those portrayed. Rome is characterized by an emerging interest in specific person (as opposed to interest in a person at all in the art of ancient Greece). The basis of the artistic structure of many ancient Roman portraits is a clear and scrupulous transmission of the unique features of the model, while maintaining the unity of the individual and the typical. Unlike the ancient Greek portrait with its tendency to idealization (the Greeks believed that a good person must be beautiful - kalokagatiya), the Roman sculptural portrait turned out to be as naturalistic as possible and is still considered one of the most realistic examples of the genre in the history of art. The ancient Romans had such faith in themselves that they considered a person worthy of respect in the form that it is, without any embellishment and idealization, with all wrinkles, baldness and overweight (see, for example, the portrait of Emperor Vitellius).
For the first time, Roman portrait painters attempted to solve the problem that eventually confronts modern artists as well - to convey not only the external individual appearance of a certain person, but also the distinctive features of his character.
Genres
The most famous of these works are the terracotta Etruscan sarcophagi; but they were preceded by bronze and clay urns, and from the 7th century. BC e. canopy, whose pommel was made in the form of a human head (for example, canopy from Chiusi, Cetona, Solai), and the handles were made in the form of human hands. Already in the VIII-VII centuries BC. e. the lids of the urns were decorated with masks that schematically and primitively conveyed a human face. Hair is rendered in straight lines drawn in clay, facial features are large and coarse, a large nose and a tightly compressed mouth with narrow lips.
Sarcophagus from Volterra, 2nd c. BC e., Archaeological Museum, Florence
Sarcophagi appearing from the 6th century BC. e., as a rule, they depicted the deceased still alive, reclining on a bed in the pose of a feaster, leaning on a pillow and looking at the viewer; active facial expressions on the face, often smiles. It can depict both one deceased and paired marital portraits (for example, the Sarcophagus of Lartia Seianti from Chiusi; the Sarcophagus of the spouses from the Banditaccia (Cervetri) necropolis, Villa Giulia Museum). Undoubtedly, this sculpture was greatly influenced by Greek archaic art, but the postures and gestures of the Etruscans are freer and less canonical.
Unlike funerary monuments, much less examples of monumental Etruscan sculpture have come down to us. They include a bronze head of a boy (late 4th - n. 3rd century BC, Florence, Archaeological Museum). Another, more famous work, is the bronze so-called. "Head of Brutus"(1st half of the 3rd century BC, Capitoline Museums, Palace of the Conservators, Hall of Triumphs, Rome) with inlaid eyes, which is considered the work of an Etruscan master. In such works, there is no doubt a connection with Greek portraits of the early Hellenistic period. It is also worth mentioning the bronze head from Bovianum Vetus in Samnium (3rd century BC, National Library, Paris), the bronze head of a young man from Fiesole (2nd century BC, Louvre).
Also from the end of the IV century BC. e. votive heads made of clay are spreading, which are more mass-produced works, without such fine workmanship (head of a young man from Latium, c. III century BC, Munich).
Works of the IV-II centuries BC. e. show the growth of elements of concretization and individualization of the external appearance of people. The well-established iconography of images of sarcophagi is used, but the faces are filled with new depth (the sarcophagus of the beginning of the 1st century BC from Volterra). The same period is characterized by the loss of independence by the Etruscans and their conquest by Rome.
T. n. "Statue of Aulus Metellus" ( Arringatore, speaker; OK. 100 BC e. Archaeological Museum, Florence) completes a series of Etruscan portraits and opens a series of Roman ones, being considered simultaneously belonging to both cultures. She depicts a politician (magistrate), dressed in a toga and standing in the classic pose of an orator; the inscription on the hem of the robe indicates that the statue was erected in honor of Aulus Metellus. “The prosaic accuracy of reproduction of nature - a characteristic feature of the early Roman portrait - is manifested here for the first time with such frankness and clarity,” points out N. A. Sidorova.
Republic era portrait
Head of an old man in a veil at the Chiaramonti Museum in the Vatican (Old Roman direction)
The Roman sculptural portrait as an independent and original artistic phenomenon can be clearly traced from the beginning of the 1st century BC. e. - the period of the Roman Republic By this time, Ancient Rome finally strengthened as a powerful state. Despite the fact that chronologically this period begins with the VI century. BC, when considering portrait art, it is possible to operate only on monuments starting from the 1st century BC. BC, because early works have not survived, and later ones are extremely few in comparison with the works of the period of the Empire.
A characteristic feature of the portraits of this period is extreme naturalism and plausibility in the transfer of facial features that distinguish a particular person from any other person. These tendencies date back to Etruscan art. An important reason that these aspects later intensified was the turning point in Roman history, when individuals began to play a significant role, and the Republic was replaced by a dictatorship. Verism- a term that is used in relation to realism, turning into naturalism, characteristic of Roman portraits of the end of the Republic (1st half and middle of the 1st century BC). This is the maximum burst of naturalism in the Roman portrait; truthful portraits of old people, often ugly, are numerous (on their basis, a theory has developed about the origin of the portrait from the wax masks of deceased ancestors, see above).
