✨Ancient Roman Art ｜ Roman Republic Art Explained ｜ Art History Lecture (Unit V, Lecture 2

Welcome back to our fifth unit over Roman art as we now head into Rome. So we spent the last lecture discussing the Etruscans and how they helped to influence later Roman art, how the Romans pulled from both Etruscan and Greek elements. Now let's talk about the Roman Republic. Later with the Empire, this is how large their territory extends to, but we're not quite there yet. So yesterday we discussed Etruscan art, which coincided with our Greek Archaic. We're going to move into the Republican period. As you can see, it corresponds with our Greek Classical, Hellenistic. And later, after Julius Caesar's death, the Civil War, and the granting of Octavian to become an Augustus by the Senate, we'll have the Empire. Let's focus on our Republic first. So Rome was founded in 753 BCE. Then we have the establishment of the Roman Republic. They dispose of the tyrannical kings, create the Senate. Later Julius Caesar is killed, and we have the founding of the Republic with Octavian. These dates are found on your handout, so I'll be referencing them later. But let's discuss why there's an influence from Ancient Greece. So our Hellenistic period ends with the Roman defeat of Greece. Going back, Rome was founded in 753, and it takes hundreds of years to gain control over Italy. 117 to 200 AD, Rome becomes the greatest empire ever known. The art is highly imperial. It's celebrating the leader. There's much more of a sense of individualism, propaganda. But if we look here, in 211 BCE, the Roman general Marcellus brings back spoils of war from Greece. And as he is carrying, he and his troops are carrying these spoils of war off of the ship, these Romans start to see all these major Greek artworks coming in. And this is what spawns the obsession with Greek art. And Greeks, or Romans, begin collecting Greek art. By 146 BCE, Greece becomes a Roman province. This coincides with our Hellenistic period. And so they begin to collect Greek art. Let's come back to 753 and the founding of Rome for some background information. So you have these two brothers, Romulus and Remus, and they're basically abandoned, and they're raised by the she-wolf. So we see that depicted here. Now, this image is often used to portray this story. However, the wolf is most likely Etruscan, but the infants right here are actually a later edition during our medieval period. So just note that not all of this is original. But anyway, it helps to show the story of how Romulus and Remus are raised by the she-wolf. And then eventually, we have the foundation of Rome. That's called Rome after Romulus, because he defeats his brother. He kills his brother. So I want you to consider how even the origin story of ancient Rome starts in blood. Romulus killed his brother to found and become the king of Rome. We go for a couple hundred years, and then the Roman Republic is founded. This is a reaction to these tyrannical kings. So they deposed the kings, and now we have the creation of the Senate. Now, our Greco-Roman art is called Greco-Roman because of the clear Greek influence. However, let's talk about that. So when I first went to Rome, I went my senior year, and I just began my love of ancient Roman art. And I remember my mom kept saying, oh, it's just Greek art. Essentially, Roman art is Greek art. And I hadn't been to Greece yet. My mom had already gone to Greece in the 70s and multiple times, I believe. And so I didn't quite understand that until later. I went to Greece, and then I went to Rome two times after Greece, and then I could see the influence. However, there's this misconception that everything about Rome is Greek. But what we're going to discover through this course is that the Romans are pulling Greek elements and then making them their own and expanding upon it. We started to look at that with our last lecture, where they were pulling from Greek elements and from Etruscan elements to create their own. So this is often referred to as Greco-Roman. So it's indicating the clear influence from the Greeks, how they look to them, they're collecting the Greek artworks, they're modeling, if not copying, their own works after Greek works, but they create their own as well. Oh, I should also mention the importance of patronage under the Romans. So the Roman state and its wealthiest individuals were major patrons of art. They spent lavishly on themselves and their homes, but they also spent enormous funds on public works because they saw that as contributing to the general good. So they patronized these massive public projects with the idea that this would help the Roman people and help to, by looking at good art, you have happy people, essentially. And so it was part of their duty to patronize art. Again, so we discussed this with the last lecture, how we have these Greek elements, we have these Etruscan elements, but yet the Romans are making it their own. And so let's talk about the Alexander Mosaic from the House of Fon in Pompeii. So this artwork helps to establish our idea of this Greco-Roman art and how the Romans are pulling from Greek elements, but then making it their own. It's a good transition piece, in other words. So this is actually a Roman floor mosaic. Here it is found in the House of Fon. You see this Fon sculpture right here, hence the name in Pompeii. So Pompeii was so well preserved because of the eruption of Vesuvius, and so all that volcanic ash fell upon the city and preserved the structures for the most part, the artworks, etc. So we're really fortunate to have that. Not fortunate for the people who experienced it, but us later people