Roman Sculpture

Roman Sculpture, with artists from across a huge empireand changing public tastes over centuries, is
above all else, remarkable for its sheer variety and eclectic mix. The art form blended the idealised
perfection of earlier Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism and absorbed
artistic preferences and styles from the East to create images in stone and bronzewhich rank among
the finest works from antiquity. Aside from their own unique contribution, Roman sculptors have also,
with their popular copies of earlier Greek masterpieces, preserved for posterity invaluable works which
would have otherwise been completely lost to world art.

Origins
Although Rome was founded as far back as 750 BCE, it led a precarious existence for
several centuries. Initially, it was ruled by Etruscan kings who commissioned a variety
of Etruscan art (murals, sculptures and metalwork) for their tombs as well as their palaces,
and to celebrate their military victories. After the founding of the Roman Republic in 500
BCE, Etruscan influence waned and, from 300 BCE, as the Romans started coming into
contact with the flourishing Greek cities of southern Italy and the eastern Mediterranean,
they fell under the influence of Greek art - a process known as Hellenization. Soon many
Greek works of art were being taken to Rome as booty, and many Greek artists followed to
pursue their careers under Roman patronage.
However, the arts were still not a priority for Roman leaders who were more concerned
about survival and military affairs. It wasn't until about 200 BCE after it won the first Punic
War against Hannibal and the Carthaginians, that Rome felt secure enough to develop its
culture. Even then, the absence of an independent cultural tradition of its own meant that
most ancient art of Rome imitated Greek works. Rome was unique among the powers of the
ancient world in developing only a limited artistic language of its own.

Evolution

As with Greek sculpture, the Romans worked stone, precious metals, glass and terracotta but
favoured bronze and marble above all else for their finest work. However, as metal has always been in
high demand for re-use, most of the surviving examples of Roman sculpture are in marble.
The Roman taste for Greek and Hellenistic sculpture meant that once the supply of original pieces
had been exhausted sculptors had to make copies and these could be of varying quality depending on
the sculptors skills. Indeed, there was a school specifically for copying celebrated Greek originals
in Athens andRome itself, the latter headed by Pasiteles along with Archesilaos, Evander, Glykon and
Apollonios. An example of the schools work is the 1st century BCE marble statue of Orestes and
Electra, now in the archaeological museum of Naples. Roman sculptors also produced miniaturised
copies of Greek originals, often in bronze, which were collected by art-lovers and displayed in cabinets
in the home.
Roman sculpture did, however, begin to search for new avenues of artistic expression, moving away
from their Etruscan and Greek roots, and, by the mid-1st century CE, Roman artists were seeking to
capture and create optical effects of light and shade for greater realism. By later antiquity, there was
even a move towards impressionism using tricks of light and abstract forms.
Sculpture also became more monumental with massive, larger-than-life statues of emperors, gods and
heroes such as the huge bronze statues of Marcus Aurelius on horseback or the even bigger statue
ofConstantine I (only the head, hand and some limbs survive), both of which now reside in the
Capitoline Museums of Rome. Towards the end of the Empire, sculpture of figures tended to lack
proportion, heads especially were enlarged, and figures were most often presented flatter and from
the front, displaying the influence of Eastern art.
Constantine I

It is in portraiture that Roman sculpture really comes to the fore.

It is also important to distinguish two quite distinct markets for Roman sculpture, the first was the
aristocratic ruling class taste for more classical and idealistic sculpture whilst the second, more
provincial, middle-class market seems to have preferred a more naturalistic and emotional type of
sculpture, especially in portraiture and funerary works (although the limitations of artists away from
the larger urban centres may also have had something to do with the differences in styles). An
interesting comparison of the two approaches may be found in Trajans Column in Rome and a
trophy at Adamklissi commemorating the same Dacian campaigns.
Statuary & Portrait Sculpture
As with the Greeks, the Romans loved to represent their gods in statues. When Roman
emperors began to claim divinity then they too became the subject of often colossal and idealised
statues, often with the subject portrayed with an arm raised to the masses and striking a suitably
authoritative stance as in theAugustus of the Prima Porta.

