Chapter 7: Roman Art Instructor's Manual

PART ONE: THE ANCIENT WORLD

CHAPTER SEVEN: ROMAN ART

Roman Art

• Roman temples that developed during the Republican period echo the Greek prostyle plan

• Early evidence of Roman building characteristics can be seen in the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Palestrina, east of Rome. Dating from the early 1^st century B.C., this complex exhibits an early use of concrete, barrel vaults, and engaged columns.

• The Forum of Caesar, constructed during the end of Julius Caesar’s life, furnished the prototype for all later Imperial forums.

• Impressive examples of Roman architecture in the Provinces include the Pont du Gard and the Maison Carrée in Nimes.

• The potential of vaults and arches and the use of concrete was explored by the Romans in such buildings as the Colosseum, Pantheon, and the Basilicia of Constantine.

• Roman sculpture had its origins in Etruscan and Greek art. During the Republican period, sculptors sought to create veristic (accurate and faithful) portraits of individuals, a practice that may be derived from Roman ancestor veneration.

• A new trend in Roman portraiture emerges with the reign of the Emperor Augustus, that of giving the emperor divine status. Inspired by the Doryphoros by Polykleitos, the Augustus of Primaporta carries various levels of meaning.

• The most important of Augustus’ monuments was the Ara Pacis, built to commemorate his triumphal return to Rome after establishing Roman rule in Spain and Gaul in13 BC.

• Roman houses and villas followed a regular plan, with rooms arranged along a longitudinal axis from the entrance to the garden. An interior courtyard or room, known as the atrium, also defined Roman domestic architecture.

• Late Roman portraiture moves away from the highly realistic busts of Republican and early Imperial Roman sculpture. During the late Roman Empire, we witness a new abstracted patterning that exalts an inner spiritual life rather than an exact portrait representation. The Collassal head of Constantine, from the early 4^th century AD, combines specific physical traits with abstracted features.

• New spiritual attitudes are evident in late antiquity in the writings of Plotinus. Eventually this anti-physical attitude will correlate with the development of Early Christian Art.

• Roman illusionist painting, also known as trompe l’oeil ("fool the eye") was indebted to an earlier tradition that developed in Greece. Paintings such as Still Life with Eggs and Thrushes or Garden, from the Villa of Livia are meant to amuse and delight us, as was recognized by Philostratus the Younger, writing about 300 A.D.

• Like painting, mosaics originated in Greece but were common in Rome during the 1^st and 2^nd centuries AD.

• A large quantity of Roman craft art also survives including coins, glass vases, and cameos.

Key Terms/Places/Names

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss how the "Temple of Fortuna Virilis" exemplifies Roman temple design.
   
   
2. Discuss the plan of a typical Roman house.
   
   
3. Discuss the characteristics of a typical Roman basilica. How does the Basilica of Constantine in Rome differ from the standard design?
   
   
4. Compare and contrast Roman portraits of the Republican times with those of Imperial Rome.
   
   
5. What aspects of Roman engineering enabled the Pont du Gard, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum to be constructed? What was the purpose of each of these buildings?
   
   
6. What is meant by the term illusionism and how is it achieved in the Wall Painting from the Villa of Livia at Primaporta?
   
   
7. Roman architecture was both inventive and derivative. How is the Maison Carrée related to both Greek and Etruscan designs? What specific aspects of the design are uniquely Roman?
   
   
8. In what ways do primary sources such as the writings of Pliny the Elder, Vitravius, Plutarch, Vergil, Livy, Polybius, and Dio Cassiu, assist our understanding of the art of the Romans?
   
   
9. How would you characterize changes in Imperial Roman portraiture through the age of Constantine?

Resources

Balsdon, J.P.V.D. Roman Women: Their History and Habits. London: Bodley Head, 1962.

Cary, M. And H.H. Scullard. A History of Rome. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

Christ, Karl. The Romans: An Introduction to Their History and Civilization. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.

Cornell, Tim and John Matthews. Atlas of the Roman World. New York: Facts on File, 1982.

Guilland, Jacqueline and Maurice Guilland. Frescoes in the Time of Pompeii, New York: Potter, 1990.

Kahler, Heinz. The Art of Rome and Her Empire, tr. J.R. Foster. Art of the World. New York: Crown, 1963.

Ramage, Nancy H., and Andrew Ramage. Roman Art: Romulus to Constantine. New York: Abrams, 1991.

Wheeler, Robert Eric Mortimer, Sir. Roman Art and Architecture. World of Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Wilkinson, L. P. The Roman Experience. New York: Knopf, 1974.

Ancient Civilizations of the Mediterranean. CD-ROM, FFTH.

Ancient Rome. VHS, FFTH. 49 min.

Cyber Rome. VHS, FFTH. 38 min.

Intimate Details of Roman Life. VHS, FFTH. 27 min.

Journey through Ancient Pompeii. VHS, FFTH. 25 min.

Pompeii, City of Painting. VHS, VOA. 12 min.

Pompeii: Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. FFTH. 45 min.

Romans, CD-ROM. FFTH.

The Beginnings: The Greeks and Romans. VHS, FFTH. 24 min.

The Roman Arena. VHS, FFTH. 50 min.

© 1995-2001 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Company Distance Learning at Prentice Hall Legal Notice