Roman Art: an Universal Art!

At first sight roman art can seems nothing more than a copy and continuation of classic greek art but it is not like that. Sure it is undeniable the influence of greek art on roman one but Rome history is so long and complex that we cannot reduce roman art to an imitation of greek one. Moreover we should distinguish art of Rome among monarchical,republican and imperial. Monarchical or archaic art of Rome’s history is largely influenced by Etruscan art so much that in order to find some figurative artworks surely produce by roman civilization we need to wait the fourth and the third century b.C. with a bronze container which tells the myth of the Argonauts known as Cista Ficoroni. Among the most important works of arcaich-monarchical Rome we need to remember Cloaca Maxima(larger sewer) and the Servian Walls.

 

 

The first artistic phases of Republican Art are rather simple and refined at all but it was the contact with the hellenic art to press ahead roman art. The conquest of Magna Graecia by Romans sanctioned military superiority of Rome city toward greeks, which however at the same time, was not able to resist to immortal charm of greek art which in a certain sense conquered in its turn Rome thanks to its culture. Roman republic had an ambivalent relationship compared to greek art since in a first moment was disliked along with greek philosophers and poets while little by little that centuries passed, it was more and more appreciated. In fact were born two schools of thougth: the first philhellenes which loved greek art and that was headed by Circle of Scipioni while the second one philoromaniac and conservative at whose head there was Cato the Censor. Greek artworks came to Rome after the submission of Magna Graecia by Rome and they were more and more required from the clientele of collectors so much that original artworks were no longer sufficent. All of that lead to the rise of thriving market of greek copies which had to meet ever -increasing roman costumers,a phenomenon that took the name of Neo-attic. The first signs of peculiar roman art were noticed only under the government of the dictator Sulla,mostly in architecture,painting and sculptural portraits. These last were characterized by a marked realism which did not leave the imperfections of faces as well as the signs of time. As concerns the field of painting the roman tradition is also called “pompeian” thanks to several findings the archaeological site of Pompeii after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 a.C. Each walls of stately house of such period were decorated by amazing frescoes rich ad detailed few of which have survived in good state of maintenence. In the republic period, roman painting is divided into four styles which would be more correct to call “decorative schemes”. The first style of hellenistic derivation was documented thanks to architectorial incrustation painted(from III to II century b.C.) while the second style did not leave many traces outside Rome. It was definded “tromp l’oeil architectures”and it is thought may have been a roman invention.(from 120 to 50 b.C.) The third style was ornamental and overlapped the second one reaching up the time of emperor Claudius (41-54 a.C.) However the fourth style called “perspective illusionism” was very rich even though did not propose  anything new. Roman architecture of republican period showed its constructive genius especially in public works as big road network(that still exists)which then allowed the birth and development of huge roman empire. In this period does not lack the constructions of sacred buildings of course,as temple,but far more important was the constructions of bridges,galleries and aqueducts few of which still working nowadays! The most important examples about temples of republican age are the Forum of Caesar and the temple of Venus Genetrix but just with the restoration of temple of  Apollo Sosianus in 32 a.C. Rome will be able to compete finally with elegance and harmony of greek temples.

The imperial art of Rome was born with the classicism desired by the first Roman emperor namely Augustus who began a decisive and radical urban transformation of Rome that developed in a monumental sense. He greatly increased the construction of buildings such as thermal baths, triumphal arches and amphitheaters the largest and most famous of which was the Flavian Amphitheater better known as the Colosseum which was inaugurated by Titus in 80 a.C and later completed by Domitian. Mention must also be made of such important buildings as the Theatre of Marcellus, the Amphitheater of Pula, the Arena of Verona, and the Theater of Orange. In sculpture there is a strong influence of classical Greek art, which is especially evident in the sculptures of deities and important figures in Roman society. Rather emblematic are some sculptures depicting Emperor Augustus including Augustus as pontifex maximus and Augustus Ioricate the latter reworked from the famous Doriphorus of Polyclitus.Neo-Atticism was precisely the term used to refer to Roman works idealized as classical Greek art, which, however, in the long run reduced the sculptures to mere perfect and balanced but cold and uninnovative academic works. The gradual break from sculptural neo-Atticism occurred only with the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In painting the so-called Pompeian styles and illusionistic garden painting dominated. In the Augustan era there was also a notable boost of glyptic art(the art of engraving gems and semi-precious stones) and toreutic, which would be the art of working with metal. Prominent among the many finds from this period are the Hildesheim treasure ,the Augustan gemstone(29.b.C) the Augustus cameo in Rome and the Great Cameo of France.