Statues could also be used for decorative purposes in the home or garden and they could be
miniaturized, especially in precious metals such as silver. One type of such statues which were peculiar
to the Romans was the Lares Familiares. These were usually in bronze and represented the spirits
which protected the home. They were typically displayed in pairs in a niche within the house and are
youthful figures with arms raised and long hair who typically wear a tunic and sandals.

However, it is in the specific area of portraiture that Roman sculpture really comes to the fore and
differentiates itself from other artistic traditions. The realism in Roman portrait sculpture may well
have developed from the tradition of keeping wax funeral masks of deceased family members in the
ancestral home which were worn by mourners at family funerals. These were very often accurate
depictions where even the defects and less flattering physical aspects of a particular face were
recorded. Transferred to stone, we then have many examples of private portrait busts which move
away from the idealised portraits of earlier sculpture and present the subject as old, wrinkled, scarred
or flabby; in short, these portraits tell the truth.
Once again, for official portraits of the ruling elite, in contrast to lower class subjects, the subject
continued to be idealised, for example, the statue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus has the emperor
looking much more youthful and fresh-faced than he actually was at the time of sculpting (end of the
1st century BCE). However, by the time of Claudius in the mid 1st century CE, and even more so
under Nero and the Flavian emperors, official portraiture on occasion strove for more realism. In the
same period female portraits are also notable for their elaborate hairstyles and they no doubt were
prime instigators in fashion trends.
Under Hadrian there was a return to idealised images such as in Classical Greek sculpture (e.g. the
colossal statue of Antinous, c. 130 CE) but there was an important innovation in terms of a more
natural rendering of the eyes in marble works. Previously, pupil and iris had only been painted on to

the sculpture but now these also came to be sculpted as had been the case in bronze and terracotta
works.
Realism once more returned with the Antonines, and such features as crows-feet and flabbiness
return. There was also at this time a trend for polishing the skin parts of the marble which then
contrasted, in particular, with the hair, which was deeply carved and left unpolished. In addition, in this
period it became fashionable to have a complete torso rather than just the shoulders below the head.
(See, for example, the bust of Commodus as Hercules, c. 190-2 CE in the Capitoline Museum,
Rome). The bust of Caracalla (c. 215 CE) in the same museum is another good example of the
abandonment of idealism in elite portraiture for the emperor has a closely cropped beard, determined
turn of the head, taught mouth and mean-looking eyes which clearly betray his character.
By the late Empire elite portraiture becomes formulaic and abandons all attempts at realistically
capturing the physical attributes of the subject. Representation of emperors such as Diocletian,
Galerius and Constantine I (see the colossal bronze head in the Capitoline Museums), for example,
have hardly any distinguishable physiognomic features, perhaps in an attempt to assert the emperors
distance from ordinary mortals and proximity to the divine.

Famous Portraits of Roman Emperors

Famous busts and statues of Roman leaders include:
-

Statue of Augustus (Ruled 27-14 CE) (Livia's Villa, Prima Porta)

Statue of Tiberius in Old Age (14-37) (Capitoline Museum)
Bust of Caligula (37-41) (Louvre)
Statue of Claudius as the God Jupiter (41-54) (Vatican Museum)
Head of Nero (54-68) (British Museum)
Bust of Galba (68-69) (Capitoline Museum)
Statue of Titus (79-81) (Vatican Museum)
Bust of Trajan (98-117) (British Museum)
Bronze Statue of Hadrian (117-138) (Israel Museum)
Bronze Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius (180) (Piazza del Campidoglio)
Statue of Commodus as Hercules (180-192) (Capitoline Museum)
Bust of Gordian II (238) (Capitoline Museum)
Bust of Pupienus (238) (Capitoline Museum)
Bust of Balbinus (238) (Capitoline Museum)
Bust of Maxentius (306-312) (Museo Torlonia)
Colossal Head of Constantine (307-337) (Basilica Nova)