can appreciate the art. And so we're looking in the back here. As you walk through the entrance of this house, this grand house, I had the fortunate opportunity to go there, within the interior we have this grand floor mosaic. Now the original has actually been moved to the museum. This is a copy made by art students, but it still gives you a general idea of what it originally looked like. Here we are with this floor mosaic. And so let's talk about mosaics and tessera. And so the Greeks also used mosaics, but they made these images out of pebbles, different colored pebbles. The Romans take that idea of mosaics, but they're going to be creating these small little tesserae, so those tiny little squares, the small square mosaic pieces. And they're making it out of limestone, of marble, glass, etc. So again, they're taking this Greek element of mosaics, which were based on pebbles, and they're using it to create their own. And they're expanding upon it. They're using these tiny little pieces to create all these different colors of our face here, to create this sense of volume and modeling and shading. I'll discuss that later. So it's very masterful. And so many argue that this is actually based on a Greek mural, that there was an enormous example of wall art of a mural piece made by the Greeks in which this was based upon. So again, we're pulling these Greek elements and making it their own. So let's take a moment to appreciate all these different formal elements. So first of all, we have Alexander the Great over on the left versus Darius. Darius should sound familiar, right? We discussed him with Persepolis when we go back to ancient Persia. And so what we see here is a lot of Hellenistic elements. It's very expressionistic. It's extremely dramatic. Look at all of these twisting and writhing bodies and these very dramatic facial expressions. And we're seeing it's essentially a very chaotic composition, but that's purposeful. They're trying to show the chaos of battle. Battle is chaotic. But we have these dynamic and twisting pose of our Hellenistic period. And so if we're looking at Alexander the Great and Darius the Second and his charioteer, we can see who's losing and who's winning, essentially. Alexander the Great, again, is composed versus Darius, who seems to be taken over by emotions in that moment as he reaches out to a fallen comrade, likely his brother, who has just been killed. So you'll notice in the middle, this soldier and this dead horse. But again, some argue that this is his brother. So this Hellenistic expression and drama. And I want to introduce a new art history term. So these small little tesserae, in which you can use all these different colors of these small little squares, enables them to create this sense of volume on this two-dimensional surface. Look at all the details here. So we have this word modeling. And if we're, let's look at Darius's face for this. And modeling is the use of light and dark. So you have this highlighting. So the white color, we can see the source of light is in front of Darius, where the highlighting is on part of his cheek and his nose. And then we have shadow. And this creates volume. They've been observing people in real life to create this sense of depth and volume, to create realistic images. So that's modeling, this highlighting and shadow to create a sense of volume on a two-dimensional surface. And look at all the details throughout this, even with the shadows and the folding of the drapery, the clothes that they're wearing, etc. All these tiny little details out of these small little tesserae. We have examples of foreshortening. Again, these writhing and twisting bodies. We have this sense of space by the overlapping figures with our foreground, middle ground, background. I want to take a moment to look at this figure who has fallen down. His face is no longer present, but we see the reflection of his face in the shield. So they're really, just like our Greeks were studying optics. I mean, this is likely based off of a Greek original, but the Romans are studying optics and considering how to create the three-dimensional world in two-dimensional form as well. And here we have Alexander the Great. Alexander Mosaic. So I'll give you a moment to just briefly scan your eyes around this composition to appreciate how detailed it is. Okay, so let's come back as a reminder to our classical Greek art defined by our high classical Doriforos and our Hellenistic art of our seated boxer and the difference between classical and Hellenistic. So we're going to see some more Hellenistic influences on our Republican period with drama, expressionism, and we're seeing more than just the idealized youth. And so here we have our head of a Roman patrician. So hopefully you're pretty familiar with this based off of the assigned reading, but this is our excellent example of virism, which helps to define portraiture in the Roman Republic period. So portraiture was extremely important, so much so that within houses you would have the busts of your ancestors, like this individual. There were even wax masks of the busts of your, or of the faces of your past ancestors. Ancestors are very important for the Romans. So there was even examples where there were specific holidays and these processional parades where they would be carrying the busts of their ancestors, or other family members would even be putting on the wax masks of ancestors, etc. And so this idea of portraiture is more than just aesthetically pleasing art, it's this capturing of the essence of your ancestry as well, and it's giving respect to your ancestry, and it's you yourself are making your mark