AHIS Final

Julio-Claudian Sculpture

NEXT PART

Julio-Claudian Introduction

• Julio-Claudian dynasty (14-68 A.D.) founded by Augustus--not an inherited monarchy

• the Principate: not an office as such, but a collection of powers guaranteeing primacy in the state

• portraits of Augustus' grandsons (and adopted sons) Gaius and Lucius--died in early manhood

Princeps in julio-claudian

Tiberius, Gaius “Caligula”, Claudius, Nero

Tiberius (Princeps 14-37 A.D.)

• claudian by birth; son of Livia and stepson of Augustus (adopted by augustus)

• became princeps at age 56 in 14 AD, dollowing the death of augustus

• ancient literary sources generally aristocratic and hostile to Augustus' Julio- Claudian successors (e.g., Suetnoius' Biography of the Caesars, which contains much that is fanciful gossip)
  4. Tiberius' grim and introverted nature much misunderstood

portrait statue of tiberius from Caere

• semi nude and jupiter like

• corona civica (civic grown) of oak leaves: originally awarded to a
  soldier for saving the life of a citizen; in imperial times, the prerogative of the Princeps, as savior and protector of all the people

Gaius “Caligula” (Princeps 37-41 A.D.)

• “galigula” : means “little boots”

• succeeded Tiberius at the age of 24 in 37 AD

  • initial attempt to govern went well, but hampered by his youth anf inexperience

  • assassinates in 41 AD by a group of Praetorians (the police force of rome) backed by certain members of the senate

  • nearly suffered damnatio memoriae--the official damnation of an individual's memory, resulting in the destruction of his official portraits and inscriptions

  • softer modeling of facial features than customary in Augustan and Tiberian portraiture

Claudius

• princeps 41-54 AD

• Made princeps by the practorian guard after assassination of caligula

• deified by senate in 54 A.D.

• illusionistic portraiture

Nero (Princeps 54-68 AD)

• stepson of claudius, son of Agrippina Minor, niece and 4th wife of Claudius

• succeeded Claudius in 54 A.D. at the age of 17

• first five years of his Principate successful, largely because of the good counsel of his advisors Seneca and Burrus

• 59 A.D.--Nero has his mother assassinated and comes under the influence of bad advisors

• 66 A.D.--troubled times for the empire: wars in Britain, Armenia, and Judaea; food shortage in Rome

• 68 A.D.--the rise of the Praetorians against Nero, who takes his own life

• Nero's de facto damnatio memoriae

• coin portrait of Nero as youth of 20 (57 A.D.); cf. coin portrait at age 27 (64 A.D.)

youthful sculptural portrait of Nero

older sculptural portrait of nero

sculptural portrait of Antonia Minor: niece of Augustus and mother of claudius

• hair carved in low relief and uniformly linear

sculptural portrait of Agrippina Minor

• deep drill work characteristic of later Julio-Claudian female hairstyles

• contrast between richness of plastically carved and drilled haircurls and the smooth, soft planes of the face

JULIO-CLAUDIAN ARCHITECTURE

NEXT PART

Villa Iovis on the island of Capri - Tiberius

• set on 1000’ high cliff

• core of villa: large square courtyard with massive vaulted cistern beneath. cistern: store rainwater

• 4 distinct wings of the villa:

  • S.W. corner: entrance with vestibule and guard room

  • South side: bathing complex

  • West side: lodgings for Tiberius’ entourage; large kitchen beneath

  • North & East sides: private quarters of Tiberius (formal rooms, private rooms, long terrace with large triclinium)

"Porta Maggiore"--monumental double arch spanning the Via Labicana and the Via Praenestina - Claudius

• carried the Aqua Claudia and the Aqua Anio Novus (2 aqueducts
  completed by Claudius)

• commemorative inscription in the attic (the upper section of the arch)
  giving the completion date of 52 A.D.

• rusticated masonry--rough-textured blocks of stone, separated by conspicuous joints (popular under Claudius)

Claudian port at Ostia

• planned by Julius Caesar; begun by Augustus; carried out by Claudius

• Claudian lighthouse on mole built over transport ship of Caligula

Temple of Divus Claudius (the Deified Claudius)--built on a gigantic platform on the northern slope of the Caelian Hill - Nero

• begun by Claudius' widow Agrippina; left unfinished at Agrippina's
  death in 59; completed by the emperor Vespasian (69-79)

• part of podium-platform converted into a nymphaeum (=elaborate
  fountain) for Nero's Golden House (Domus Aurea)

Domus Aurea (“Golden House”), 64-68 A.D.

