Roman sculpture
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to
Greek sculpture The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monum ...
. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the
Apollo Belvedere The ''Apollo Belvedere'' (also called the ''Belvedere Apollo, Apollo of the Belvedere'', or ''Pythian Apollo'') is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity. The ''Apollo'' is now thought to be an original Roman creation of Hadri ...
and
Barberini Faun The life-size ancient but much restored marble statue known as the ''Barberini Faun'', ''Fauno Barberini'' or ''Drunken Satyr'' is now in the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. A faun is the Roman equivalent of a Greek satyr. In Greek mythology, saty ...
, are known only from Roman Imperial or
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
"copies". At one time, this imitation was taken by
art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
s as indicating a narrowness of the Roman artistic imagination, but, in the late 20th century, Roman art began to be reevaluated on its own terms: some impressions of the nature of Greek sculpture may in fact be based on Roman artistry. The strengths of Roman sculpture are in portraiture, where they were less concerned with the ideal than the Greeks or Ancient Egyptians, and produced very characterful works, and in narrative relief scenes. Examples of Roman sculpture are abundantly preserved, in total contrast to Roman painting, which was very widely practiced but has almost all been lost.
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and some Greek authors, particularly
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
in Book 34 of his '' Natural History'', describe statues, and a few of these descriptions match extant works. While a great deal of Roman sculpture, especially in stone, survives more or less intact, it is often damaged or fragmentary; life-size
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...
statues are much more rare as most have been recycled for their metal. Most statues were actually far more lifelike and often brightly colored when originally created; the raw stone surfaces found today is due to the pigment being lost over the centuries.


