The Roman Legacy

Mrs. HarveyHumanities

The Art of Ancient Rome

Overview ________________, later awarded the title of _____________, establishes the Roman empire after defeating Marc Antony and Cleopatra in 31 B.C. The eastern Mediterranean is one of the richest regions of the empire and succeeding Roman emperors struggle to maintain order there. Opposition to Roman rule is particularly strong in Judaea. In ____________A.D., the emperor ______________________removes the proscriptions against Christianity and seventeen years later relocates the capital east to the city of ____________________(Constantinople). In 391 A.D., Theodosius declares Christianity the sole official religion of the empire, banning all others. Upon his death in 395 A.D., his realm is formally divided, the eastern half of which will come to be known as the _________________________________.

The Eastern Mediterranean, 1–500 A.D. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Art of the Roman Republic• This grave marker exhibits the Roman

continuation of the old Mediterranean practice of _______________________ with images of the ___________________, but the stern man and dignifies woman communicate the _________________values and virtues of the Roman of the Republican period (C, 509-31 BCE). The Romans of the early Republic were ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

• They admired ______________________________________________________________________________. They respected law and legal obligations. Their language, Latin, is remarkable for its lucid order and rigid rules.

Husband and Wife.

First century BCE. Height 6'.

Notes• The Romans of the ___________________________________________, and

even later, during the Roman Empire, Romans seldom _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

• In art, the Romans owed a rich debt to the Etruscans and Greeks.

• Only in a few areas did the Romans of the Republic make significant new contributions—most notably in _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

• The Romans’ interest in and devotion to the _______________________explains their interest in individual portraiture. It was traditional for patrician families to _________________________________________________________________________________________. They were kept in the most ___________________________________position in the house. Roman portraits often emphasized ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Bust of Marcus Tullius CiceroFirst Century B.C. marble

Republican Couple

Portraits of Emperors

Julius Caesar

NeroHadrian

MarcusAurelius

Republican Architectural Developments• The Temple of Portunus

demonstrates the _______________________________________nature of Republican religious architecture. The high podium, restriction of steps to the front, and deep porch are related temples created by the Etruscans, while the suggestion of a colonnade is Greek. Note, that only the porch columns are freestanding. This design emphasizes ______________________________________________________________________________________.

• The columns provide a graceful rhythm and announce this structure is a ___________________________, but the ___________________________reveal the Romans’ _________________________________________________________.

Temple of Portunus, RomeLate second century BCE

The Roman House and Villa

• The houses and villas of the _____________________________________________Romans followed a regular plan, with rooms arranged in a ________________________________ from the entrance to the garden. The plan was dominated by an ____________________, an open courtyard.

• Rooms were decorated with ____________________________________, but actual furnishings were __________________. Wall paintings were intended to transform rooms into an elegant _________________________.

• Main rooms had ______________________.House of Menander, atrium. c. 70 CE.

House of the Vettii, Pompeii, frescoed room

63-79 CE

Art of the Roman Empire• The emperor _____________________,

who commands our attention with his declamatory _____________________in this over-lifesize state claimed descent from Aeneas, whose deeds are recounted in Virgil’s epic poem Aeneid.

• The sculpture probably dates after Augustus’s death, for it represents the emperor without boots, suggesting that he had been deified. The boy probably represents Cupid, the son of Venus, and thus refers to Augustus’s divine lineage.

• In pose the model was ___________________________; it exalts _____________________________.

Emperor Augustus. 15 CE.Height 7'.

The City of Rome• ______________, which at its largest had a population of nearly

_____________________, was in many ways similar to a modern city. It had impressive public spaces with state buildings and religious structures, as well as shopping areas, apartment buildings of 5 to 6 stories, and rooming houses. Most of the population lived in _____________________________

• The ___________________and _________________center of Rome was the __________________. It had been established in _____________________________, beginning in the _____________________________BCE.

• The emperors kept the _______________________________happy by providing ________________________________________________. ________________________________provided places of entertainment for tens of thousands.

• ____________________________________offered public facilities for communal bathing and exercise, as well as for _____________________________________________________________

Roman and Imperial Forums, reconstruction model. Early fourth century CE.

Visiting the _________________, which was built at state expense and could be entered for a _______________________, was a _________________________________________. Water, transported by _____________________from outside the city and heated by _____________________________________________________________________.

A visit to the bath usually began with _______________________, followed by a stay in the _____________________. In the __________________________oil was used to cleanse the body. After cooling down in the _______________________and ______________________, a visitor received a massage, which completed the bath.

Public Baths of Caracalla [kar-uh-kal-uh] , plan. 212-219 CE.

Roman Imperial Art• Roman imperial art encompassed a variety of

_______________________________________________________________________________.

• In the city of Rome, the majority of artists employed by Romans were _____________________________. The demand for Greek works accelerated after Romans sacked ______________in ______________________and brought a number of impressive _________________to _________________.

• Among the most characteristic monuments of Roman art are those that honor the ______________________________. One type of monument honoring emperors and generals was the __________________________________, but the only surviving example is the ___________________________.

Marcus Aurelius. 161-

80 CE. Over-lifesize.

Triumphal Arches• The Arch of Titus is a solid architectural reminder of floral and sword arches held over the heads of returning conquerors on the roads entering Rome

a. arches were built over roadwayb. generally had relief sculpture recounting

battles and victoriesc. at the height of the Empire there were

said to be over 50 in Rome

• Ceremonial and Ritualistic reminders of authority

• The Arch as a visible symbol of the Empire

Arch of Titus Another commemorative monument is the triumphal arch. Although its origins can be traced to the Republican period, the first were large and permanent arches erected during the reign of Augustus.