Characteristic psychological features of the portrait of the period of the Republic: "the external resemblance of the statue to the original and a special inner mood that brought all the images together, making them similar to each other, as well as isolation, independence and immersion in the world of personal feelings and experiences" .
However, the portrait style of the 1st century BC. e. has not yet become homogeneous, there were searches. Some researchers have identified a significant number of different groups and directions (up to 20); yet much more traditional is the division into two main lines:
- Old Roman(veristic) - continuation of the traditions of Etruscan and early Italic plastics, with the maximum accuracy of visual features (examples: funerary sculpture - tomb statues and reliefs with busts of the deceased in niches; togatus iconography. Dry, linear graphic style.
- Hellenizing- in the period of the late Republic (from the 1st half of the 1st century BC), the portrait begins to be influenced by Greek Hellenistic art. From this, an interest in the inner world of a person appears in him. Picturesque and pathetic style, which is of interest to more cultural layers. A more complex technique is the skill of processing marble, brilliant pictorial molding of forms.
Then, in the 60s BC. e. both lines merge, and the old feature - maximum accuracy, is preserved. This objectivity in the transmission of accuracy is a characteristic feature of the Roman portrait, which will be preserved in it to the end. The portrait begins to be influenced by Greek Hellenistic art, and from this an interest in the inner world of a person appears in it, while the old feature - maximum accuracy, is preserved. This objectivity in the transmission of accuracy is a characteristic feature of the Roman portrait, which will be preserved in it to the end.
monuments: ancient direction:Hellenizing direction:
- Tombstone of the Rupilians. Old Roman direction. Limestone. First half of the 1st c. BC e. Rome, Capitoline Museum.
- Tombstone of a married couple from Via Statilia. vertical direction. Limestone. 1st century BC e. Rome, Palace of the Conservatives
- Statue of a general from Tivoli. Hellenistic direction. Marble. 2nd quarter of the 1st c. BC e. Rome, National Museum
- Head of an old man, Copenhagen Glyptothek
- Head of an old man from Osimo
Empire era portrait
Portrait of the August era
Emperor Augustus in corona civica, Capitoline Museums
The reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus was the golden age of Roman culture. An important aspect that influenced the composition of Roman art of this period was the Greek art of the classical period, whose strict forms came in handy when creating a majestic empire.
Sculpture of this period - august classicism- is characterized by simplicity and clarity of construction, rigor, restraint, clarity of forms and the desire for generalization, which are combined with the traditional desire for documentary accuracy. Particularly striking examples are the court official portrait (Augustus and his family), which shows a departure from Hellenism (which existed in the republican portrait) and shows interest in earlier classical art of the 5th-4th centuries. BC e.
The female portrait acquires a more independent meaning than before. In the reign of Augustus, children's portraits first appear. In addition to the official classicist portrait, the line was also preserved with a more realistic presentation (for example, the portrait of Agrippa). Of all the types of Roman sculptural portraiture, the most conservative were those on tombstones that retained the republican traditions the longest (for example, the tombstone of the Furies in the Capitoline Museum, Cato and Portia).
Portrait of Julio-Claudian
Claudius. Pio Clementino Museum
Nero. Capitoline Museums
Under the successors of Emperor Augustus - the rulers from the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the classicist direction in the portrait continues to be preserved. The image of the deified emperor becomes traditional. Also popular are portrait statues in the form of standing heroized figures (Germanicus, Louvre). But still, Tiberian classicism turns out to be colder and more boring than August. From an advanced artistic direction that reflected the ideals of the time, it turns into an academic and abstract one. Facial features are often idealized
From the 40s. gradually revived interest in the transfer of individual characteristics of a person, to a lesser extent in the portraits of the era of Caligula and more obviously in the Claudian ones. A famous example is the statue of Claudius in the rotunda of the Vatican Museum, where he is depicted as Jupiter wearing a wreath. The dissonance between the idealized classical body and the portrait head of an elderly man is obvious. Such realism (protruding ears, wrinkles, etc.) first appears in the portraits of emperors. In the era of Nero, the development of the realistic trend continues, and even idealization disappears from the official portrait. Sculptors strive for maximum similarity and transmission of characters. The portrait of the era of Claudius and Nero is considered to be transitional from the August classicism to the art of the Flavians.