Development

Early Roman art was influenced by the art of Greece and that of the neighbouring
Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...
, themselves greatly influenced by their Greek trading partners. An Etruscan speciality was near life size tomb effigies in
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...
, usually lying on top of a
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
lid propped up on one elbow in the pose of a diner in that period. As the expanding
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
began to conquer Greek territory, at first in Southern Italy and then the entire Hellenistic world except for the Parthian far east, official and patrician sculpture became largely an extension of the Hellenistic style, from which specifically Roman elements are hard to disentangle, especially as so much Greek sculpture survives only in copies of the Roman period. By the 2nd century BCE, "most of the sculptors working at Rome" were Greek, often enslaved in conquests such as that of
Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...
(146 BCE), and sculptors continued to be mostly Greeks, often slaves, whose names are very rarely recorded. Sculpting was not considered a profession by Romans — at most, it was accepted as a hobby. Vast numbers of Greek statues were imported to Rome, whether as booty or the result of extortion or commerce, and temples were often decorated with re-used Greek works. A native Italian style can be seen in the tomb monuments of prosperous middle-class Romans, which very often featured portrait busts, and
portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...
is arguably the main strength of Roman sculpture. There are no survivals from the tradition of masks of ancestors that were worn in processions at the funerals of the great families and otherwise displayed in the home, but many of the busts that survive must represent ancestral figures, perhaps from the large family tombs like the Tomb of the Scipios or the later mausolea outside the city. The famous "
Capitoline Brutus The Capitoline Brutus is an ancient Roman bronze bust commonly thought to depict the Roman consul Lucius Junius Brutus (d. 509 BC), usually dated to the late 4th to early 3rd centuries BC, but perhaps as late as the 2nd century BC, or early 1st ce ...
", a bronze head supposedly of
Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus ( 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after ...
is very variously dated, but taken as a very rare survival of Italic style under the Republic, in the preferred medium of bronze. Similarly stern and forceful heads are seen in the coins of the consuls, and in the Imperial period coins as well as busts sent around the Empire to be placed in the
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
s of provincial cities were the main visual form of imperial propaganda; even
Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cros ...
had a near-colossal statue of
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
, though far smaller than the 30-metre-high
Colossus of Nero The Colossus of Nero (''Colossus Neronis'') was a bronze statue that the Emperor Nero (37–68 AD) created in the vestibule of his Domus Aurea, the imperial villa complex which spanned a large area from the north side of the Palatine Hill, acro ...
in Rome, now lost. The
Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker The tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces the baker is one of the largest and best-preserved freedman funerary monuments in Rome. Its sculpted frieze is a classic example of the "plebeian style" in Roman sculpture. Eurysaces built the tomb for hims ...
, a successful
freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...
(c. 50–20 BC) has a
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
that is an unusually large example of the "plebeian" style. The Romans did not generally attempt to compete with free-standing Greek works of heroic exploits from history or mythology, but from early on produced historical works in
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
, culminating in the great Roman triumphal columns with continuous narrative reliefs winding around them, of which those commemorating
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
(CE 113) and
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
(by 193) survive in Rome, where the
Ara Pacis The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return o ...
("Altar of Peace", 13 BCE) represents the official Greco-Roman style at its most classical and refined. Among other major examples are the earlier re-used reliefs on the
Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of ...
and the base of the
Column of Antoninus Pius :''This article deals with the lost column dedicated to Antoninus Pius. For the column previously erroneously called this before the Renaissance, see Column of Marcus Aurelius, and specifically Column of Marcus Aurelius#Restoration'' The Colu ...
(161),
Campana relief Campana reliefs (also Campana tiles) are Ancient Roman terracotta reliefs made from the middle of the first century BC until the first half of the second century AD. They are named after the Italian collector Giampietro Campana, who first publis ...
s were cheaper
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
versions of marble reliefs and the taste for relief was from the imperial period expanded to the sarcophagus. All forms of luxury small sculpture continued to be patronized, and quality could be extremely high, as in the silver
Warren Cup The Warren Cup is an ancient Greco-Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts. It was purchased by the British Museum for £1.8 million in 1999, the most expensive single purchase by the museum at that ...
, glass
Lycurgus Cup The Lycurgus Cup is a 4th-century Roman glass cage cup made of a dichroic glass, which shows a different colour depending on whether or not light is passing through it: red when lit from behind and green when lit from in front. It is the only ...
, and large cameos like the Gemma Augustea,
Gonzaga Cameo The Gonzaga Cameo is a Hellenistic engraved gem; a cameo of the ''capita jugata'' variety cut out from the three layers of an Indian sardonyx, dating from perhaps the 3rd century BC.
and the "
Great Cameo of France The Great Cameo of France (french: Grand Camée de France) is a five-layered sardonyx Imperial Roman cameo of either about 23 AD, or 50–54 AD. It is 31 cm by 26.5 cm. It is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It is the large ...