Architectural Sculpture
Sculpture on Roman buildings could be merely decorative or have a more political purpose, for
example, ontriumphal arches (which most often celebrated military victories) the architectural
sculpture captured in detail key campaign events which reinforced the message that the emperor was
a victorious and civilizing agent across the known world. A typical example is the Arch of Constantine
in Rome (c. 315 CE) which also shows defeated and enslaved barbarians to ram home the message
of Romes superiority. Similarly, on columns such as Trajans Column (c. 113 CE), the sculpture could

show the emperor as a fine leader - meticulously prepared, militarily innovative and suitably inspiring
to his troops. Such a portrayal of real people and specific historical figures in architectural sculpture is
in marked contrast to Greek sculpture where great military victories were usually presented in
metaphor using figures from Greek mythology like amazons and centaurs such as on
the Parthenon.
Altars could also be used to present important individuals in a favourable light, perhaps the first such
piece is the altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus from Rome (c. 100 BCE) which may depict the
orator Marcus Antonius. The most famous altar of all is the Ara Pacis of Augustus (completed 9 BCE)
in Rome, a huge block of masonry which depicts spectators and participants at a religious procession.
Unlike later official sculpture the representation of the emperor is understated but what makes the
monument significant is the rendering of the figures in a state of action. It seems as though they have
been captured in a single moment as in a photograph, a child pulls on a toga, Augustus sister tells
two chatterers to be silent and so on.

Funerary Sculpture

Funeral busts and stelae (tombstones) were one of the most common forms of sculpture in the Roman
world. These sculptures could portray the deceased alone, with their partner, children and even slaves
(see the 1st century CE gravestone of the corn-merchant Ampudius, now in the British Museum).
Figures usually wear a toga and women can hold the pudicitia pose with hand on chin in
remorse. Grave altars were also common and these could carry relief scenes from the deceaseds life
or stock scenes and those of the more wealthy could portray different generations of family members.

From the 2nd century CE burial (as opposed to the more traditional cremation) became more
common and so a market developed for sarcophagi. These were carved in stone and often had scenes
from mythology sculpted in high relief on all four sides and even the lid. Asiatic sarcophagi were the
most highly decorated with reliefs cut almost in the round. The Proconnesian type had sculpture above
maidens holding garlands and the Rome type had a blank side for placing the sarcophagi against
a wall. By the 2nd century CE the sculpture could also include a portrait of the occupant, usually in
heroic guise, perhaps as a victorious general or, later still, in a dedicated panel or tondo on the front
side.
Outstanding Examples
The two large relief panels from the Arch of Titus in Rome are celebrated as the first successful
attempt to create depth and space in sculpture. The panels depict scenes from the emperors
triumphal procession in 71 CE following his campaigns in Judaea, one shows Titus riding a fourhorse chariot whilst the other shows the spoils from the temple of Jerusalem. A perspective is
successfully achieved by having the figures recede into the background, carving the figures in higher
relief the closer they are to the foreground, having the relief higher towards the centre of the scene
and having the background of the panel curve slightly inwards. Thus a bustling scene of depth and
movement is created.
The 3.52 m high gilded-bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is one of the most imposing
bronze statues surviving from antiquity. It was probably erected between 176-180 CE at an unknown
location in Rome. The statue commemorated either the emperors victories over the Germanic tribes in
176 CE or his death in 180 CE. The remarkable survival of the statue has been credited to the fact
that the emperor may have been mistaken for Constantine. Much needed restoration work was carried

out in the late 1980s CE as the statue had been slowly withering away in the open air but it now takes
pride of place in a purpose built room in the Capitoline Museums of Rome.
The portrait of Commodus as the hero Hercules (c. 190-2 CE) is a striking example of how elite
portraiture in Roman art could be both realistic and idealistic at the same time. The features of the
emperor are distinctly recognisable and his expression shouts a self-assured indifference of the
onlooker. However, the artist too, has, either intentionally or not, revealed something of the arrogance
and weakness of this infamous emperor. In a powerful description by Mortimer Wheeler:
The smooth and effeminate Emperor with his weak arms, his flaccid feeble face in its aureole of drilled and
over-barbered hair, reeking of pomade, the property lion-scalp and club and the tiny apple of the
Hesperides in that tenuous manicured hand, is delicate but brutally expressive charade. No doubt it
delighted, as it revealed, the sadistic pervert whom it has so faithfully immortalized. (1964, 170)