Portrait of the Flavians
Vespasian, Louvre
Portrait of an unknown Roman woman (Flavia Julia?), Capitoline Museums. 80-90s
The stable era of the Flavian dynasty led to another rise in culture, which also affected the portrait. Although realism remains the main feature of the Roman portrait throughout the entire era of its development, the Flavian portrait uses its own techniques - dynamic and spatial compositions, subtle rendering of texture while maintaining the usual clarity of construction. The masters also draw inspiration from the Hellenistic Greek portrait. By the end of the period, the picturesqueness, which is one of the main features of the style of this portrait, is increasingly intensified. “The Flavian masters did not stop at the transfer of senile faces; they also depict young women, as if admiring the originality of their features and beauty. These portraits are less strict than the classicizing portraits of the Augustan era, they are more full-blooded, they feel the lively temperament and feminine charm of the portrayed.
Many portraits of the Flavian time depict representatives of the already middle class, as well as wealthy freedmen. In the Flavian period, portrait heads were usually depicted with chest, with turned shoulders.
Separate periods:
- Early Flavian portraits (the era of Vespasian and his first son Titus)
- Late Flavian portraits (the era of Domitian; greater refinement in the transfer of the inner world of people and a less holistic and healthy outlook on life)
As well as directions:
- progressive and realistic
- idealizing and classicizing (monumental statues, official sculpture)
The idealizing direction, characteristic of official imperial portraits, focuses on the Hellenistic statues of gods and kings, therefore, unlike the August ones, they are less strict and more free. Idealization went in two ways: the emperor was portrayed as a god or a hero; or virtue was given to his image, his wisdom and piety were emphasized. The size of such images often exceeded nature, the portraits themselves had a monumental image, the individual features of the face were smoothed out for this, which gave the features more regularity and generalization.
Portrait of the era of Trajan
Emperor Trajan, Munich Glyptothek
Portrait of the Severs
Septimius Sever, Munich Glyptothek
Bust of Caracalla. Pergamon Museum, Berlin
For the history of the Roman Empire, the troubled times of the 3rd century A.D. e. is an era of decay and degradation, but at the same time for the fine arts this time has become extremely productive. Moreover, researchers call the 2nd quarter of the 3rd century the era of the greatest development of Roman portrait art. The spiritual crisis (which is expressed, in particular, in the borrowing of Eastern cults and interest in Christianity) is expressed in the search reflected in the portrait. The classicizing art of the Antonine era did not correspond to the mood of an exalted person. Development of the 3rd century AD portrait e. differs inconsistency and struggle of stylistic trends.
Transitional to the rise of the portrait of this period is the era of Emperor Septimius Severus and his immediate successors. In the portraits of the emperor himself, one can see the desire to continue the style of the 2nd century, which coincided with his political line - to position himself as the legitimate heir to the house of the Antonines. Characteristic features: curling strands on the forehead, a forked beard (like Lucius Vera), the contrast of the whiteness of the skin with the chiaroscuro of the hair, the execution is petty, and the lightness of the hand of the artists of the Antoninov era disappeared.
Fluctuations and the beginnings of a completely different style are noticeable in the portraits of his sons - Geta and Caracalla. The requirement that was characteristic of the first period of Roman sculpture comes to the fore - a characteristic of individuality, character. Just as the cult of personality during the period of the republic led to the individualization of sculpture, the appointment of personality in the 3rd century led to a new stage of development. In the atmosphere of a wild and troubled time, subtle effects that only a cultured eye could guess were not in demand. A new, more visual and brutal style was required. “The rejection of the types of portraits that developed in the era of the Antonines, in which there was always an element of idealization, a tendency to merciless truthfulness, the desire to find and convey the very essence of the person being portrayed, to expose it, without stopping in front of its sometimes negative and even repulsive features - these are the features of the new trend in sculptural portrait of the beginning of the III century AD. e." Under the penultimate emperor of this dynasty, Heliogabalus, there is a return of some interest in the picturesque Antonines. Under his heir, Alexander Severus, that new type of portrait was finally developed, the prerequisites for which were outlined under Caracalla - the harsh simplicity of style, brutality and the discovery of character. Many portraits from this period are reminiscent of works of the late Republic, but are recognizable by their greater technicality.
Portrait of the era of soldier emperors
Philip the Arabian, Hermitage
Portraits of the era of soldier emperors develop a strict line outlined under Alexander Severus. The characteristic of personality came to the fore (in contrast to the previous interest in pictorial problems, modeling the surface of marble).
Examples of a new technique that developed intensively in the 2nd quarter of the 3rd century are the portraits of Philip the Arabian and Balbinus. The depiction style of the "soldier" emperor Philip is an almost complete negation of the pictorial style of the Antonine era; there is not a trace of refined culture in it.
The portrait is devoid of both idealization and traditionalism; the technique is extremely simplified - hair and beard are shown with short notches, set in pairs, facial features are worked out by deep, almost rough lines with a complete rejection of detailed modeling, the figure and facial features are asymmetrical. The sculptor demonstrates extreme realism, using all possible means, almost impressionistically - highlighting the most important features without obscuring them with details, characterizing with a few well-aimed strokes. Waldhauer speaks of the "impressionism", as well as the "baroqueness" of this sculpture, of the architectural nature of the use of forms. He believes that “in this art one can feel the makings of the style from which the striking portraits in the Gothic cathedrals of France and Germany came out, they have a“ barbaric ”element that foreshadows the revival of new art during the decomposition of antiquity” .