". For a much wider section of the population, moulded relief decoration of pottery vessels and small figurines were produced in great quantity and often considerable quality. After moving through a late 2nd century "baroque" phase, in the 3rd century, Roman art largely abandoned, or simply became unable to produce, sculpture in the classical tradition, a change whose causes remain much discussed. Even the most important imperial monuments now showed stumpy, large-eyed figures in a harsh frontal style, in simple compositions emphasizing power at the expense of grace. The contrast is famously illustrated in the
Arch of Constantine The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of ...
of 315 in Rome, which combines sections in the new style with
roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...
s in the earlier full Greco-Roman style taken from elsewhere, and the '' Four Tetrarchs'' (c. 305) from the new capital of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, now in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
.
Ernst Kitzinger Ernst Kitzinger (December 27, 1912 – January 22, 2003) was a German-American historian of late antique, early medieval, and Byzantine art. Biography Kitzinger was born into a well-educated Jewish family in Munich; his father, Wilhelm Natha ...
found in both monuments the same "stubby proportions, angular movements, an ordering of parts through symmetry and repetition and a rendering of features and drapery folds through incisions rather than modelling... The hallmark of the style wherever it appears consists of an emphatic hardness, heaviness and angularity — in short, an almost complete rejection of the classical tradition". This revolution in style shortly preceded the period in which
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
was adopted by the Roman state and the great majority of the people, leading to the end of large religious sculpture, with large statues now only used for emperors, as in the famous fragments of a colossal
acrolithic An acrolith is a composite sculpture made of stone together with other materials such as wood or inferior stone such as limestone, as in the case of a figure whose clothed parts are made of wood, while the exposed flesh parts such as head, hands, ...
statue of Constantine, and the 4th or 5th century
Colossus of Barletta The Colossus of Barletta is a large bronze statue of a Roman emperor, nearly three times life size (5.11 meters, or about 16 feet 7 inches) in Barletta, Italy. The statue supposedly washed up on a shore, after a Venetian ship sank returning fro ...
. However rich Christians continued to commission reliefs for sarcophagi, as in the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, and very small sculpture, especially in ivory, was continued by Christians, building on the style of the consular diptych. File:Museo archeologico di Firenze, coperchio di sepolcro muliebre da Tuscania, terracotta con tracce di policromia III sec. d.c.JPG, Etruscan
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
, 3rd century BCE File:Capitoline Brutus Musei Capitolini MC1183 02.jpg, The "
Capitoline Brutus The Capitoline Brutus is an ancient Roman bronze bust commonly thought to depict the Roman consul Lucius Junius Brutus (d. 509 BC), usually dated to the late 4th to early 3rd centuries BC, but perhaps as late as the 2nd century BC, or early 1st ce ...
", probably late 4th to early 3rd century BC, possibly 1st century BC. File:D473-birème romaine-Liv2-ch10.png, A Roman naval
bireme A bireme (, ) is an ancient oared warship (galley) with two superimposed rows of oars on each side. Biremes were long vessels built for military purposes and could achieve relatively high speed. They were invented well before the 6th century BC a ...
depicted in a
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
from the Temple of
Fortuna Primigenia Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
in Praeneste ( Palastrina), which was built c. 120 BC; exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum (
Museo Pio-Clementino The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
) in the
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
. File:Marco Porcio Caton Major.jpg, The
Patrician Torlonia Bust No. 535 of the Torlonia Collection The Torlonia Collection (Italian: ''Collezione Torlonia'') is a private art collection of 620 Ancient Greek and Roman art works assembled by the noble Torlonia family of Rome, Italy. It has been called "the ...
bust, believed to be of Cato the Elder. 1st century BC File:L'Arringatore.jpg, ''
The Orator ''The Orator'', also known as ( Italian), ( Etruscan) or (Latin), is an Etruscan bronze sculpture from the late second or the early first century BC. Aulus Metellus was an Etruscan senator in the Roman republic, originally from Perugia or Cor ...
'', c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman bronze statue depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman
toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...
while engaged in
rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
; the statue features an inscription in the
Etruscan alphabet The Etruscan alphabet was the alphabet used by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization of central and northern Italy, to write their language, from about 700 BC to sometime around 100 AD. The Etruscan alphabet derives from the Euboean alphab ...
File:Escipión africano.JPG, Bronze bust of Roman
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
priest, formerly identified as
Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military co ...
, mid 1st century BC File:Togato Barberini.jpg, The so-called " Togatus Barberini", a statue depicting a Roman senator holding portrait effigies (possibly '' imagines'') of deceased ancestors; marble, late 1st century BC; head (not belonging): mid 1st century BC. File:Jules cesar.jpg,
Arles bust Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
, marble bust found in the Rhone River near
Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province ...
, c. 46 BC File:Relief with Menander and New Comedy Masks - Princeton Art Museum.jpg, Roman,
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
or Early Imperial, ''Relief of a seated poet (
Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His ...
) with masks of
New Comedy Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, an ...
'', 1st century BC – early 1st century AD,
Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works ...
File:Statue-Augustus.jpg, ''
Augustus of Prima Porta Augustus of Prima Porta ( it, Augusto di Prima Porta) is a full-length portrait statue of Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The marble statue stands tall and weighs . The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863, during archa ...
