Roman Portraiture

This Portrait Head of an Elder below displays the Roman Republic concept of verism very accurately.  Contrasting with the Greek idealism, verism emphasizes the signs of age, wisdom and, experience.  This man, most likely a patrician, is individualized and highly realistic.  Some believe that this extensive portrait sculpture created during the Roman Republic grew from the death mask tradition that is visually expressed in the Barberini Togatus, on the left.  Created around a similar time, this full-length sculpture shows a patrician carrying two generations of his ancestors, likely a father and grandfather.  The patrician also is highly individualized and his age is emphasized through his wrinkles and toga.

Discobolus (Discus Thrower)

Even though the sculptor Myron was famous for creating life-like animal sculptures, he also created humans in the midst of action.  His Discobolus or Discus Thrower created during the Early Classical period is no exception.  Originally, this piece was bronze, but we would not have this sculpture if the Romans had not created a marble copy of it due to the unreliability of bronze over time.  This discus thrower has an idealized body that shows an interest in anatomy, but his hair seems to be stuck in the Archaic period with its cap-like treatment.  Although this piece does have one foot in the classical period, it is rather planar, almost like a relief with no background.  The action Myron chooses to sculpt is also rather static because the thrower is frozen at the top of his motion; he is neither moving forward or backward.  This frozen state changes as the Classical period evolves into the Hellenistic period of Greek art.

The Temple of the Olympian Zeus

The Temple of the Olympian Zeus at the foot of the Athenian Acropolis is simply a very large Greek temple.  Built on the base of a 5^th century Doric temple, this Corinthian remake designed by the Roman architect Cossutius in the 2^nd century BCE seems to dwarf the Parthenon in the distance.  Even though it was not completed until the reign of Hadrian almost three centuries later, this temple is purely Greek peripteral: an enclosed cella surrounded by a wall of columns on all sides.  Since this temple was created over a large span of time, archeologists are unsure whether the 55 ft. 5 in. columns are purely Greek or Roman copies.  Even though these columns are all that remain of this colossal structure, its size and Corinthian decorations can still be admired today.

Arch of Constantine

This massive, three portal, triumphal arch commemorates Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312, as the laudatory inscription indicates.  The entire arch suggests his power over any possible threat.  Constantine reused reliefs from Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius’ triumphal arches, as seem in the image below.  
The term for repurposed art is spolia.  Each of these reliefs express the Roman ideals of strength, piety, and courage visually.  Compared to the reliefs created in Constantine’s time, the figures from the older triumphal arches are much more idealized and recognizable while Constantine’s reliefs are more in the style of the Late Imperial period: abstracted and symbolic. 

This massive architectural structure, constructed during the Late Roman Empire, represents Emperor Constantine’s power and military victory over the Dacians and Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Among the few remaining arches in Rome, Constantine expresses his unification of the Roman Empire from the prior tumultuous tetrarchy. In addition, the domination and might of Constantine is explicitly recognizable through the spolia, a term for reused building materials. Objects from Hadrian, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius’ monuments were placed on this three portal arch with the intention of dictating to the Roman people that Constantine was as powerful and successful as these previous Roman rulers.

The subject matter of the Arch of Constantine begins at the bottom with depictions of the defeated in a new sense of style with larger bodily features and a more rigid stance as this architecture serves as a bridge from the classical into the medieval world. In the middle, Constantine places spolia from Hadrian’s monument not only linking him with Hadrian but also proving to his people his rounded character with references to hunting and philosophy. Lastly, the top layer illustrates prisoners, those captured from this military defeat, with abnormal clothing—pants, not the conventional togas worn at the time. 

Commodus as Hercules

Emperor Commodus may not have had the best political, administrative, or social skills, seeing how everyone close to him planned his strangulation, he did commission some art works including this bust of himself as Hercules.  On his head, he has the skin of the Nemean lion, in his hands he holds the apples from the Garden of the Hesperides, and he also has Hercules’ club resting on his shoulder: all references to Hercules’ labors.  His likeness does reference his father, Marcus Aurelius (link), but his depiction as Hercules was seen as arrogant and vain.  Despite all this, the drillwork used to produce this bust is extremely refined and well done as it creates a sort of movement when hit by light.  

Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine

Although Maxentius’s rule over Rome was brief, he called for the repair of older buildings which would have a greater effect on future art than could have been expected.  One of the most notable repairs was to the Basilica Nova, now called the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, which served as an administrative area and an area where the emperor could be the supreme judge.  In the past, most basilicas were simply halls with columns inside, but Maxentius wanted this basilica to be larger and grander, so he used the barrel vaulting technique usually found in baths.  The central hall was covered with groin vaults and the side aisles, which also served as a buttressing system, were barrel vaulted.  The apse at the end of the hall served as a focal point for anyone entering from one of the three entrances on the opposite side.  This basilican style was adopted later by the Early Christians for their church architecture.

Flavian Women

This Young Flavian Woman bust on the right stares at the viewer with idealized skin and perfect hair, but also with distinct facial features such as deep set eyes and a heavy brow.  Her hair is piled high on her head in the latest fashion, and must have taken skill and drillwork to create in marble.  Her idealized features coupled with real likeness is similar to Augustus Prima Porta and was created in the same Early Imperial art period.  In contrast, this Middle Aged Flavian Woman on the left is less idealized and more natural.  Her skin shows the passage of time, and although her hair is also in a fashionable up do, it is not nearly as complex as her younger counterpart.  Because her age shows, this woman would have been revered and looked up to when this bust was made.  While this sculpture reflects more of the Roman Republic verism, it was created around the same time as the Young Flavian Woman, about the 1^st century CE.

The Charioteer

Even though the mark of a Greek Classic art piece, the contrapposto, is missing in this bronze sculpture of a Charioteer, the individualized face and feet reflect a break from the Greek Archaic period, and the introduction of something new.  His eyes are made of onyx and his eyelashes and lips are made of copper.  Created merely ten years after the Kritios Boy (link), this charioteer, found at the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, is has an idealized body and an expression of extreme concentration.  The inscription commemorates the charioteer for winning the Pythian Games, so this statue is most likely of a real person.