In the 30-40s of the 3rd century, portrait plastic reaches the highest rise of a realistic expressive style, which originated in the era of the North. A large role in enhancing the emotional impact of the portrait is played by the juxtaposition of brightly lit and shaded parts of the sculpture. The mood of the models carries some features of uncertainty in the world around and the desire to rely only on themselves.
In the reign of Emperor Gallienus, a highly educated man, there is a short and quickly damped surge of interest in classicism.
Portrait of Illyrian emperors
The Illyrian emperors (268-282), being part of the period of the soldier emperors, nevertheless differed from them. This time was transitional, leading to the addition of dominance. This stage is characterized by a transitional portrait style without a clearly defined type of image; in different areas of the empire it differed in various features, but in the end everything went towards simplification. "Small notches indicate the eyebrows, shading the eyes with clearly carved rounded pupils, planted under the upper eyelids"
4th century portrait
The next period begins with the reign of Diocletian. At this time - the end of the 3rd - the beginning of the 4th century, the Romans awakened to the desire to revive the greatness and power of the empire, which manifests itself in a special love for the grandiosity inherent in both architecture and the fine arts of this time. Scale reigns everywhere, including in the portrait - before life-size images were common, now they are several times larger than life. “The period under review is characterized by the absence in art of a portrait of a single, main direction, which undoubtedly reflects a growing trend towards the dismemberment of the Roman Empire.” In the portraits of Konstantin's predecessors, which still bear the features of the style of the transitional era, realism is preserved, but new features are growing. The interpretation of details (eyes, hair) becomes emphatically graphic, and facial features freeze, acquiring a mask-like appearance. In the epoch of tetrarchy, the East develops its own type: a compact structure of the head, hair full of fine notches, a short, dotted beard, a broad face with wrinkles on the forehead and at the bridge of the nose, giving the face a standard touch of suffering and reflection.
Since the time of Constantine, a new stage in the development of the portrait begins. In the early Constantinian period, two directions are divided: the continuation of the tradition and the search for a new solution. Under Konstantin, a new fashion for a hairstyle is established - framing a forehead with a geometrically correct bang in an arc; fashion will continue for a century. Pupils begin to embed in a wide semicircle (for the first time this is found in the portrait of Diocletian from Doria Pamphilj, and now it is used everywhere). This way of depicting the pupil gives the gaze an expression of tension and concentration, which will become typical of portraits of the 4th century. Since Constantine was a strong ruler, in his era there is another surge of classicism, which is always convenient for empires to display calmness and power. The classicism of this period is complicated by new beliefs that emphasize the importance of the spiritual, divine principle, opposing it to the material, sensual world, in contrast to the ancient worldview, which preached a harmonious combination of the physical and spiritual principles in man. The transfer of a specific likeness fades into the background in the list of tasks of the sculptor. Starting with Constantine, the portrait breaks with the traditions of realism that underlay all the previous development of Roman portrait sculpture. Not without a struggle, the realistic portraits still being made are giving way to the battlefield. The main character of the model of such a portrait becomes severe and ascetic, even religiously fanatical; “For expressiveness, the sculptor uses a new arsenal of figurative means - a strictly frontal setting of the head, a symmetrical construction of facial features, graphic and ornamental rendering of details. But the main thing is the eyes with their motionless, fixed, frozen gaze, in which all facial expression is concentrated.
A monument to a more developed portrait of the Etruscan-Roman direction is a bronze statue of the so-called "Orator" (2nd century BC), depicting, possibly, Aulus Metellus, a representative of one of the most noble Roman families. The speaker is presented at the moment of making a speech, his right hand is extended to the audience. The artist not only carefully conveyed the individual facial features of Metellus, but also the details of clothing and shoes. The statue is made according to the models of Greek and Hellenistic statues of orators, however, in comparison with the latter, it gives the impression of being more prosaic: the lack of an inner impulse, dryish detailing is in conflict with the solemn staging of the figure and the oratorical gesture.
Portrait of a Roman (the so-called First Consul Brutus). Bronze. Second half of the 4th c. BC e. Rome. Palazzo Conservatori.
However, already in the Republican era, portraits of great artistic power were created. For example, a bronze bust of a Roman - the so-called "Brutus" from the Palazzo Conservatori in Rome (second half of the 4th century BC) provides an example of a portrait in which the human character is revealed. In this work, the image of a stern, adamant Roman of the era of the republic was vividly embodied. More generalized is the plastic solution of the portrait.
Statue of a Roman offering a libation. Marble. 1 in. BC e. Rome. Vatican.