'', statue of the emperor
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
, 1st century CE.
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
File:Great Cameo of France CdM Paris Bab264 white background.jpg, The cameo gem known as the "
Great Cameo of France The Great Cameo of France (french: Grand Camée de France) is a five-layered sardonyx Imperial Roman cameo of either about 23 AD, or 50–54 AD. It is 31 cm by 26.5 cm. It is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. It is the large ...
", c. 23 CE, with an
allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
of
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
and his family File:Claudius Pio-Clementino Inv243.jpg, Bust of Emperor Claudius, c. 50 CE, (reworked from a bust of emperor
Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...
), It was found in the so-called Otricoli basilica in
Lanuvium Lanuvium, modern Lanuvio, is an ancient city of Latium vetus, some southeast of Rome, a little southwest of the Via Appia. Situated on an isolated hill projecting south from the main mass of the Alban Hills, Lanuvium commanded an extensive vie ...
, Italy,
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
File:Napoli BW 2013-05-16 16-32-51 DxO.jpg, The so-called "
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
in a
bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...
", from the House of the Bikini,
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...
, depicts her Greek conterpart
Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
as she is about to untie her
sandal Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can ...
, with a small
Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...
squatting beneath her left arm File:Tomba dei decii, dalla via ostiense, 98-117 dc..JPG, Tomb relief of the Decii, 98–117 CE File:Pirro - Marte.jpg, Statue of
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
from the
Forum of Nerva Forum of Nerva ( it, Foro di Nerva; la, Forum Nervae) is an ancient structure in Rome, Italy, chronologically the next to the last of the Imperial fora built. Forum of Nerva (Forum Transitorium) The Imperial fora within the city of Rome have ...
, early 2nd century AD, based on an Augustan-era original that in turn used a Hellenistic Greek model of the 4th century BC,
Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums ( Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pal ...
File:Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Tyche e Plutone - sec. II d.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg, Polychrome marble statue depicting the goddess
Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrod ...
holding the infant
Plutus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Plutus (; grc-gre, Πλοῦτος, Ploûtos, wealth) is the god and the personification of wealth, and the son of the goddess of agriculture Demeter and the mortal Iasion. Family Plutus is most common ...
in her arms, 2nd century AD,
Istanbul Archaeological Museum The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums: #Arc ...
File:024MAD Antinous.jpg,
Statue of Antinous (Delphi) The Statue of Antinous at Delphi is an ancient statue that was found during excavations in Delphi. Antinous was a young Greek of extraordinary beauty from Bithynia, who became the beloved companion or lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian but later ...
, depicting
Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, Ἀντίνοος; 27 November – before 30 October 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and probable lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his ...
, polychrome
Parian marble Parian marble is a fine-grained semi translucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea. It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures. Some of the ...
, made during the reign of
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
(r. 117-138 AD) File:Greco-Roman male torso with legs to the knee, discovered on the site of the Odeon of Lyon in 1964. Marble. Lyon, Lugdunum. Photo, Jamie Mulherron.jpg, Male torso with legs to the knees, discovered on the site of the
Odeon of Lyon The Odeon of Lyon (french: Odéon antique de Lyon) is a small ancient Roman theatre (an odeon) near the summit of the Fourvière hill in Lyon, France. It forms a pair with the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière, one of only two such pairs in Gaul ( ...
in 1964. Marble. Lyon,
Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...
File:Greco-Roman male torso discovered on the site of the Odeon of Lyon in 1964. Marble. Lyon, Lugdunum. Photo, Jamie Mulherron.jpg, Male torso discovered on the site of the
Odeon of Lyon The Odeon of Lyon (french: Odéon antique de Lyon) is a small ancient Roman theatre (an odeon) near the summit of the Fourvière hill in Lyon, France. It forms a pair with the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière, one of only two such pairs in Gaul ( ...
in 1964. Marble. Lyon,
Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...
. File:Buste 4 Bardo National Museum.jpg, Ancient bust of Roman emperor
Lucius Verus Lucius Aurelius Verus (15 December 130 – January/February 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together wit ...
(r. 161–169), a natural
blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color ...
who would sprinkle gold dust in his hair to make it even blonder, Bardo National Museum, Tunis File:1699 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - A youth, possibly Commodus - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 11 2009.jpg, Remnants of a Roman bust of a youth with a
blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color ...
beard, perhaps depicting Roman emperor
Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
(r. 177–192),
National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It i ...
File:COMMODE HERCULE.jpg,
Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
dressed as
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...
, c. 191 CE, in the late imperial "baroque" style File:0 Relief - Monument honoraire de Marc Aurèle - La soumission des germains (1).JPG,
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
receiving the submission of vanquished foes from the
Marcomannic Wars The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: ''bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum'', "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quad ...
, a relief from his now destroyed triumphal arch in Rome,
Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums ( Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pal ...