Painting
The greatest innovation of Roman painters was the development of landscape painting, a
genre in which the Greeks showed little interest. Also noteworthy was their development of
a very crude form of linear perspective. In their effort to satisfy the huge demand for
paintings throughout the empire, from officials, senior army officers, householders and the
general public, Roman artists produced panel paintings (in encaustic and tempera), large
and small-scale murals (in fresco), and mastered all the painting genres, including their own
brand of "triumphal" history painting. Most surviving Roman paintings are from Pompeii and
Herculanum, as the erruption of Vesuvius in 79 helped to preserve them. Most of them are
decorative murals, featuring seascapes and landscapes, and were painted by skilled 'interior
decorators' rather than virtuoso artists - a clue to the function of art in Roman society.
Panel Paintings
In Rome, as in Greece, the highest form of painting was panel painting. Executed using the
encaustic or tempera methods, panel paintings were mass-produced in their thousands for
display in offices and public buildings throughout the empire. Unfortunately, almost all
painted panels have been lost. The best surviving example from Classical Antiquity is
probably the "Severan Tondo" (c.200 CE, Antikensammlung Berlin), a portrait of Roman
Emperor Septimus Severus with his family, painted in tempera on a circular wood panel. The
best example from the Roman Empire is the astonishing series of Fayum Mummy
portraits painted in Egypt during the period 50 BCE to 250 CE.
Triumphal Paintings
Roman artists were also frequently commissioned to produce pictures highlighting military
successes - a form known as Triumphal Painting. This type of history painting - usually
executed as a mural painting in fresco - would depict the battle or campaign in meticulous
detail, and might incorporate mixed-media adornments and map designs to inform and
impress the public. Since they were quick to produce, many of these triumphal works would
have influenced the composition of historical reliefs like the Column of Marcus Aurelius.
Murals

Roman murals - executed either "al fresco" with paint being applied to wet plaster, or "al
secco" using paint on dry walls - are usually classified into four periods, as set out by the
German archaeologist August Mau following his excavations at Pompeii.
The First Style (c.200-80 BCE)
Also known as incrustation or masonry style, it derived from Hellenistic palaces in the Middle
East. Useing vivid colours it simulates the appearance of marble.
The Second Style (c.80 BCE - 100 CE)
This aimed to create the illusion of extra space by painting pictures with significant depth,
such as views overlooking a garden or other landscape. In time, the style developed to
cover the entire wall, creating the impression that one was looking out of a room onto a real
scene.
The Third Style (c.100-200)
This was more ornamental with less illusion of depth. The wall was divided into precise
zones, using pictures of columns or foliage. Scenes painted in the zones were typically
either exotic representations of real or imaginery animals, or merely monochromatic linear
drawings.
The Fourth Style (c.200-400)
This was a mixture of the previous two styles. Depth returned to the mural but it was
executed more decoratively, with greater use of ornamentation. For example, the artist
might paint several windows which, instead of looking out onto a landscape or cityscape,
showed scenes from Greek myths or other fantasy scenes, including still lifes.
Art Styles From the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire incorporated a host of different nationalities, religious groups and
associated styles of art. Chief among them, in addition to earlier Etruscan art of the Italian
mainland, were forms of Celtic culture - namely the Iron Age La Tene style (c.450-50 BCE) which was accomodated within the Empire in an idiom known as Roman-Celtic art, and the
hieratic style of Egyptian art, which was absorbed into the Hellenistic-Roman idiom.
Late Roman Art (c.350-500)
During the Christian epoch, the division of the Roman Empire into a weak Western Roman
Empire (based in Ravenna and Rome) and a strong Eastern Roman Empire (based in
Constantinople), led to changes in Late Roman art. While wall painting, mosaic art, and
funerary sculpture thrived, life-size statues and panel painting dwindled. In Constantinople,
Roman art absorbed Eastern influences to produce the Byzantine art of the late empire, and
well before Rome was overrun by Visigoths under Alaric (410) and sacked by Vandals under
Gaiseric, Roman artists, master-craftsmen and artisans moved to the Eastern capital to
continue their trade. (See Christian-Byzantine Art.) The Church of Hagia Sophia in
Constantinople, for instance, one of the most famous examples of Roman dome
architecture, provided employment for some 10,000 of these specialists and other
workmen. Commissioned by Emperor Justinian (527-565), the Hagia Sophia, together with
the shimmering mosaics of Ravenna, represented the final gasp of Roman art.

