ANCIENT ROME
MONARCHY (753 BCE - 509 BCE)
REPUBLIC (509 BCE - 27 CE)
EARLY EMPIRE (27 CE - 96 CE)
HIGH EMPIRE (96 CE - 192 CE)
LATE EMPIRE (193 CE - 237 CE)
CONTENT: What do you see?
FORM: The details (what you see more exactly). How the artist delivers the content.
CONTEXT: Everything NOT observable.
FUNCTION: The intended purpose of the work.

ART WORKS

APAH 250 Images:

42. Head of a Roman Patrician 
40. Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii ​
39. House of the Vettii 
43. Augustus of Prima Porta 
44. Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater) 
45. Forum of Trajan 
46. Pantheon 
47. Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus 
​

Additional Images:
* Temple of Portunus
*​ Ara Pacis
​* Procession of the Imperial Family
* Plan of Roman House, Pomeii
* First style painting
* Dionysiac Freeze, Second Style
* Third Style
* Fourth Style, Ixion Room
​* Portrait of Husband and Wife
* Pont du Gard, Nimes
* Arch of Titus
* Spoils of Jeruselum
* Portrait of Hadrian
* Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
* Mummy Portrait
​* Portrait of Septimius Severus and Family
* Four Tetarchs
* Arch of Constantine

CONTEXT

The art of Etruria (Etruscan) and Rome is grounded in civic ideals and polytheism. Etruscan and Roman artists and architects accumulated and adapted Greek objects and forms to create buildings and artworks that appealed to their tastes for eclecticism and historicism (social and cultural phenomena determined by history). Etruscan art (700-100 BCE, Etruria) and ancient Roman art, was produced in Europe and Western Asia from 753 BCE to 337 CE. Archaeological models and artworks are identified by periods based on stylistic changes and assigned to periods according to styles, governments, or dynasties (the Roman Republic). Etruscan art is considered as a single culture (not the separate city-states Etruria was made up of). Roman art includes art from the republican, early imperial, late imperial, and late antique periods, using governmental structures and dynasties rather than stylistic characteristics. Etruscan and Roman artists and architects were influenced by earlier Mediterranean cultures. Art from Etruscan and Roman periods is typified by stylistic and iconographical eclecticism and portraiture, expresses republican and imperial values, power, and a preference for conspicuous display. Etruscan and Roman architecture are characterized by investment in public structures and Roman architecture borrowed from the Greeks and Etruscans, and by technical innovation. Roman art provides the foundation for the later development of European and Mediterranean artistic traditions. Europeans and Americans admired ancient Roman ethical and governmental systems, which contributed to prioritizing art and architecture associated with political elites and cultural capitals (Rome). Etruscan and Roman cultures had a tradition of epic storytelling that glorified the exploits of gods, goddesses, and heroes. They had a highly developed rhetorical tradition that prized public oratory and poetry. Religious rituals and future predictions were guided by oral traditions, not texts.
Roman Art and Context:​
Appropriation: What Greece started, Rome took as their own 
Pragmatism:  The greatest good and popular opinion establish the standard of art
Propaganda:  Power and authority of Republicanism and Imperialism
Utilitarianism: Engineering, road building, public works to manage government and Empire
Eclecticism: A tolerant and open minded approach to differences
Architecture: New technological innovations in engineering including arch, dome, vault, concrete
ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE:

1. Less expensive (than stone)
2. Easier to build with (mixing)
3. Often stronger (tensile strength)
4. Larger structures can be built (especially height)
5. Greater variety and complexity of forms/spaces possible

KEY IDEAS

  • Roman art reflects their ambitions and monuments reflect the glory of the gods and government
  • Roman architecture is famous for the arch, the vault, and the use of concrete.
  • Roman paintings are few yet we have well preserved first, second, third, and fourth styles from Pompeii.
  • The Romans had a great interest in the height of Greek art and continued to make many copies of Greek sculptures.
  • The Romans copied artistic style and techniques from the Greeks & Etruscans.
  • The Romans also move away from cremation and begin to have burials. Roman royalty are still cremated. Funerary practices may start to reflect the influence of Christianity and other Eastern religions that believe in an afterlife. 


VOCABULARY WORDS

aisles
amphitheater
appropriation
​apse
arcade
arch
ashlar masonry
atrium (atria)
barrel vault
basilica
buttressing
catacombs
​clerestory
​coffers
​composite column
continuous narrative
dome
encaustic
engaged column
exedrae
​foreshortening
forum
​fresco
illusionism
​imagines
impluvium (sunken pool)
keystone
longitudinal
nave
oculus
peristyle
perspective
pier
pilaster
portico
spandrel
springing
travertine
triclinium
triumphal arch
tuscan order
vault
verism
voussoirs