The portrait statue of a Roman offering a libation (1st century BC) is a further development of the togatus type. This is an impressive portrait of a stern, stately man, depicted in lively movement. A long, wide toga forms many deep folds that hide the figure; the cloak covers the head, covers the ears, so that nothing distracts from the pronunciation of prayer formulas, and would not interfere with the exact performance of the traditional rite. The features of an ascetically severe shaven face are conveyed with great care and truthfulness.
Portrait of Cicero. Marble. 1 in. BC e. Rome. Capitoline Museum.
The portraits of Cicero and Pompey, excellent in accuracy of individual characteristics, belong to the late period of the Republican era, giving an extremely clear idea of the personal qualities of these historical figures. For example, the enormous fame and authority of Pompey, nicknamed the Great during his lifetime, did not obscure the true qualities of Pompey's personality from the artist, and the master created a portrait in which the insignificance and limitations of the undeservedly famous commander are shown with the utmost clarity. Such works, which testify to the deep insight of the artist, are precious historical documents.
The large altar of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (36 - 32 BC) belongs to the field of decorative art of the late republic. On the main longitudinal side of it is a relief depicting a solemn sacrifice associated with the compilation of qualification books. An administrative act - recording the property of citizens - is consecrated by the sacrifice of a pig, a sheep and a bull. With purely Roman thoroughness, the figures of an official, citizens, stacks of qualified books, an altar, sacrificial animals decorated with garlands of flowers, priests, servants, warriors are transferred. Here, along with other characters, the god of war Mars is placed at the altar. The composition of the relief is based on the principle of sequential placement of figures following one after another. The other three sides of the altar are covered with a relief, the plot of which is taken from Greek mythology. This is the wedding of the sea god Poseidon and Amphitrite. The solemn chariot is accompanied by tritons, nymphs, and sea horses blowing their horns; eros fly in the air. The relief, executed with great softness, indicates the deep influence of Greek art. The combination of a purely Roman theme of sacrifice with a Greek mythological theme is characteristic of that time.
By the middle of the 1st c. BC. Roman art has already taken shape in its main features and has taken a leading place in the art of the ancient world.
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Etruscan architecture: fortifications, dwellings, temples. The difference between the Etruscan temple and the Greek; barrow tombs - tumulos. Construction Materials. Terracotta sculpture of the Temple of Apollo at Veii.
Before the Romans, the Etruscans dominated Italy. In the IV century. BC e. the Romans overthrew the rule of the Etruscans, subjugated them and soon conquered all of Italy. The Etruscans, Latins and other tribes that inhabited the Apennine Peninsula mixed with each other and formed a single people, whose language was the Latin language of the Romans. In the II century. BC e. The Romans conquered the entire Mediterranean, forming a huge state that stretched from the Pyrenees to Asia Minor. For several centuries, the Roman state was a republic, in 30 BC. e. it became an empire.
The architecture of Etruria (Tuscany) was formed in contact with the architecture of other Mediterranean regions of the ancient world, including under the influence of Greece and its colonies in Italy. The Etruscans built cities fortress walls, irrigation facilities for draining swampy soil, roads, bridges, temples. Among the Etruscans, the technique of cutting stone and woodworking was highly developed; they, like the Greeks of that period, decorated their temples erected from wood and adobe, terracotta details.
Houses in Etruria were built of unbaked bricks, the foundations were made of river stones. The houses were most likely one-story. The Etruscans used flat and curved tiles.
Rural houses were built of rough stone or clay on a wooden frame. Roofs were thatched, thatched or tiled.
Impressive mounds with stone tombs inside(tumuli). They were crypts carved into the rock or built of stone and covered with an earthen embankment. The interiors of Etruscan tombs give an idea of the structure of the Etruscan dwelling. Its main room had a pyramidal roof with a hole in the upper part for lighting and removing smoke from the hearth. In rich houses, smaller rooms adjoined this main room.
The dominant position in the Etruscan cities was occupied by temples. temple It was a building with a gable roof and a portico in front of the entrance. Usually they were built of wood and raw bricks. The architecture of the Etruscan temples was formed under Greek influence, but unlike the Greek ones, they stood on a high pedestal (podium), since the soil of Etruria is damp and a staircase led to the entrance to it.
The shape of the columns comes from the Greek Doric order, but they have a base, a smooth stem (without flutes) with entasis and a capital consisting of a neck, echinus and abacus. The entablature is simple, without rhythmic divisions. Temples were decorated with statues. The vast majority of Etruscan temple sculpture is not stone or bronze, but somewhat lighter - terracotta, the weight of which could withstand adobe walls and wooden ceilings of temples. Etruscan temples were skillfully decorated with antefixes
In the VI century. BC e. the influence of archaic Ionian sculpture appears. Vulka (the only Etruscan archaic sculptor known by name), or someone from his entourage, created a terracotta Apollo from Vei, which served as an external decoration of the temple. The Ionian influence manifests itself in the fine elaboration of the texture, which perfectly interacts with the light. There are sharper light and shade contrasts - thanks to the new principle of setting the figure .. Made approximately in 550-520 BC. e. in the International Ionic or late Etruscan style. It was discovered in 1916 and is currently kept in the National Museum of Etruscan Art.