• covered an area of c. 300-350 acres, including Palatine, Caelian, and Esquiline Hills

• artificial lake--later site of the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum)

• main domestic wing on the Esquiline Hill

• grandiose vestibule--later site of Arch of Titus and Temple of Venus and Roma, at the east end of the Roman Forum

  • 120' high gilded bronze statue of Nero in the vestibule

• ruins of main residential wing on the Esquiline under the Baths of Trajan

  • paintings of residential wing copied by Renaissance artists

  • "grotesque"--word coined by Renaissance artists to describe the underground rooms (called "grotte"=grottoes)

• question of the beginning of the Roman architectural revolution (dating back as early as the 2nd century B.C.)

  • architectural forms of the Baths of Agrippa in Rome

  • Augustan bathing establishment in the resort of Baiae on the
    Bay of Naples

• octagonal room of the residential wing on the Esquiline in Domus Aurea

  • dome with large oculus (=circular opening) at its center

  • transom windows--light shafts behind dome to permit lighting of adjacent rooms

  • rectangular and cruciform adjacent rooms with barrel of cross vaults

  • nymphaeum and triclinia

  • coenatio rotunda --a round dining room of the Domus Aurea mentioned by Suetonius; the room somehow revolved or had a revolving ceiling

FLAVIAN SCULPTURE

NEXT PART

Flavian era intro

• begins after the chaos following neros death

• marks a return to stability and traditional roman values after Nero excess

• the year of the 4 emperors: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian

• barroque and classicizing currents in Flavian art

Vespasian (69-79 A.D.)

• humble Italian origins of Vespasian, the founder of the Flavian dynasty

• great military reputation achieved under Claudius and Nero

• sculptural portrait from Lucus Feroniae, north of Rome

  • represents Vespasian at age of c. 60 at the time he came to power

Titus (79-81)

• Vespasian's elder son, who became emperor after the death and deification of Vespasian in 79

• died in 81 AD at the age of 41; also deified

• military man who crushed the Jewish rebellion threatening the peace of the eastern empire

• togate portrait statue of Titus--sharp edges and very deep cutting of folds of the toga producing stronger chiaroscuro (contrast of light and shadow) effect than in similar works of the Julio- Claudian period (a stylistic means of dating)

Domitian (81-96)

• Vespasian's younger son, who succeeded his brother Titus in 81

• Domitian assassinated in 96, after which he suffered a damnatio memoriae

• dominus et deus ("lord and god")--a title given to Domitian privately; absent on any official documents, coinage, or monuments

• archaeological evidence that Domitian governed well and that the empire was relatively peaceful and prosperous during his Principate

• sculptural portrait of Domitian

  • Domitianic classicism

  • comparison of wave-like hairlocks with those of later portraits of Nero

Julia Titi (daughter of Titus)

• sculptural portrait of Julia

  • bonnet-like hairdo

  • honeycomb effect produced by coarse drill work defining
    individual strands of hair, with small bridges (or struts) left
    between drill channels

  • "Flavian baroque"--a style characterized by dramatic
    chiaroscuro effects, emphasized by plastic carving and deep drill work

Domitia--wife of the emperor Domitian

Ancient part of the Arch of Titus

• located at east end of the Roman Forum

• completed and dedicated after Titus' death in 81--inscription on arch
  referring to Divus (deified) Titus

• much of arch reconstructed in 19th century, using new travertine stone

• winged Victories holding out military trophies and flags in the
  spandrels (i.e., the roughly triangular space between the curve of the arch and the straight sides of the monument)

• "Virtus" (military virtue personified) decorating one of the keystones

• composite capital--a capital combining the volute spirals of Ionic
  capitals and the acanthus leaf bell of Corinthian capitals; originated in the Augustan period

• small continuous frieze representing a triumphal procession (pompa)-- around attic of arch

  • ferculum (pl. fercula)--portable table for displaying spoils of war

• relief panel decorating the summit of the intrados (the inner vault of the arch)--Titus riding on the back of an eagle, a standard apotheosis motif

• illusionistic effects of the 2 panels of the inner piers

  • illusionism--creating an illusion of life, movement, and space,
    esp. spatial depth