Emperor Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which continued with his sons Titus and Domitian, who completed Rome’s most representative work, namely the Colosseum. Another architectural-sculptural masterpiece of this period is the Arch of Titus, a triumphal arch sculpted with relief figures. The era of the Flavian dynasty was also important because in architecture there was a gradual detachment from Hellenism that led to the construction of hemispherical domes as in the Domus Transitoria and Domus Aurea and the perfection of the barrel vault technique. The total detachment from the influence of Greek art occurred with Emperor Trajan who with the extraordinary reliefs of the famous Trajan Column, which were meant to celebrate the conquest of Dacia(Romania today), brought an innovation to Roman art in fact the historical relief of this period returned to the heights of the great masterpieces of ancient art. The innovations of the Trajan’s Column reliefs can be summarized in the stark realism of the battle scenes that tend to show the impetus of the struggle, the suffering, the pain of the vanquished without idealizations or theatricality.

With Emperor Hadrian Hellenism came back into vogue as he was very fond of classical Greek art. He had Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli built and the Pantheon rebuilt while in sculpture portraits of Antinous were typical, who was a young Greek lover of Emperor Hadrian whom the latter deified. The classicism of Hadrian’s time continued with the dynasty of the Antonines or adoptive emperors who produced works with a marked chiaroscuro contrast as seen in the base of the Antonine Column. With the empire of the eccentric Commodus there was an artistic breakthrough especially in sculpture in that the spatial dimension was improved and symbolic-religious themes or irrational facts were introduced as can be seen by looking at the Column of Marcus Aurelius.

With the Late Empire began the decline of the Roman Empire due to severe political, social, and economic instability that resulted in the crises of the third century. Roman art became totally detached from Hellenism and the world of nature by abandoning form and increasingly taking refuge in the irrational world and metaphysical abstraction. So-called plebeian or provincial art also prevailed in Rome during this period because of the increasing influx of commoners and a loss of power and importance of the patrician aristocracy. Roman society and art have in fact always been characterized by a strong dualism between patricians and plebeians. The latter gave rise to a popular, simple, clear, and immediate art that aimed to flatter patrons and then developed into an increasingly free and expressionist art that broke more away from Hellenism and then flowed into medieval art. In contrast, patrician or courtly art was an art related to Hellenism and the rational form of nature that was precisely celebrated with degrees of official works. Aulic art survived in Constantinople and was gradually renewed until it blossomed into Byzantine art.

The art of the Lower Empire continues with the abandonment of natural harmony to focus on the representation of a concept rather than exactness of form. This can be seen in the colossal statue of Constantine(12 meters high) equipped with large unnatural eyes expressing the divine power of the emperor. Also in the famous Arch of Constantine the tendency is to detach from spatial realism in fact the sculpted figures do not adhere to perspective reality but to an idealized reality demonstrated especially by the figure of the emperor who giantizes unnaturally compared to the figures around him precisely to mark the aura of transcendent divinity that the emperor had with respect to his subjects. Constantine was also very important for the famous edict of 313 that allowed freedom of worship for Christians and led to the development of a Christian public art, which at first resulted in the building of imposing and sumptuous basilicas and then evolved into the famous early Christian art.

Roman art was a conduit between ancient art and the successive artistic manifestations that later led to the emergence of Carolingian, Gothic, and Renaissance art. In fact, it is not excessive to say that Roman art was a universal art since thanks to the vastness of the Roman empire it spread to an infinity of different places even beyond the borders of the empire influencing thousands of artists for so many centuries and which, we can be sure, will continue to fascinate billions of people in the centuries to come!

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