Ancient Roman Art Research Paper

Late Roman Empire Art only lasted for a short extent of time. During which many changes occurred in art, predominantly changes to sculpture. This change was a moving away from sculpture being meant for a particular person to sculpture being for the people of the Roman Empire.

Thesis: The Greek influence of outstanding culture, gods, and their beautiful art to the Romans’ they took this inspiration on to their own creation. Both ancient build devotion to their gods they would bring the most precious things to them temples, however, they would focus on making large empire to rule and to take control of their city-states.

The study of Greek sculpture is a complex relationship of Roman sculpture. And a large number of Roman sculpture, especially in the stone, survives more or less intact, it is often damaged or piecemeal; life-size bronze statues are much more rare, because as most have been recycled for their metal. The

Most of these attributes were derived from the Grecian culture around 210 BC and disseminated all over Rome (Nardo, 60). Not only did the people contribute to the arts, but so did the government, which built bronze statues of the emperors or Gods, like the statue of Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD, and decorated the currency with elaborate drawings (Hinds, 172). A lasting example of the Roman taste of the arts was preserved in Pompeii after the volcanic eruption. According to written documents, a museum owned by two wealthy businessmen in Pompeii was available for public viewing, which displayed the gratitude of the people of Pompeii toward their own culture (Hinds, 178).

During this period of time, the sculptures were produced first to celebrate ancient mystery cults and sacrifices of victorious military heroes and then to value the role of the Gods and Goddesses by their power and divinity. As more divine they were, it was considered to be a more religious sculpture piece. The sculptures of Gods and Goddesses were built as a form of remembering them through the years and their impact in the Roman society.

Roman portraiture was one of the most significant periods in the development of portrait art. The characteristics of Roman portraitures are more modest, realistic, idealized, and natural. Also, the body compositions, muscles and facial expressions of portraits and sculptures are more advanced. Many roman portraits are directly linked to specific individuals, such as gods and emperors. They were often used for propaganda purposes and included ideological messages in the pose, accoutrements, or costume of the figure.

In the book, Roman Art: a picture book by Christine Alexander, she has compiled a number of photos of art from the Roman Republic period. While there are only a few are from the Republic era, they are still quality pictures of surviving artwork from that time. Each picture includes the title of the piece, the time period it is roughly from, and its dimensions. She also gives a brief summary of the development of Roman art as she transitions into each of the pictures she as included in her book. This book has a subtler influence in the world of artwork and its influence. The author, while she provides a brief description of its influence, gives the viewers a simple descriptions of the artwork so as to come to their own terms with what meaning they carry. However,

From an historical perspective, this piece is an excellent example of early classical Rome. You can sense the respect and admiration that the average Roman citizen had for Augustus, in the fine details of the sculpture.

In 27 BC Augustus began his political career with a “new policy which embodied a national and Roman spirit” (Galinksy, 1996, 225) and “represented new heights in creativity and sophistication” (Galinksy, 1996, 225). Augustus created a new political propaganda campaign that used art and architecture to promote and enhance his regime. The most fundamental message can be regarded as to establish the legitimacy of his rule and to portray him as the natural successor of Rome, as this is consistently presented throughout the visual programme. Yet factors such as the restoration of the Republic, reviving the old religion, nationalism and militaristic triumph can also be seen to be communicated prominently through art and architecture.

Roman sculpture is learnt from the Greeks and the Etruscans. It reached a peak in the first and second centuries AD. The development of the arch and the use of concrete gave Roman life distinction, serviceability and hospitability to Roman domestic, civil engineering and public architecture. Arch and concrete play a very important role in Roman life. The worship and reverence of images normally were about the God or dead ancestors or mothers. They had arch on pillars and tombs. The images from the arch revealed their belief and their perception in daily life about relationship, about love, about friendship, parentship with emotion and expression. Characters are shown in Roman sculptures, especially regarding the statues or symbols carved in the time of the Flavion emperors with animation. The rule about life and reality were shown rather than the exception. The later republic and early empire had portraits or coins. The outstanding historical reliefs were done with the emperor Trajan, the acquisition of the empire.

In this internal i will analyse these four statues: The Prima Porta Augustus, Colossus of Nero, The Bust of Hadrian, and Commodus as Hercules. The ancient city of Rome is one of the most iconic places in the world for art and historians. Through the analysis of the statues and legacy in particular the statues of the emperors., We can piece together their world and understanding. Statues were a great median in which to portray oneself as great and powerful and so because of this Roman Emperors used this median a lot. By enforcing propaganda on their populace they were able to better maintain control and stability in their society so being able to communicate effectively was key for maintaining order, we can see them do this in particular through the statues i have chosen.

The main purpose of these portraits is to show the position of power. The Roman portraits were described as most realistic and had different classical style as each imperial dynasty would change to emphasize the power of the empire. According to the article devotion to public service and military skills were projected as their ideals through the representation in portraiture. The sculptures reflected every wrinkle and imperfection of the skin which made these portraits so

Throughout history art has consistently reflected the cultural values and social structures of individual civilizations. Ancient art serves as a useful tool to help historians decipher some important aspects of ancient culture. From art we can determine the basic moral and philosophical beliefs of many ancient societies. The differences in arts purpose in Greece and Rome, for example, show us the fundamental differences in each culture's political and moral system. The primary objective of Greek art was to explore the order of nature and to convey philosophical thought, while Roman art was used primarily as a medium to project the authority and importance of the current ruler and the greatness of

     "The arts of the western world have been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the classical period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we get our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first people to erect special structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut out of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct parts: theatron

The form of art has been around for thousands of years. There has been many different types of art form found from the ancient greece times. These time are the earliest times that are recorded and are placed in museums. These early art forms teaches us a little bit about the human race and how they were back in the roman times. There are some painting and sculptures that represents different people from their time lines. These art form can explain how they were back in their times and with the statues you can see how far they were allowed to do.