  • concave background and convex relief figures of Arch of Titus
    panels

  • tiering of figures in spoils of Jerusalem panel

  • overlapping of figures

• mixing of divine and living human figures in panel representing Titus in triumph--relatively new trend in official art of Rome (cf. the Gemma
  Augustea, an Augustan private work of art in the Hellenistic tradition of monarchy)

relief panel decorating the inner face of Arch of Titus

• panel representing Titus as triumphator in a triumphal
  quadriga-(4-horse chariot)

  • holding scipio (eagle topped staff of the triumphator) and laurel
    branch

  • wearing toga picta-- embroidered toga of the triumphator and tunica palmata--tunic with embroidered palm motifs
    worn by triumphator

  • Victory crowning Titus with wreath

  • 12 lictors carrying fasces, the bundle of rods and ax
    symbolic of the power of life and death

  • 2 personifications flanking chariot--either the goddess
    Roma and the Genius Populi Romani (the divine spirit of
    the Roman people) or the military personifications Honos
    and Virtus

relief panel decorating the inner face of Arch of Titus

• panel representing the spoils of Jerusalem (Spolia Relief)

  • Menorah--the 7-branched candelabrum from the
    Temple of Jerusalem

  • golden table for the shew bread and silver trumpets

  • Three generals of Titus wearing a trabea, a short toga
    worn by members of the equestrian class

  • Porta Triumphalis in top right corner -- Arch of Triumph (at foot of the Capitoline Hill) through which triumphal processions
    passed on the way to the Temple of Jupiter

portrait of the emperor in the profection scene in greater Cancelleria relief under the Palazzo del Conservatori in Rome

• face recut from Domitian into the likeness of his successor Nerva

FLAVIAN ARCHITECTURE

NEXT PART

Vespasian rebuilds Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline after the chaod of Nero and civil war

Forum of Vespasian (technically called the Templum Pacis=Temple of Peace) begun in 71 A. D. after the capture of Jerusalem

• Argiletum--a busy street which ran between the Forum of Augustus and the Forum of Vespasian, connecting the Roman Forum and the Subura

• Forum of Vespasian almost entirely unexcavated under the Via dei Fori Imperiali of modern Rome

• Porticoes of red Egyptian granite on 3 sides of Vespasian’s Forum; free-standing columns attached to back wall on the 4th side (the main entrance)

• temple of Peace--incorporated into portico and flanked by library and
  columnar hall

Forma Urbis--literally "Form (or plan) of the City" in Forum of Vespasian

• ancient marble map of Rome made between 203 and 211,
  under the emperor Septimius Severus

• 151 slabs of marble originally

• Attached to the back wall of a hall adjacent to the Temple of
  Peace in the Forum of Vespasian (now part of the Church of Saint
  Cosmos and Damian)

Flavian amphitheater (=colosseum) (69-80 A.D.) - Vespasian

• Constructed on the side of an artificial lake of Nero’s Golden House

• the Colossus (the colossal statue of Nero that had been changed to
  represent Sol) moved by Hadrian from original site to a position closer to the Flavian Amphitheater, which as a result came to be called the “Colosseum”

• the Colosseum begun by Vespasian, dedicated by Titus, and finally
  completed by Domitian

• naumachia--mock sea battle (held in the Colosseum)

• the Colosseum elliptical in shape (c. 100’ x 500’) 160’ high, with a
  capacity of about 50,000 (the largest of all ancient amphitheaters and the first permanent masonry amphitheater of Rome)

• amphitheater =amphi +theatrum (“theater on both sides”)

• façade of Colosseum--arches framed with half-columns of 3 different
  superimposed orders (lower: Tuscan; middle: Ionic; upper: Corinthian);

• attic of Colosseum--Corinthian pilasters framing square windows;
  attached poles for suspension of huge awning to provide shade from the sun during performances

Temple of the Deifield Vespasian--begun by Titus; finished by Domitian, who dedicated it as the Temple of the Deified Vespasian and Titus

• built in front of the Tabularium at the foot of the Capitoline Hill
  overlooking the Forum

• 3 reerected corner columns with Corinthian capitals and ornate
  entablature

• hexastyle, with deep porch and shallow cella

• chiaroscuro effects and Flavian baroque tradition in architecture

• well preserved section of entablature

Temple of Minerva in Forum Transitorium - Domitian

Domus Flavia--great imperial residence on the Palatine S.E. of the Domus
Tiberiana and House of Augustus (though commonly known as the Domus
Flavia, this residence officially called the Domus Augustana or Domus
Augustiana) - Dominitian

• Palatium--the common name for the entire imperial residence on the
  Palatine Hill

• work begun on the Domus Flavia at the outset of Domitian’s Principate and largely completed by 92 A.D.