Arch of titus

Statue of Marcus

Hercules

Famous Roman Sculptures

Aphrodite
APHRODITE "VENUS DE MILO"
Museum Collection: Muse du Louvre, Paris, France
Catalogue Number: Louvre Ma 399
Title: "Venus de Milo "
Class: Free-standing statue
Material: Marble
Height: 2.02 metres
Context: Island of Melos in Greece
Original / Copy: Greek original
Style: Hellenistic
Date: ca 130 - 100 BC
Period: Late Hellenistic
SUMMARY
This famous statue of Aphrodite, originally unearthed on the Greek island of Melos,
is commonly known as the Venus de Milo.

Roman Marbles

Portrait Bust of Julius Caesar (c.25 BCE) Vatican Museums.

Ara Pacis Augustae Frieze (13-9 BCE), Ara Pacis Museum, Rome.
Statue of Claudius as Jupiter (41-54 CE) Vatican Museums.
Trajan's Column (113 CE) Relief Sculpture, Rome.
Arch of Constantine (c.312 CE), Rome.
Colossal Head of Constantine (c.320 CE) Capitoline Museum.

Stone Carving Techniques

The carving begins with the chiseling away of large chunks of redundant rock (a process
known as "roughing out", "pitching", or "knocking off"), using a point chisel and a wedgeshaped pitching chisel, together with a masons driving hammer. Once a rough figure
emerges, more precise markings are made with charcoal, pencil or crayon on the stone, and
the sculptor then uses basic hammer and point work technique to create more definition.
Other specific tools (like a toothed chisel, claw chisel, rasps and rifflers) are used to create
the final figure.
During the Renaissance period these the main tools for a sculptors would include: a set of
chisels (Gli Scalpelli) including flat (Scalpello), pointed (Subbia), round-ended (Unghietto),
toothed (Gradina), and splitting (Scapezzatore) chisels; a mallet (La Mazza) used to strike
the chisel. As well as this, the sculptor would use several different hammers - to strike the
edge-tools like the chisels and also the stone itself.
In addition to these traditional tools, 20th-century sculptors had access to pneumatic
hammers, as well as other power tools like a diamond-bladed angle-grinder, and numerous
hand drills. Today, in keeping with the principles ofpostmodernist art, stone carvers may use
even more sophisticated equipment, such as oxy-acetylene torches, lasers and jet heat
torches. The latter was used to create the granite Crazy Horse Memorial at Mount
Rushmore.
Famous Stone Sculptures

Canterbury Cathedral Stone Reliefs (10th Century), England.

Saint-Lazare Cathedral Stone Reliefs (10th/11th Century) Autun, France.
Sainte-Marie Abbey Stone Reliefs (10th/11th Century) Souillac, France.
Sainte-Foy Abbey Church Reliefs (12th Century) Conques-en-Rouergue.

Conclusion
Roman sculpture, then, has provided us not only with a priceless record of earlier Greek masterpieces
but it has also contributed great works in their own right. Unique contributions to the art form include
the use of historical narratives and an unprecedented realism in portraits which could take the form of
grandiose emperors dressed as gods or more humble depictions of lesser mortals which, with the
rendering of particular physical features and emotional expressions, allow us to feel a little closer to a
people that lived so long ago.