, 177-180 AD File:Roman - Private Portrait of a Man - Walters 2366.jpg, Private portrait with both individualized and unforgiving naturalism and stylized influence of portraits of the emperors
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
and
Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatori ...
in his beard and hairstyle. File:Isis - Vienna.jpg, Ancient Roman statue of
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
, in the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal d ...
, Vienna; first half of the 2nd century AD, found in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
, Italy; made out of black and white marble. File:Table support with a Dionysiac group (AD 170-180) (3470740119).jpg, Marble table support adorned by a group including
Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, Pan and a
Satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, ex ...
; Dionysos holds a
rhyton A rhyton (plural rhytons or, following the Greek plural, rhyta) is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table. A rhyton is typically formed in t ...
in the shape of a panther; traces of red and yellow colour are preserved on the hair of the figures and the branches; from an
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
workshop, 170-180 AD,
National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It i ...
, Greece File:Hércules Farnesio 01.JPG, The
Farnese Hercules The ''Farnese Hercules'' ( it, Ercole Farnese) is an ancient statue of Hercules, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; the name is Greek but he may have worked in Rome. Like ...
, probably an enlarged copy made in the early 3rd century AD and signed by a certain Glykon, from an original by
Lysippos Lysippos (; grc-gre, Λύσιππος) was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic p ...
(or one of his circle) that would have been made in the 4th century BC; The copy was made for the
Baths of Caracalla , alternate_name = it, Terme di Caracalla , image = File:Baths of Caracalla, facing Caldarium.jpg , caption = The baths as viewed from the south-west. The caldarium would have been in the front of the image , coordinates = ...
in Rome (dedicated in 216 AD), where it was recovered in 1546 File:7137 - Piraeus Arch. Museum, Athens - Statue of Balbinus - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 14 2009.jpg, Ancient Roman statue of emperor
Balbinus Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus (died 238 AD) was Roman emperor with Pupienus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Origins and career Not much is known about Balbinus before his elevation to emperor. It has been conjec ...
, dating from 238 AD, on display in the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus (Athens) File:MMA bronze 03.jpg, Bronze of
Trebonianus Gallus Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus (206 – August 253) was Roman emperor from June 251 to August 253, in a joint rule with his son Volusianus. Early life Gallus was born in Italy, in a family with respected Etruscan senatorial background. He h ...
dating from the time of his reign as Roman Emperor, the only surviving near-complete full-size 3rd-century Roman bronze (
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
) File:Venice – The Tetrarchs 03.jpg, '' The Four Tetrarchs'', c. 305, showing the new anti-classical style, in porphyry, now
San Marco, Venice The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Pat ...
File:Pezzi bronzei di statua colossale di costantino, 330-37 ca. 01.JPG, Head and other fragments a colossal bronze statue of Constantine I, early 4th century AD,
Musei Capitolini The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pala ...
(Rome) File:4th century portrait of a Roman matrona, Hermitage.jpg, A marble portrait bust of a Roman matron, early 4th century AD,
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...
, St. Petersburg File:EAM - Bust of Menander.jpg, Bust depicting an idealized portrait of
Menander of Ephesus Menander of Ephesus ( grc-gre, Μένανδρος; fl. c. early 2nd century BC) was the historian whose lost work on the history of Tyre was used by Josephus, who quotes Menander's list of kings of Tyre in his apologia for the Jews, ''Against Ap ...
, 4th century AD, Ephesus Archaeological Museum File:Multiplication Pio Christiano Inv31499.jpg, Detail of a sarcophagus depicting the Christian belief in the multiplication of bread loaves and fish by Jesus Christ, c. 350-375 AD,
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
File:Valens Honorius Musei Capitolini MC494.jpg, A Roman bust depicting either
Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...
or Honorius; marble, ca. 400 AD File:Consular diptych Probus 406.jpg, Honorius on the consular diptych of
Anicius Petronius Probus Anicius Petronius Probus ( 395–406 AD) was a politician of the Western Roman Empire. Biography A member of the ''gens'' Anicia, he was the son of Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus. (consul in 371) and of Anicia Faltonia Proba;. his elder br ...
(406 AD) File:0418 Befreiung einer belagerten Stadt Bodemuseum anagoria.JPG, Boxwood
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
depicting the liberation of a be
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
d city by a relief force, with those defending the walls making a
sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining supp ...
;
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...
, early 5th century AD File:1900 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - 400-450 AD bust - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov. 11 2009.jpg, Portrait of an unknown man, found in the
Agora of Athens The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill kn ...
, dating from around 400-450 AD;
National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It i ...
File:Théodose II.JPG, Bust of Eastern Roman Emperor
Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...
(r. 408–450 AD); marble, 5th century AD File:(Toulouse) théodosienne de la villa romaine de Chiragan - Musée Saint-Raymond Ra 82.jpg , Bust of an Eastern Roman lady (
Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was queen consort ...
?) in the Musée Saint-Raymond de Toulouse, 5th century AD File:Philosopher-orator Louvre Ma3625.jpg, Bust of an unknown orator or philosopher from
Tartus ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche  Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard  Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
, now in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
, 5th century AD


