Classical Greco Roman Art
During the period of crisis in the Roman Republic when the Greekinfluence on art became increasingly strong, Roman art began to emerge asan entity in itself. In 146 B.C.E., a sculptural style came into being thatis generally known as Greco-Roman, a term which indicates that the twostyles cannot be readily separated from each other. Much of the originalart of this period was produced by Greek immigrant artists, but the growingRoman fascination with individual traits of personality is most apparent intheir portrait sculpture, a field in which Romans artists made one of theirmost original contributions to Western culture. But the idealism of Greekart continued to captivate the Romans, for great numbers of Greek statuesstood in the Roman forums and in public and private buildings. But even while under the spell of Greek art, the Roman portraitistsproduced works that have no parallel in Greek art. The Roman desire forliteralness, together with the custom of keeping works of art in the Romanhouse, influenced the sculptors to accentuate individual traits stillfurther. For example, The Head of a Roman is striking by virtue of itscharacter, seemingly alive and mask-like. The character in this piec
This work is of the highest quality and was very likelydone by a Greek artist. Seven terraces rising against thehillside are placed with rigid axial symmetry; 5the top terrace carried a semicircular double colonnade that contained thesanctuary proper, probably in the form of a small round temple. The portrait bust of Vespasian, who reigned asemperor from 69 to 79 A. ) that was once part of a colossalstatue some thirty feet high. He 3also has the Greek beard and is one of the first to abandon the age-oldtradition of the clean-shaven face. The creation of portraiture sculpture, however, truly began under theinfluence of Augustan Rome's admiration of Hellenic/Greek culture and theemperor's apparent determination to base a cultural renewal of Rome uponit. , forcefully reveals him as a successful andconfident general who desired to return to Republican simplicity afterNero's extravagant reign. In thispiece, it is likely that the artist was very concerned about creating alikeness that would be far more than a mere facial record. Greek style and reflects the emperor'sclassical taste that prevailed over Hellenistic realism. The Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome, dating from the second centuryB.
Common topics in this essay:
Head Roman,
BCE Greek,
Roman Empire,
Republic Sulla,
Republic Greek,
Archaic Period,
Virilis Rome,
Fortuna Virilis,
Marcus Aurelius,
Romans Greek,
greek art,
art roman,
greek art roman,
republican period,
century bce,
roman empire,
fortuna virilis,
portrait statuary,
greek influence,
individual traits,
roman art,
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