The Sculpture Of The Etruscan- Roman Tradition

The emphasis accorded these contingencies of physiognomy and the resolute refusal of any concession to our - or, so it would appear, antiquity’s - ideas of desirable physical appearance lead one easily to the conclusion that those portraits are uncompromising attempts to transcribe into plastic form the reality of what is seen, innocent of any “idealization” or programmatic bias. These are the portraits of the conservative nobility (and of their middle-class emulators) (luring the death-agonies of the Roman republic. There is no need to doubt that much of their character refers to quite real qualities of their subjects. These are men in later life because the carefully prescribed ladder of public office normally allowed those who followed it to attain only gradually and after many years to such eminence as would allow the signal honor of a public statue. One may well suppose that these hard-bitten and rather unimaginative faces closely reflect the prevailing temperament of the class and society to which they belong, and the twisted and

This paper is a formal analysis of the Marble grave stele with a family group relief sculpture. It is a pentelic marble style relief standing at 171.1cm tall carved by a master. It is from the Late Classical period of Greek, Attic which was completed around ca.360 B.C. . I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because I’m mainly attracted to art and sculptures from the Greek era. The overall color used in this relief is ivory with a few cracks and pieces broken off. There is some discoloration which causes the color to come off as slightly light brown for most of the relief. The sculpture appears larger compared to the other sculptures in the art room. It represents a family which includes a man, his wife, and their

1. There are numerous instances of the Etruscan artists taking their cue from Greek artists. The tendency was so prevalent that at one time historians considered Etruscan art as wholly derivative. The Etruscans did copy a lot of Greek art in both technique and design. One of those instances is in their construction of their temples. There is a definite similarity in both technique and design. The Etruscans incorporated columns in their temples long after the Greeks started doing so, and the similarities did not end there. There were sculptures and paintings inside the temples that were patently Greek in design. The Etruscans traded with Greece and attacked it several times, so there were several points of interaction and copying.

The artwork I chose to talk about is on page 232. Figure 8.16, Funerary Relief of a Circus Official, Ostia, 110-130. The medium of the artwork is made from Marble relief. The Tombs in the old days of roman families built outside of the city walls, along roadways entering the city. The vision of the monuments is to preserve individual’s fame, family honor, and status in the society. The extended family of the deceased also held feasts and putting out food and drink for the dead for enjoying. The large figure in the picture is the official himself, holding hands with his wife at the left side. The handshake symbolizes in the Roman art the indication of marriage. The palm branch symbolizes the victory. There are many accents in the artwork

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

Among the many artworks I have seen, I decided to discuss about the “Sarcophagus Depicting a Battle between Soldiers and Amazons (Warrior Women)” from the Roman civilization. It was built sometime in between 140 A.D. to 170 A.D and is approximately forty and a half inches in length, ninety-one and a half inches in width, and fifty and a half inches tall in height (“Roman Sarcophagus”). This masterpiece appealed to me because of the unique approach that has been designed to honor the deceased. Many people are familiar with the formatting and inscriptions of a gravestone because it is usually engraved with an individual’s full name, birth date, and death date. During the Roman Empire, a sarcophagus, which is a coffin, was widely used to show decorative themes that includes: battle scenes, hunting scenes, weddings, or other memorable episodes from the life of the deceased individual. The most luxurious ones were made from marble surrounded by symbolic sculptures, figures and inscriptions on all four sides (“Sarcophagus”). Another feature that captured my attention was the large quantity of details used to bring out a lifelike aspect of the deceased individual’s favorable moments in their life. In this artwork, this sarcophagus was dedicated to a Roman commander. The exterior of the sarcophagus has been well-decorated and carved with exquisite details depicting a battle scene