Portraiture

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...
ure is a dominant genre of Roman sculpture, growing perhaps from the traditional Roman emphasis on family and ancestors; the entrance hall ''( atrium)'' of a Roman elite house displayed ancestral
portrait bust A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, and a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. The bust is generally a po ...
s. During the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
, it was considered a sign of character not to gloss over physical imperfections, and to depict men in particular as rugged and unconcerned with vanity: the portrait was a map of experience. During the Imperial era, more idealized statues of Roman emperors became ubiquitous, particularly in connection with the state religion of Rome. Tombstones of even the modestly rich middle class sometimes exhibit portraits of the otherwise unknown deceased carved in
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
. Among the many museums with examples of Roman portrait sculpture, the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
are especially noteworthy.


Religious and funerary art

Religious art Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...
was also a major form of Roman sculpture. A central feature of a
Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
was the cult statue of the deity, who was regarded as "housed" there (see ''
aedes ''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: '' Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive sp ...
''). Although images of deities were also displayed in private gardens and parks, the most magnificent of the surviving statues appear to have been cult images.
Roman altars Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
were usually rather modest and plain, but some Imperial examples are modeled after Greek practice with elaborate reliefs, most famously the
Ara Pacis The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return o ...
, which has been called "the most representative work of Augustan art." Small bronze statuettes and ceramic figurines, executed with varying degrees of artistic competence, are plentiful in the archaeological record, particularly in the
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
, and indicate that these were a continual presence in the lives of Romans, whether for
votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
s or for private devotional display at home or in neighborhood shrines. These typically show more regional variation in style than large and more official works, and also stylistic preferences between different classes. Roman marble sarcophagi mostly date from the 2nd to the 4th century CE, after a change in Roman burial customs from
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
to
inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
, and were mostly made in a few major cities, including Rome and
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, which exported them to other cities. Elsewhere the
stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...
gravestone remained more common. They were always a very expensive form reserved for the elite, and especially so in the relatively few very elaborately carved examples; most were always relatively plain, with inscriptions, or symbols such as garlands. Sarcophagi divide into a number of styles, by the producing area. "Roman" ones were made to rest against a wall, and one side was left uncarved, while "Attic" and other types were carved on all four sides; but the short sides were generally less elaborately decorated in both types. The time taken to make them encouraged the use of standard subjects, to which inscriptions might be added to personalize them, and portraits of the deceased were slow to appear. The sarcophagi offer examples of intricate reliefs that depict scenes often based on
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...
or
mystery religions Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy as ...
that offered personal salvation, and
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
representations. Roman
funerary art Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...
also offers a variety of scenes from everyday life, such as game-playing, hunting, and military endeavors.
Early Christian art Early Christian art and architecture or Paleochristian art is the art produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition used, sometime between 260 and 525. In practice, id ...
quickly adopted the sarcophagus, and they are the most common form of early Christian sculpture, progressing from simple examples with symbols to elaborate fronts, often with small scenes of the Life of Christ in two rows within an architectural framework. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (c. 359) is of this type, and the earlier
Dogmatic Sarcophagus The Dogmatic Sarcophagus, also known as the "Trinity Sarcophagus" is an early Christian sarcophagus dating to 320–350, now in the Vatican Museums (Vatican 104).There is another "Trinity Sarcophagus" at Arles, alsao with a three-figure Trinity. ...
rather simpler. The huge porphyry
Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina The Sarcophagi of Helena and Constantina are two fourth century porphyry sarcophagi located in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum in Rome. Sarcophagus of Helena The Sarcophagus of Helena is the red porphyry coffin in which Saint Helena, the moth ...
are grand Imperial examples. Scenes from Roman sarcophagi File:2164 - Taormina - Badia Vecchia - Sarcofago romano del sec. II d.C. - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 20-May-2008.jpg, Scenes of
Orphic religion Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...
(2nd century) File:Sarcophagus Portonaccio Massimo.jpg,
Portonaccio sarcophagus The Portonaccio sarcophagus is a 2nd-century ancient Roman sarcophagus found in the Portonaccio section of Rome and now held at the Museo Nazionale Romano ( Palazzo Massimo). Dating to around 180 AD, the sarcophagus was likely used to bury a Roma ...
with a battle File:Greece hellenistic sculpture.jpg,
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
riding a panther and accompanied by attendants, 220-230 AD File:Sarcophagus nuts Chiaramonti Inv1304.jpg, Children playing with nuts (3rd century) File:0 Sarcophage - Chasse au Sanglier de Calydon - Musei Capitolini - MC0917 (1).JPG, Sarcophagus with the Calydonian hunt, Palazzo dei Senatori - Musei Capitolini,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. File:0 Sarcophage - Quatre saisons - Musei Capitolini - MC1185 (2).JPG, Sarcophagus with the Four Seasons allegory
(3rd century), Palazzo dei Senatori - Musei Capitolini,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. File:0 Sarcophage de Quinta Flavia Severina - Musei Capitolini NCE88 (1).JPG, Sarcophagus of the Quinta Flavia Severina, Palazzo dei Senatori - Musei Capitolini,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. File:Early Christian sarcophagus from San Justo (M.A.N. 50310) 01.jpg, Early Christian marble sarcophagus with a high-relief representing scenes from the
Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
and the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
, c. 310 AD File:1060 - Roma, Museo d. civiltà Romana - Calco sarcofago Giunio Basso - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 12-Apr-2008.jpg, Cast of Christ's trial before Pilate, with Pilate about to wash his hands. Detail from the Early Christian Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (d. 359)