• Rabirius--Domitian’s chief architect in the construction of the Domus
  Flavia

• two main sections--official and private rooms

• Clivus Palatinus--main approach to the Domus Flavia from the Forum

• aula regia (literally “kingly hall”)--large audience hall in the state wing
  of the Domus Flavia

  • colossal basalt statues--Hercules and Dionysos with Pan

  • apsidal niche with dais

  • disputed nature of the type of roof used to span 100’ width of
    hall

• “basilica” of the Domus Flavia--hall (adjoining the aula regia) in which
  Domitian probably held legal proceedings

• Large columnar peristyle with octagonal fountain

• great state triclinium (dining hall) overlooking fountain courtyards

• Hadrianic hypocaust system

  • hot air heating system beneath the floor of the triclinium

  • earliest example of the hypocaust used for some purpose other
    than the heating of bathing rooms

• private domestic section of palace complex--ornamental entrance, 2
  successive peristyles, large block of rooms surrounding a square sunken peristyle with elaborate fountain

• south façade overlooking largest race track of Rome (the Circus
  Maximus)

• sunken garden stadium--huge garden surrounded by portico with
  exedra one side

PORTRAITURE: NERVA THROUGH COMMODUS

NEXT PART

Portraiture: nerva through commodus introduction

(92-192)

• “the five good emperors" (96-180): nerva, trajan, hadrian, antoninus pius, marcus aurelius

• crisis of the roman state arising under marcus aurelius and his son commodus

Trajan (98-117)

• great soldier-emperor from Spain (the first emperor born outside of Italy)

• conquered and annexed Dacia (northern frontier of the Empire) and fought against Parthians in the East

• given the official title Optimus Princeps (“Best Princeps”) and deified after his death in 117

• sculptural portrait

  • dry, cold classicizing style

  • Trajan as a new Augustus

  • form of bust from Trajanic times on--almost always includes shoulders, upper part of arms, chest down to and including nipples

female portraits of the Trajanic period--

sculptural portrait of Trajan’s sister Marciana

• cold classicism

• bonnet-like hairdo, with flat (rather than full) ring curls at the front; less use of the drill than in Flavian female portraitsum

Hadrian (117-138)

• a distant relative of Trajan; likewise born to Roman settlers in Spain

• governed for 21 years; deified after his death

• patron of the arts and most philhellenic emperor--called graeculus (“little Greek”)

• though an able administrator and soldier, Hadrian generally unpopular with the Roman aristocracy

• a time of great peace and propriety, except for Jewish rebellion in the East (the last Diaspora)

• early sculptural portrait of Hadrian [Ostia Museum]

  • bearded philosopher type--the beard uncommon before this time exceptoccasionally among those in military service

  • popularity of the beard (both short and long) from the time of Hadrian to that of Constantine (beginning of 4th century)

  • Hadrianic classicism--greater emphasis on plastically carved and drilledhair and beard

later sculptural portraits of Hadrian

• more deeply drilled hair and beard

• incision of the iris of the eye and drill hole(s) for the pupil--first
  introduced in the Hadrianic period and in vogue from that time

“Farnese Antinous” : portrait statue of Antinous

• Bithynian youth who was Hadrian’s boyfriend

• drowned in the Nile in 130 and deified

portrait of Hadrian’s wife Sabina: classicism and simple hairdo

Marcus Aurelius (160-180) and Lucius Verus (161-169 A.D.)

• Antoninus’ adoption of Marcus Aurelius (nephew of Antoninus’ wife Faustina Maior) and Lucius Verus (son of Lucius Aelius) at Hadrian’s request

• both Marcus Aurelius (died 180) and Lucius Verus (died 169) deified after death

• Marcus a philosopher-ruler according to the Platonic ideal (his Stoic writings entitled the Meditations)

• Lucius Verus a flamboyant character, lacking in the qualities of the great emperor

• sculptural portraits of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus

• Antonine baroque style--generally greater contrast and dramatic effects than in previous Roman baroque phases

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (160-180) on Capitoline Hill in Rome

Commodus (180 -192)

• Marcus Aurelius’ eccentric son, who was assassinated and suffered damatio memoriae

• sculptural portrait of Commodus in the guise of his patron hero Hercules

  • Nemean lion skin, club, and Golden Apples of the Hesperides all symbols of Hercules