The Arch of Titus memorializes Titus’s capture of Jerusalem in 70-71 CE.

Spoils of the Temple at Jerusalem. Relief from Arch of Titus. Exhibited in Rome.

Height 6' 7".

Roman Religion and the Mystery Religions• The more important official

Roman deities were derived from __________________________, but their names _____________________: Zeus became Jupiter, Aphrodite became Venus.

• The number of deities gradually _____________as Roman conquered and annexed a new area.

• During the later Empire, the religious life of many Romans was dominated by ___________________________________________. (Mithras and Isis)

• The acceptance of __________________as the official Roman _________________have been seen as a reaction to the _______________________________________________that gradually took over Roman life.

The Roman Artist• In ancient Greece, artists had been

_____________________________, but during the Republic and the Empire, artists in the service of the Roman state became _____________________________________.

• Few artists are known by ______________________, and most of the few names of artists recorded are ________________________, and these are names of ________________________.

Hagesandros, Athenodros and Polydoros. Laocoön and His Sons.

Early first century BCE. Height 6'.

The famous Laocoön

[ley-ok-oh-on] and His Sons, once thought to be a work of Greek Hellenistic period imported to Rome, is now believed to be a

Roman work created by a Greek sculptors for a Roman

patron.

Roman Frescos and Illusionism

Bacchic Mysteries. c. 30 BCE. Room 29' x 19', height of figures approx. 5'. These frescoes are one of the first examples of __________________________wall decoration that is integrated with the ___________________________________________________________________.

Illusionism of Roman paintings is inherited from earlier tradition that developed in Greece.

The objects in the painting should be represented in their natural scale. Cast shadows define the placement of each object within the illusionistic space. Objects are modeled with transitions from light to dark that indicate both the three-dimensionality of the objects and the source of the light.

Still Life with Eggs and Thrushes. Before 79 CE.

35 x 48"

Roman Architecture: The Flavian Amphitheater

Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum). Begun 72 CE, dedicated 80 CE, construction completed 96 CE.

Approx. 615 x 510'.

Roman Engineering• The Roman amphitheater, or

_____________, was so well constructed that it became the prototype for the modern sports stadium.

• The oval plan seems to have developed from the idea of facing and enclosing two theaters (___________derives from Greek ___________, “around,” and ______________, “theater”).

• The Flavian Amphitheater , the largest in the ancient world, could hold up to __________________________spectators.

• They were sheltered from rain and sun by an ______________________.

• Construction materials included travertine (a kind of marble), brick, concrete, and tufa (a soft volcanic rock that hardens on exposure to the air).

• The amphitheater was an arena for displays of combat

• The games served a political ___________________________________________________________________________________.

The Arch, The Vault, and Concrete• Post-and-lintel construction spans an opening with a flat beam of

wood or stone, but an _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________; these elements are most often wedge-shaped blocks . The central block is called the keystone.

• ________________________were used not just for their immense support capabilities but as well for their power to ___________________________________________. The extension of the arch idea lead to the development of domes. The largest dome built ____________________was the _____________________. The idea of the arch was further extended in the middle ages with the barrel vault and other types of vaults which became the central theme of the Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals .

Notes

The Types of Vaults

• A _____________________is related to an arch in that ____________________________________f. The Romans used three basic types of vaults:

– Barrel Vault or ________________– Groined Vault or ____________________– Cloister or __________________________

Barrel or “Tunnel” Vault

• Windows can be placed __________________.

• These vaults require________________to _____________________thedownward thrust ofweight.

Groin Vault

• Also called a _________________.

• Needs less ________________.

Multi Groin Vaults• A series of groin vaults

can have open lateral arches that form Clerestories.

• Windows that allow light into the interior of churches.

• These concrete windows are __________________________[an important consideration since many early churches burned!]

NotesCONCRETE

– created a revolution in ____________________________– create larger, heavier buildings– Roman ____________________(opus caementicium), like modern

concrete, is an ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. Binding agent is a substance which is mixed with the aggregate wet (water added) and solidifies when it dries, or "sets."

– The advantages of opus caementicium can be summarized as follows: a) _____________________________________________________________; b) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________c) __________________________________________________________; d) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________; e) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Roman Pantheon c. 126 AD

• A temple devoted to ______________________________________________________________________

• ___________________t high and same in width

• ___________________in roof center open to sky, called _______________________; symbolic of ______________________

• Essentially an arch rotated 360 degrees

• One of the few buildings from antiquity to survive intact

• The Pantheon __________________________________________; relates the order of Roman rule to the Romans’ reverence for a universal order.

Giovanni Panini. Interior of the Pantheon, Rome. c. 1734.4' 2 1/2" x 3' 3".

Cylindrical Dome• With the dome, the

Romans could surpass earlier cultures by their ability to ____________________________________.

• Light enters throughthe _______________________on top.

The Pantheon Plans

The Pantheon

Pantheon’s Dome

The Pantheon Interior

Roman Architecture

Innovative Engineering Techniques

• Roads – macadam• Aqueducts• Arch Bridge • Arch, vaults, and concrete all helped

to create and to convey the power and majesty of the Roman Empire.

Via Appia

Roman Aqueduct

Jefferson Memorial

The US Capitol Building

Metropolitan Museum of Art