The statue was part of a composition depicting Apollo and Hercules fighting for the Kerinean doe. This composition was located at a height of 12 m on the acroterion of the sanctuary of Minerva in Portonaccio.
Sculpture of Etruria. The peculiarity of the portrait. Stone and terracotta sarcophagi and urns with portraits. Bronze statue of Aulus Metellus.
An integral part of the scenery of Etruscan buildings were painted terracotta reliefs and statues, so common during the archaic period throughout the ancient world. The roofs of buildings were decorated with acroteria (Acroterium (from Greek - top, pediment) - a sculpture or a sculptural ornamental motif above the corners of the pediments of buildings built in antique orders.) with relief images of individual figures or groups, in antefixes (Antefixes - decorations made of marble or terracotta , usually placed along the edges of the roof along the longitudinal sides of ancient temples and houses.Antefixes had a variety of shapes (leaves, plants, slabs, shields, etc.) and were usually decorated with ornaments made in relief, heads of people or fantastic creatures.), on which often depicted the head of the Gorgon Medusa, averting evil from those living in the house, the head of a silenus or a girl. These images were brightly colored. The friezes outside and inside the buildings were also covered with painted terracotta relief slabs depicting mythological scenes, episodes of competitions and battles. The relatively small buildings of this period, richly decorated with painted terracotta reliefs and sculptures, made an elegant, picturesque impression.
The heyday of sculpture dates back to the 6th century. BC e. The most famous Etruscan sculptor was the master Vulka who worked in Vey; he owns a monumental terracotta statue of Apollo from Wei. An excellent example of Etruscan sculpture from its heyday is the graceful head of the statue of Hermes from Vei. One of the important finds of recent times was the colossal Etruscan statues of warriors made of clay; their gloomy, intimidating appearance is imbued with brute power.
Since Etruscan mythology was almost completely borrowed from the Greeks, almost all known Greek myths were reflected in the art of the Etruscans. The originality of the artists of Etruria - in engravings on mirrors, frescoes on the walls of tombs, statues, bronze boxes for cosmetics - is the use of local variants of Greek myths. The second feature of Etruscan art is a realistic portrait. The reasons for the birth of the portrait in Etruria is associated with the desire of the Etruscans to preserve the appearance of the deceased.
The first steps on the way to the portrait are reflected in the decor of the funerary canopic urns and in the sculptural images of the deceased on the lids of the sarcophagi. Characters of myths depicted in high relief on the side walls of sarcophagi gravitate towards realism. Realistic scenes are present in the frescoes of the tombs. In the 4th c. BC. in the south of Etruria, the so-called "absolute realism" was born, with photographic accuracy conveying (in the decor of the funerary urn) the features of the deceased.
Monumental, terracotta and bronze sculptures adorned temples, tombs, sarcophagi, funerary urns, religious and household items (tripods, mirrors). The tombs reproduce the home environment familiar to the deceased, including images of himself and scenes reminiscent of life. It seemed to continue in the tomb, but not as in the Egyptian funeral cult, but regardless of the ashes of the deceased, which were often burned. However, as for the Egyptians, portrait likeness was of paramount importance for Etruscan artists. The portrait immortalized the features of the deceased, pulled them out of the eternal darkness of the afterlife.
At the turn of the II and I centuries BC. e. a work was created that completed the series of Etruscan portraits and opened a new series - Roman portraits. Speaker - Arringatore - found in Lake Trasimene in 1566 and stored in the Archaeological Museum of Florence. An Etruscan inscription has been preserved on the hem of the garment, indicating that the statue was erected in honor of Aulus Metellus. Obviously, this is an Etruscan sculpture depicting a Roman or Etruscan magistrate in the usual pose of an orator for an official. Calling his listeners to attention, he stretches forward his right hand - a gesture that will become traditional and will be repeated many times in Roman works. The cut and length of the toga, characteristic of the early period, confirm the dating of this monument around 100 BC. e. The face is especially interesting; the loss of the inlaid eyes robbed him of a certain amount of expressiveness. Nevertheless, this is a portrait image of a specific person, not very significant, ugly. His head is slightly raised, as if preparing to begin his speech. The rounded face with full cheeks is pierced by wrinkles; deep folds lie on the sides of the nose, an irregularly shaped mouth is slightly ajar. A toga carelessly thrown over his shoulder, falling in folds, outlines his figure, which has begun to gain weight. There is also nothing solemn, majestic in it. In this sculpture there are no elements of the idealization of the image, characteristic of the Greek portrait. The prosaic accuracy of reproduction of nature - a characteristic feature of the early Roman portrait - is manifested here for the first time with such frankness and clarity.