Gardens and baths

A number of well-known large stone vases sculpted in relief from the Imperial period were apparently mostly used as garden ornaments; indeed many statues were also placed in gardens, both public and private. Sculptures recovered from the site of the
Gardens of Sallust The Gardens of Sallust ( la, Horti Sallustiani) was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what wo ...
, opened to the public by
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, include: *the ''Obelisco Sallustiano'', a Roman copy of an Egyptian
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
which now stands in front of the
Trinità dei Monti The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti ( French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position abo ...
church above the
Piazza di Spagna Piazza di Spagna ("Spanish Square"), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome, Italy. It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. There is also the famed Colum ...
at the top of the
Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps ( it, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairw ...
*the
Borghese Vase The Borghese Vase is a monumental bell-shaped krater sculpted in Athens from Pentelic marble in the second half of the 1st century BC as a garden ornament for the Roman market; it is now in the Louvre Museum. Original Iconography Standing 1. ...
, discovered there in the 16th century. *the sculptures known as the ''
Dying Gaul Dying is the final stage of life which will eventually lead to death. Diagnosing dying is a complex process of clinical decision-making, and most practice checklists facilitating this diagnosis are based on cancer diagnoses. Signs of dying ...
'' and the '' Gaul Killing Himself and His Wife'', marble copies of parts a famous Hellenistic group in bronze commissioned for
Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
in about 228 BC. *the
Ludovisi Throne The Ludovisi Throne is an ancient sculpted block of white marble hollowed at the back and carved with bas-reliefs on the three outer faces (it is not actually a throne for sitting on). Its authenticity is debated; the majority, who accept it, place ...
(probably an authentic Greek piece in the Severe style), found in 1887, and the Boston Throne, found in 1894. *the ''Crouching Amazon'', found in 1888 near the via Boncompagni, about twenty-five meters from the via Quintino Sella (Museo Conservatori).
Roman baths In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout ...
were another site for sculpture; among the well-known pieces recovered from the
Baths of Caracalla , alternate_name = it, Terme di Caracalla , image = File:Baths of Caracalla, facing Caldarium.jpg , caption = The baths as viewed from the south-west. The caldarium would have been in the front of the image , coordinates = ...
are the ''
Farnese Bull The ''Farnese Bull'' ( it, Toro Farnese), formerly in the Farnese collection in Rome, is a massive Roman elaborated copy of a Hellenistic sculpture. It is the largest single sculpture yet recovered from antiquity. Along with the rest of the Fa ...
'' and ''
Farnese Hercules The ''Farnese Hercules'' ( it, Ercole Farnese) is an ancient statue of Hercules, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; the name is Greek but he may have worked in Rome. Like ...
'' and larger-than-life-sized early 3rd century patriotic figures somewhat reminiscent of Soviet
Social Realist Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
works (now in the
Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...
,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
). Found in the
Gardens of Sallust The Gardens of Sallust ( la, Horti Sallustiani) was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what wo ...
and the
Gardens of Maecenas The Gardens of Maecenas, or ''Horti Maecenatis'', constituted the luxurious ancient Roman estate of Gaius Maecenas, an Augustan-era imperial advisor and patron of the arts. The property was among the first in Italy to emulate the style of Persia ...
: Image:Niobid Sallustiani Massimo Inv72274.jpg, Falling Niobid, discovered in the site in 1906 (
Museo Nazionale Romano The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...
), a Greek original Image:Borghese Vase Louvre Ma86 n6.jpg,
Borghese Vase The Borghese Vase is a monumental bell-shaped krater sculpted in Athens from Pentelic marble in the second half of the 1st century BC as a garden ornament for the Roman market; it is now in the Louvre Museum. Original Iconography Standing 1. ...
Image:0 Cariatide - Horti Maecenatiani - Musei Capitolini (1).JPG, Caryatid statue, Palazzo dei Senatori - Musei Capitolini,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. File:0 Fontaine en forme de corne à boire (rhyton) - Musei Capitolini.JPG, Fountain in the form of a horn-shaped drinking cup (rhyton), Palazzo dei Senatori - Musei Capitolini,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. Image:0 L'Enfant au Masque - Palazzo Nuovo - Musei Capitolini.JPG, Child with a theatre mask, for a garden or house, Palazzo Nuovo - Musei Capitolini, Rome.