  • bust a half-length figure including both arms (one of the earliest examples of this bust form)

TRAJANIC AND HADRIANIC RELIEF

NEXT PART

The forum of Trajan and Trajan’s column (completed and dedicated in 113)

• located in the Forum of Trajan between the Basilica Ulpia and the
  Temple of the Deified Trajan

• 100’ high, with 19 Parian marble drums resting on a square base
  containing Trajan’s cremated remains

• gilded bronze statue of Trajan on top of the column replaced by statue of St. Peter in later times

• internal staircase and small rectangular windows

• reliefs on base depicting weapons

• spiral “historical” frieze (over 650’ long)

  • 155 scenes with over 2500 figures in low reliefs

  • Trajan’s two campaigns (of 101-102 and 105-107) against the
    Dacians, a barbarian people who inhabited what is now Romania

  • unnatural scale and bird’s eye perspective

  • continuous narrative style--the appearance of the same
    individual or individuals in a succession of scenes closely related in time and space

  • 6 basic themes repeated: addressing the troops (adlocutio);
    sacrifice; building fortifications; reception of envoys and prisoners; battles; marches

  • question of the frieze’s documentary accuracy in representing
    historical events

  • Decebalus--Dacian King

  • tradition of ancient illustrated bookscrolls and of triumphal
    painting

Hadrianic tondo on arch of constantine

• profectio scene: hadrian sets forth on hunt

• peacetime activities highlighted

• Hadrianic sculptural style and hairdos

• Antinous represented in at least one of the eight tondi

• Hadrian’s portrait replaced with that of Constantine or his colleague Licinius

• scenes of hunting

  • first known appearance of the hunt as a subject of Roman monumental
    art (popular hereafter)

  • symbolism of the hunt

• style of tondi--baroque and classicizing elements

ANTONINE HISTORICAL RELIEFS AND SARCOPHAGI

NEXT PART

Column of Antoninus Pius: set up by Antoninus’ sucessors after his death in 161

• red Egyptian granite shaft topped by statue of Antoninus

  • reliefs of base apotheosis of Antoninus and Faustina Major

  • scene of Decursio (military parade) around the funeral Pyre

  • decursio--military parade at state funeral

    • bird's eye perspective

    • Plebeian art (or Volkskunst)--art of the common people
      

Scene of Barbarian Submission to Mount Aurelius on Arch of Constantine

Column of Marcus Aurelius

• 100' high column in the Campus Martius near the Via Lata

• crowning figures of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina Minor
  replaced by a statue of St. Paul

• continuous spiral frieze commemorating Marcus' campaign against the Germans and his campaign against the Sarmatians in the 170’s

• generalized motifs

• specific events represented

• comparison with column of trajan

  • crossing of the Danube at the beginning of the German Wars

  • "Miracle of the Thunderbolt"

  • "Miracle of the Rain"

• the question of a "decline in Roman art”

  • influence of viewing distance on style

  • changing aesthetics--from objective naturalism to abstract
    expressionism

  • Late Antique style--the sculptural style of late Roman and
    Christian art, characterized by abstraction, frontality, and
    exaggerated emotion

Hadrianic sarcophagi with mythological scenes or events in the life of
the deceased--e.g., 2 sarcophagi with story of. Orestes in continuous
narrative style

• Furies threatening Orestes, who is slaying his mother
  Clytemnestra

• Orestes at Delphi

• sleeping Furies at tomb of Agamemnon (Orestes' father)

Antonine sarcophagus representing myth of Admetus and Alcestis (with the portrait features of the deceased) - continuous narrative

• attic & asiatic type sarcophagi: carved on all 4 sides

TRAJANIC ARCHITECTURE

NEXT PART

Rebuilding of the Circus Maximus

• largest Roman race track (also used for the staging of gladiatorial combats, hunts, etc.

• various rebuildings during the Republic and early Empire; Trajanic rebuilding in stone and cement

• spina (literally "spine") --the barrier which ran down the middle of the track of a circus

• meta (pl. metae)--goal-post

Baths of Trajan (begun in 104, dedicated in 109)

• built on the Esquiline Hill (over wing of Nero's Golden House)

• 4 various rooms

  • large open hemicycle in perimeter wall

  • usual features of the Roman bath--natatio, frigidarium, etc.

  • exedras--nymphaeum, library (?)