The Evolution of Ancient Rome Sculpture: Republican Sculpture. Development of the sculptural portrait. "Togatus" is the embodiment of the civic ideals of Republican Rome. Iconic sculpture. August portrait of the period of the empire. Deification in the art of Augustus. Portrait statues of Augustus, Livia, Gaius Caesar, Agrippa, Tiberius. Flavian, Antoninovsky portrait of the period of the empire. Portrait of the era of "soldier emperors".
1) Death mask; 2) Togatos (statue of Avl Metellus in a toga); 3) Roman with ancestors; 4) Statues of the first emperors ( Octavian August); 5) August classicism.
IN republican period sculpture acquires new features. The portrait acquires special development, in which the spiritual world of a person is revealed with psychological depth and accuracy. The addition of specifically Roman features of the sculptural portrait was influenced by the images of ancestors that existed among the ancient Romans (in the form of a wax mask taken from the deceased and accurately reproducing the features and complexion). Concreteness and expressiveness are the hallmark of all Roman portrait sculpture, in which the originality of the Roman artistic genius was most manifested. Wax masks adorned the atriums, they were exhibited at family celebrations, and the actors who accompanied the funeral processions performed in them. The right to a death mask - "image" - had those who had supreme power. The first Roman portraits in marble or bronze were just an exact reproduction of a wax mask taken from the face of the deceased, where all the details of the face, folds, wrinkles - everything that a wax copy can fix - turned into a means of characterizing the image.
In portraits republican era reflected the civic ideals of that time. The details in them are not always brought to unity, the modeling is dry, they are characterized by simplification of forms, rigidity of lines. But the images of stern, steadfast Republicans, courageous participants in the socio-political struggle - statesmen, conquerors, creators of a grandiose power, imprinted in them, are full of self-consciousness, moral strength, fanned by the harsh spirit of republican virtues. Orator Aulus Metellus. Calling his listeners to attention, he stretches forward his right hand - a gesture that will become traditional and will be repeated many times in Roman works. The cut and length of the toga, characteristic of the early period, confirm the dating of this monument around 100 BC. e. Greek portrait. The prosaic accuracy of reproduction of nature - a characteristic feature of the early Roman portrait - is manifested here for the first time with such frankness and clarity.
IN late republican period through the external characteristic, the inner content of the image begins to be seen: the common Pompey, the strong-willed and cruel Caesar, the treacherous Sulla - leaders who act on behalf of the Republic, which in fact no longer exists, but with which they identify themselves.
Portrait of the era of the Empire (Portrait of the era of August) In the sculpture of the beginning of the Roman Empire, a special official style developed, which was clearly manifested in the portrait and relief. It is based on Greek art of the 5th - 4th centuries BC. Sculptural portraits of Augustus and members of his family are significantly different from the portraits of the Republican period. Portrait statues and busts of Emperor Octavian Augustus depict him young, in the prime of life, athletic build and classical beauty, somewhat sinning before the truth, since according to the descriptions he was of short and fragile build. Numerous portraits of the successor of Augustus - Tiberius are also idealized. Ennobled image. And at the same time, of course, individual. August from Prima Port- more than two-meter statue of Augustus, found in 1863 in the villa of Livia, the wife of Emperor Augustus. The statue is a copy of a bronze original commissioned by the Roman Senate in 20 BC. e. Currently, the statue is kept in the Vatican Museum of Chiaramonti. Libya statue. Marble. Con. 1st century BC e. - early 1st century n. e.Total height 1,925 m. (Naples). Roman portrait of Livia Drusilla, wife of the Roman emperor Augustus. Found in the peristyle of the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. It is now kept in the Boscoreal Antiquarium. The cloak (pallium) is depicted thrown over the head and shoulders. Immediately after the discovery, the coloring was brighter than now. The hair is reddish, eyebrows, eyelashes and pupils were drawn. A recess in the hair indicates the presence of a diadem, now lost. The head, carved separately, was identified as Livia (Copenhagen type of Livia), and may have replaced the previous portrait of the "mistress" of the house. __________ Time The reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus was the golden age of Roman culture. An important aspect that influenced the composition of Roman art of this period was the Greek art of the classical period, whose strict forms came in handy when creating a majestic empire. The sculpture of this period - August classicism - is characterized by simplicity and clarity of construction, rigor, restraint, clarity of form and a desire for generalization, which are combined with the traditional desire for documentary accuracy. Particularly striking examples are the court official portrait (Augustus and his family), which shows a departure from Hellenism (which existed in the republican portrait) and shows interest in earlier classical art of the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. In addition to the official classicist portrait, the line was also preserved with a more realistic presentation (for example, the portrait of Agrippa). Of all the types of Roman sculptural portraiture, the most conservative were the images on tombstones. Julius Caesar is a marble bust in the Vatican. Its total height is 52 cm, the height of one head is 26 cm. The bust is made of white marble. The nose, neck, chest and chin are modern. The head is a copy, probably made during the time of Augustus, from a bronze original that can be dated to the reign of Augustus. Agrippa. Marble. OK. 25-24 years BC e. Height 46 cm. Paris, Louvre. Signs of age are visible in the soft features of the face, expressing colossal determination. The power emanating from this man is partially visible in the eyes, which are darkened by prominent eyebrows.
