Throughout history woman have most importantly played roles as the mother and caregiver of the family and were not valued as important figures in society that allowed them a right to speak or to be heard. The most notable way in which a person can view and try to understand the role of women and how they were viewed in their society is by observing and studying the art in a certain society. From depictions of women in paintings, portraits, and sculptures, they provide a means of translating the feelings of each society and how much women were admired and believed what position they belonged in their society. The society that took great pride in the articulate depiction of women were the Romans. I believe the examples of this can be seen in these three portrayals; the ancient Roman fresco portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife, marble portrait bust of Livia-wife of Augustus, and the portrait bust of the young Flavian woman. From these three portrayals, I will try to show how the women in this society were viewed by describing in detail the characteristics of each piece.
The wall painting of the husband and wife can be considered as a portrait because of a number of reasons: the character portrayal of the two subjects, the possi
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Furthermore, the woman’s curly hair, earrings and probably expensive red cloak are unable to conceal her seemingly embarrassment at having to pose for such a long time surrounded by unfamiliar onlookers. Her face with its hawked like nose, fine features, large eyes and small elegant mouth, correspond to Roman perceptions of female beauty. The feature that is the most obvious and stands out the most is her curly hair. Most of this information comes from frescos, records and of skeletons extracted from the ruins of the city. With her hair combed and rolled over her forehead, and pulled back partly covering the upper portions of her ears and knotted in the back of her neck shows, with her flawless features, that they are seemingly close to the image of a classical Greek goddess. The only major difference between her facial features and that of Livia would be her larger mouth and her very long neck. Not only that, but being painted next to her husband could show that she is too a half of their importance to their society and of equal importance. She is depicted lady like, with her hair properly styled and her garments clean and orderly, showing that she had a certain class and demeanor about her. Each individual curl is sculpted as being by itself and not a complete single hair style.
The portrait bust of Livia shows her facial features from her neck up. The high cheekbones, full lips, large dark eyes, and darkened complexion could be typical of males in their society. The husband is depicted holding a scroll against his chin, while she has her stylus and diptych open, as if in the act of finishing off a poem or short story. Being the third wife of Emperor Augustus we can conclude that there was genuine loyalty and mutual respect between the two. ble position of the picture on the wall so as to be visible to anybody passing through the hall, and the shape and size of the frame which resembles a wooden panel around the image.
Approximate Word count =
834
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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