Technology

Scenes shown on reliefs such as that of
Trajan's column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
and those shown on sarcophogi reveal images of Roman technology now long lost, such as
ballistae The ballista (Latin, from Ancient Greek, Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an Classical antiquity, ancient missile weapon that launched ei ...
and the use of waterwheel-driven saws for cutting stone. The latter was only recently discovered at Hieropolis and commemorates the miller who used the machine. Other reliefs show harvesting machines, much as they were described by
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
in his
Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...
.


Architecture

Compared to the Greeks, the Romans made less use of stone sculpture on buildings, apparently having few
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
s with figures. Important
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
s, such as the
Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
for example, originally had sculpture, but hardly any have survived.
Terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
panels called
Campana relief Campana reliefs (also Campana tiles) are Ancient Roman terracotta reliefs made from the middle of the first century BC until the first half of the second century AD. They are named after the Italian collector Giampietro Campana, who first publis ...
s have survived in good numbers. These were used to decorate interior walls, in strips. The architectural writer
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...
is oddly reticent on the architectural use of sculpture, mentioning only a few examples, though he says that an architect should be able to explain the meaning of architectural ornament and gives as an example the use of
caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
s.Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, ''Prayers in Stone: Greek Architectural Sculpture ca. 600-100 B.C.E.'' (University of California Press, 1999), pp. 13–1
online
and 145.


See also

*
Ancient Roman pottery Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae used fo ...
*
Classical sculpture Classical sculpture (usually with a lower case "c") refers generally to sculpture from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, as well as the Hellenized and Romanized civilizations under their rule or influence, from about 500 BC to around 200 AD. It m ...
*
Gallo-Roman art Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
*
History of sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
*
Roman art The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be min ...
*
Roman engineering The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
* Roman technology


Notes


References

* Elsner, Jas, "Style" in ''Critical Terms for Art History'', Nelson, Robert S. and Shiff, Richard, 2nd Edn. 2010, University of Chicago Press, , 9780226571690
google books
* Henig, Martin (ed, Ch 3, "Sculpture" by Anthony Bonanno), ''A Handbook of Roman Art'', Phaidon, 1983, * Kitzinger, Ernst, ''Byzantine art in the making: main lines of stylistic development in Mediterranean art, 3rd–7th century'', 1977, Faber & Faber, (US: Cambridge UP, 1977) * Strong, Donald, et al., ''Roman Art'', 1995 (2nd edn.), Yale University Press (Penguin/Yale History of Art), * Williams, Dyfri. ''Masterpieces of Classical Art'', 2009, British Museum Press,


Further reading

*Conlin, Diane Atnally. ''The Artists of the Ara Pacis: The Process of Hellenization In Roman Relief Sculpture''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. *Fejfer, Jane. ''Roman Portraits In Context''. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2008. *Flower, Harriet I. ''Ancestor Masks and Aristocratic Power In Roman Culture''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. *Gruen, Erich S. ''Culture and National Identity In Republican Rome''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992. *Hallett, Christopher H. ''The Roman Nude: Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 B.C.-A.D. 300''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. *Kleiner, Diana E. E. ''Roman Group Portraiture: The Funerary Reliefs of the Late Republic and Early Empire''. New York: Garland Pub., 1977. *--. ''Roman Sculpture''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992. *Koortbojian, Michael. ''Myth, Meaning, and Memory On Roman Sarcophagi''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. *Kousser, Rachel Meredith. ''Hellenistic and Roman Ideal Sculpture: The Allure of the Classical''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. *Kristensen, Troels Myrup, and Lea Margaret Stirling. ''The Afterlife of Greek and Roman Sculpture: Late Antique Responses and Practices''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. *Mattusch, Carol A. ''The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: Life and Afterlife of a Sculptural Collection''. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005. *Ryberg, Inez Scott. ''Rites of the State Religion in Roman Art''. Rome: American Academy in Rome, 1955. *Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow, Elise A. Friedland, and Elaine K. Gazda. ''The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. *Stewart, Peter. ''The Social History of Roman Art''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. *Varner, Eric R. ''Mutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture''. Leiden: Brill, 2004.


External links

*
Roman art: Sculpture
. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition. © 2006. Columbia University Press / Infoplease. Visited May 28, 2006.



. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Sculpture