Byzantine Sculpture

Byzantine sculpture in the early days.

The Byzantine sculpture In the early days is more an extensions of the Hellenistic
art were portraits of great force were produced. Sculpture underwent changes very
similar to those in architecture were several good examples of secular architecture
survive from that period, including vestiges of an atrium in the Great Palace in
Constantinople, decorated with an splendor mosaic plan that represent daily life
themes and the riches and wonders of the empire. In scuplture the forms are still
basically representational, but they are treated in an abstract manner what give us
an indication how the symbolic character of the art becomes gradually more
important over even its expression and aesthetic, responding to the new theology
and ecclesiastical power. For instance the three-dimensional representational
sculpture forms they inherited from the hellenistic period in the early days of the
long Byzantine period progressively were reduced until they vaguely used them in
subsequent stages.

Byza
ntine Diptychs

Previous to the iconoclastic period themes were more related to religious themes.
Representation of sacred figures and saints were prolific also in sculpture as
they were used elsewhere in art such as painting and mosaic, although we also see
more everyday themes and motifs from nature that were still reminiscence from the
Hellenistic influence. Many represent animals loaded with symbolism, Christian,
Dove, deer, peafowl, or acrostics signs (form of writing in which taking the first
letter; syllable or Word of different lines and putting them together it can be read a
message) these contained a great theological significance.

During the Iconoclastic struggle sculpture representations are forced to completed

abandon sacred images representations and the naturalistic themes rich the
predominance. The struggle between icondulos (for images) and iconoclasm
(opponents of the images) resulted in the year 754 that all art; based on religious
images were banned in the Eastern Church. They try to put an end to the religious
images and the cult of the images represented were banned.The exempt sculpture
lost importance and was reduced to the Arts under the ivory, enamel, bronze and
gold, material in with they work the bas-relief with great skill. The topics
represented during the iconoclastic period persecution were the geometric, astral
and figures of animals, with uneven and concave moldings (estrigilos).

Sculpture after the Iconoclastic struggle.

After the Iconoclastic period important Byzantine sculpture are the one of small
sizes such as the diptychs and boxes, carved in ivory; which was used for the
realization of objects of luxury and religious use, preferred by the elites of
Constantinople and brought from places such as Egypt and the India. The
elaboration of these art pieces in ivory does not require a complex structure such as
workshops, and numerous people is rather a handmade work of careful and detailed
made by the artisan and some other Assistant but their results are of incomparable
beauty and exquisiteness accessible only to the wealthy hierarchies.

This Art work are of incomparable beauty and exquisiteness accessible only to the
wealthy hierarchies

After the culmination of this iconoclastic period there is a return to the worship of
images, but not to return to idolatry and under the influence of the new Islamic
currents the human figures representations disappears in the exempt statuary to
avoid the idolatry again. The most outstanding works are the ornaments of the
capitals with vegetal motifs competing with animals figures such as those of San
Vitale of Ravenna or the sarcophagi with themes as the good Shepherd.

Scuplture representation in Sarcophagis in the Byzantine art.

In sculpture, the best sample of the Byzantine art can be found located in the reliefs
of the sarcophagis.Subsequent to the year 313 the figurative items, inspired by the
Roman models are the most common, on the fronts of the sarcophagi appear reliefs,
which initially only follow aesthetics classical example is The sarcophagus of
Probes, but subsequently reproduces the forms in flat designs and figures with the
same size. These were placed in the levels or spaces with structure of arches that
give unit to the scene.

The better examples in the sculpture in this period relate to the decoration of the
sarcophagi:
- The life of Christ.
- Scenes from the Old Testament (Daniel and the Lions)

- The sacrifice of Abraham.

- Adam and Eve.
Among the most important sarcophagi are:
- The June Basso (Vatican)
- The dogmatic or the Trinity. (Museum Lateran)