on your family lineage through your own portraiture. So here we have this head of a Roman patrician, and virism is this extremely exaggerated realism to show the experience and thus the age of an individual. So this is during the Republic period where the Senate is ruling. The Senate are these elderly individuals, and so their age helps to attest to their authority, that they've made these tough decisions, that they're considering in weighing the options of these decisions, that they've seen it all, that they've seen hardships and battles, and they know the weight of these decisions. And so we see that with our head of a Roman patrician. He's the head of his family, and the patrician are the more ruling elite. And so, yeah, here we have this exaggerated elderly man. He likely wasn't this wrinkly, but artistically, you're going to exaggerate those wrinkles to show his age and thus to show his experience. So unlike the Greeks, where they most appreciated these idealized male youth in the peak of their physical prime, instead the Romans under the Republican period appreciate experience. So they're looking to those older individuals who have learned through trial and error, who are weighing the options. And so really consider, not only is he extremely wrinkly, but he also has this burrowed brow. So this helps to portray the message of the Senate, of how he's really considering and weighing these options. He knows it's a heavy decision. They feel the weight of ruling Rome. And thus, our Republican period is defined by our Senate. Compared to our seated boxer, that are obviously influenced by our Hellenistic art. Later, the Empire period will change their artistic priorities. Here's some other examples. Again, if these ruling families are patricians, and where they're showing the weight of their authority, the weight of these decisions and experience. And again, this helps to communicate even to the Roman people that they do know that these are hard decisions, that they are taking the time to consider what is best for the Roman people. So it's reassuring them as well. Classical. So lock one, here is another good transition piece where we're seeing these Hellenistic elements, and some new Greek elements. So this one I've labeled as Roman Republic period slash Hellenistic Greek. So the reason for this is because we likely have a Hellenistic artwork, or at least based off of a Hellenistic artwork, with a literal addition made by Romans, a Roman addition to it. So let's back up. This was found during the Renaissance. Michelangelo actually even was there when it was uncovered from the earth. And so he helped to restore it. Actually, there was some debate about the placement of that bent arm of the main figure's right bent arm up here. But anyway, back to the figure. So what we're depicting is a Greek story. So hence our Greek origin. And it's the story of Laquan from the Trojan War, which you're likely familiar with, where Paris fell in love with Helen, and they escaped back to Troy. This causes a whole war in which eventually the Trojans are destroyed. And so what we see here is Laquan, and he's a Trojan priest. And he warns them, warns the Trojans not to bring in the horse, the big Greek horse that they tricked the Trojans with and came into the gates of the city, which eventually led to their destruction. So this Trojan priest warned them against it. Now, remember, across the ancient world, these city states have their own gods, their own patron deities. Well, the gods had already decided that the Trojans would win. And so they're upset that Laquan is trying to stop this. And so they take out their vengeance upon Laquan, they punish him. So this is a depiction of he and his sons who are being punished by the Greek gods. Because again, the Greek gods are always behind the Greeks, they're not going to be behind the Trojans. And so these giant serpents were sent by the gods to destroy them. And we can see that serpent wrapping around. So these clearly Hellenistic influences with these twisting dynamic poses, we've seen almost this exact facial expression before. Consider the wild hare, he's an enemy of the Greeks, he was a Trojan. The riding positions, the idealized body, and this sense of agony on our main figure's face here, and the agony of his sons. Higher scale, he's more important, idealized, they're younger. However, the composition is extremely off. These two figures seem to balance one another out where we have this shape that goes around, they're on this pedestal, so this is balanced. But what about this gentleman over here? He's larger than the other one, his style is slightly different, we have a little bit more of an individualized face if you consider the nose. And the composition is thus off, it's not balanced. Because this guy on the right is a Roman edition. So again, the Romans are taking these Greek ideas, think of how instead of calling their goddess Aphrodite, they're referring to her as Venus, essentially the same attributes in the story, but they're making it their own. So part of this Laquan story has been changed by the Romans, and so they're adding their own edition, reflecting their version of the story. That's our good transition piece. So it's at the Vatican, it's able to see that one as well, which is really neat. And so that composition is also one of the reasons why they couldn't figure out originally whether it was Hellenistic or a Roman copy based on a Hellenistic work, but then they figured out it's an edition. Expressionism versus classical. Here was how the arm was placed for a period of time initially. So there ends our Roman Republic before we go into our empire.