City growth and monumental construction in Rome. Public architecture: urban planning, civil utilitarian architecture: aqueducts, bridges, roads, forums, sewers.
Urban planning and architecture of the Republican era go through three stages in their development. On the first (5th century BC), the city is built up chaotically; primitive dwellings made of mud and wood predominate; monumental construction is limited to the construction of temples (the rectangular temple of Capitoline Jupiter, the round temple of Vesta).
At the second stage (4th-3rd centuries BC), the city begins to be improved (paved streets, sewers, water pipes). The main type of structures are engineering military and civil buildings - defensive walls (the wall of Servius IV century BC), roads (Appian Way 312 BC), grandiose aqueducts that supply water for tens of kilometers (Appius Claudius aqueduct 311 BC), sewer channels (cloaca of Maxim). There is a strong Etruscan influence (type of temple, arch, vault).
At the third stage (II-I centuries BC), elements of urban planning appear: division into quarters, design of the city center (Forum), arrangement of park areas on the outskirts. A new building material is used - waterproof and durable Roman concrete (from crushed stone, volcanic sand and lime mortar), which makes it possible to build vaulted ceilings in large rooms. Roman architects creatively reworked Greek architectural forms. They create a new type of order - a composite one, combining the features of the Ionian, Dorian and especially Corinthian styles, as well as an order arcade - a set of arches resting on columns. On the basis of the synthesis of Etruscan samples and the Greek peripter, a special type of temple arises - a pseudo-peripter with a high base (podium), a facade in the form of a deep portico and blank walls, dissected by semi-columns. Under Greek influence, the construction of theaters begins; but if the Greek theater was cut into the rock and was part of the surrounding landscape, then the Roman amphitheater is an independent structure with a closed internal space in which the audience rows are located in an ellipse around the stage or arena (the Great Theater in Pompeii, the theater on the Field of Mars in Rome). For the construction of residential buildings, the Romans borrow the Greek peristyle structure (a courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, to which the living quarters adjoin), but, unlike the Greeks, they try to arrange the rooms in strict symmetry (House of Pansa and House of the Faun in Pompeii); country estates (villas), freely organized and closely connected with the landscape, became a favorite vacation spot for the Roman nobility; their integral part is the garden, fountains, pavilions, grottoes, statues and a large pond. Actually, the Roman (Italian) architectural tradition is represented by basilicas (rectangular buildings with several naves), intended for trade and the administration of justice (Portia Basilica, Aemilia Basilica); monumental tombs (the tomb of Cecilia Metella); triumphal arches on roads and squares with one or three spans; terms (complexes of bathing and sports facilities).
Aqueduct (from Latin aqua - water and ducere - lead) - a conduit (canal, pipe) for supplying water to settlements, irrigation and hydropower systems from their sources located above.
The Romans built numerous aqueducts to carry water to cities and industrial sites. Water was supplied to the city of Rome itself through 11 aqueducts, which were built over 500 years and had a total length of almost 350 kilometers. However, only 47 kilometers of these were above ground: most were underground (the Eifel aqueduct in Germany is a very well-preserved example of this). The longest Roman aqueduct was built in the 2nd century AD to supply water to Carthage (now this place is located on the territory of modern Tunisia), its length was 141 kilometers.
During the construction, advanced building materials were used - such as waterproof pozzolanic concrete.
Roman aqueducts were extremely complex structures, technologically they were not obsolete even a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire. They were built with remarkable accuracy: the Pont du Gard aqueduct in Provence had a slope of only 34 cm per kilometer (1:3000), descended only 17 meters vertically, for its entire length of 50 kilometers.
Roman forum- the square and adjacent buildings in the center of Ancient Rome (Italy). Initially, there was only a market here, but later a meeting place for the people and a place for the Senate appeared. Julius Caesar was the first who began to expand the forum in 46 BC, adding Caesar's Forum. It covers an area of 160m x 75m. Augustus followed the example of Caesar and built a second forum 125m long and 118m wide, it was built in 2 BC. on the site of demolished residential areas. The most important building of the forum was a magnificent temple dedicated to Mars the Avenger. Forum of Trajan was built the last of the imperial forums of Rome and was the largest forum.