Both Etruscan and Roman tomb sculpture function to memorialize the departed allowing them to move on from the world of the living and seeks to comfort those who have lost the ones they love. The two societies have differing practices in regards to death and therefore sculptures concerning the subject are somewhat different with a few identifiable similarities. While both societies seek to comfort the living and commemorate the dead this is achieved through different approaches. The Etruscan Sarcophagus with reclining couple from Cerveteri, Italy and the Mummy of Artemidorus from Roman Egypt are two examples of contrasting representations of the dead. When analyzing tomb sculpture one of the main questions is whether the work adapts a retrospective approach (presentation of the deceased as they were in life) or a prospective one (the viewpoint of looking forward to life beyond the grave). While the Etruscan sarcophagus gives a more retrospective memorialization through the depiction of the couple in a state of regularity the Roman Mummy of Artemidorus presents a more prospective approach concerning the deceased through the emphasis of funerary practices.

There have been countless duels between two opposing sides in the history Roman artistry. This sculpture relief signifies the classic battle of good versus evil. Time and time again, benevolent heroes find themselves in a struggle to combat worthy yet malicious adversaries. The Roman sarcophagus, a two by five feet marble coffin, is certainly no exception. It represents another division to this timeless good-evil epic, its visual characteristics, emphasis on contrasts, and its extensive array of details give it an identity that is uniquely its own. It portrays a sense of legendary fantasy to the viewer, one pertaining to hostility, violence, and pure anger. The sculpture seems overly shallow due to

The sculpture that we have observed has been dated to the first half of the first century C.E. This places the portrait during the Julio-Claudian period in Roman history. From the information we have gathered about the time period, the woman's style of dress and of the types of sculpture prevelant during the period, we have formed a possible profile of the daily life of the subject.

The Etruscans, also know as the “Etrusci,” named by the Romans, the “Tyrrhenoi,” named by the Greeks, and the “Rasenna,” and “Rasna,” named by themselves, occupied the Italian peninsula north of Rome during much of the first millennium BC. Etruria was an urbanized civilization with their own customs, divinities, and beliefs. In order to gain knowledge about Etruscan history the main sources included, Roman literature and their impressive tombs. The cities were not well preserved which brought upon the issue of reconstructing it later.

However, the Roman artists contributed their own additions to Greek art. Instead of taking an idealized approach when completing works of art, the Roman’s used the style of verism. The concept of verism was to make their artwork as realistic and similar to human forms as possible, hence why it was known as the “warts and all” style. During the 1st Century, a marble sculpture of Augustus of Primaporta was made which displayed the ruler in a powerful stance as a young leader. In comparison to the Greek sculpture of Doryphorus, both marble statues display movement; however the Roman sculpture had the purpose of displaying power and not looking as relaxed and idealistic as the Greek sculpture. Augustus’ hand is raised in the sculpture and he is wearing a chest plate that displays images of his victories as a leader. The sculpture acted as propaganda due to the idealization of the leader and depicting him during his prime achievements as a

assembly. He is depicted in the attire of a Roman magistrate. But the names of his parents and

This sculpture was discovered by the French Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research in 2007, with about 700 other artifacts from the Ancient Rome. It was on view in the exhibition “César, le Rhone pour mémoire”, along with the other discoveries.

In the Archaic period, coincides with Greek, Athenian, dominance of the aegean region. Many artist started working in number of new methods. Archaic period,“saw a rapid development in the portrayal of the human figure” (William Biers). Many sculptures started making sculptors of human figures life sized after being inspired by the monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia. This sculpture gave a new inspiration for many new sculptures and the making of human form sculptures.

The Archaic period of Greek Sculpture started around 600 BCE and lasted till 480 BCE and a time of great achievement. At first representations of the human figure had a stiff and ridged appearance similar to Egyptian sculpture. In red- figure vessels, artist created lively human figures with a developed sense of bodily from, the artist Euphronios was one of the best known. During the Archaic period a new type of large free-standing statues that were colored and were made of wood, terra cotta, limestone or white marble. The male statues were called Kouros (plural, Kouroi) and the female statues were called Kore (plural, Korai). In the Metropolitan Kouros, rigid features can be noted, the figure standing upright, arms stuck to his side (