• evidence of the Stabian Baths at Pompeii

  • natatio--swimming pool

  • apodyterium (pl. apodyteria)--changing room

  • caldarium (p1. caldaria)--hot room

  • tepidarium (pl. tepidaria)--warm room

  • frigidarium (pl. frigidaria)--cold room

Forum of Trajan (designed by Apollodorus of Damascus and dedicated in 113)

• part of the Quirinal Hill cut into to a height of c.100, (location of Trajan's Market)

• a triumphal arch serving as a monumental entrance to Trajan's Forum

• columnar porticoes with hemicycles

• Basilica Ulpia (its name taken from Trajan's family name "Ulpius")

• Latin and Greek libraries (bibliothecae) (completed by Hadrian) flanking Column of Trajan

• Temple of the Deified Trajan and surrounding portico (built by Hadrian)

• axial line through Temple of the Deified Trajan, the Column of Trajan, and the Temple of Peace in the Forum of Vespasian

Markets of Trajan--terraced up in 3 levels behind the N. hemicycle of the Forum of Trajan

• 150 shops and offices and large market hall

• brick-faced cement construction

• high perimeter wall of portico and hemicycle of Trajan's Forum blocking the Markets off from view from the Forum of Trajan

• large market hall at 3rd level

  • clearstory lighting

  • buttresses supporting cross-vaulted ceiling (c. 100' x 32')

HADRIANIC AND ANTONINE ARCHITECTURE

NEXT PART

Pantheon (Temple to All the Gods)-- Hadrianic

• first built by Agrippa in 27 B.C.; burned in 80 and rebuilt by Domitian; burned in 110 and rebuilt in its final form between 118 and 128

• inscription (of Hadrianic date) naming Agrippa as builder

• porch with 8 Corinthian monolithic columns (i.e., columns with a shaft
  made of a single block of stone, rather than a series of drums set on top on one another)

• colonnaded forecourt blocking view of domed rotunda behind porch

• internal diameter of rotunda 144'; height of dome also 144'

• 30' wide oculus

• gradation of cement from bottom to top

• dome originally covered with gilded bronze

• 19th century and Renaissance restorations (when the Pantheon was
  converted to a church; now a tomb)

Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli (c. 118-138)

• 380 acres in size

• axes of complexes intersecting at different angle

• axial symmetry within complexes

• "stoa Poikile": painted stoa

• 2 bathing complexes

• "Teatro Marittimo"-- an artificial island surrounded by a moat (the
  totally private retreat of the emperor)

• "Piazza d'Oro" (the Piazza of Gold)

  • vestibule with octagonal room covered with ribbed vault--
    alternating rectangular and semi-circular recesses

  • peristyle

  • curvilinear colonnade with surrounding rooms, 2 small
    colonnaded courtyards, and semi-circular vaulted nymphaeum

• "Canopus" (named after the canal called the Canopus in Alexandria,
  Egypt)--400' long pool decorated with statuary

• "Serapeum" (named after the Temple of Serapis in Alexandria)--summer triclinium with nymphaeum

• "Academy" (named for philosophical school, known as the Academy, in Athens)

  • complex of rooms located at one end of a long terrace (near the Canopus in an area that may have served as summer living quarters for the emperor)

  • circular hall with clearstory windows

PORTRAITURE FROM SEPTIMUS SEVERUS THROUGH CONSTANTINE

NEXT PART

Septimius Severus (193¬-211) - start of Severan dynasty (193 - 235)

• Septimius’ claiming of the Antonines as his ancestors by posthumous
  adoption

• Septimius actually a North African Berber who rose through the ranks in the army

• later sculptural portrait of Septimius - more serene

  • Septimius Imitates the Hair and Beard Style of His Patron God Serapis

painted wooden disc from Egypt representing Septimius, Julia Domna,
Caracalla (eldest son), and his younger brother Geta (whose face was obliterated after
his damnatio memoriae at Caracalla's instigation)

Caracalla (211-217)--

• Septimius' elder son, who was assassinated at the age of 29

• Caracalla as emperor

Alexander Severus (emperor 222-235; last of the Severans)

• sculptural portrait of Alexander Severus- "skull-cap" hairstyle

• toga contabulate-- toga type popular in late Roman times; characterized by a broad band-like fold of cloth-across the chest

Period of crisis and military anarchy (235-284)

• 20 successive emperors ruling briefly before being assassinated

• “style of crisis”

Maximinus Thrax (emperor from 249 to 251)

Traianus Decius (emperor from 249 to 251)

• mask like expression of anxiety

• short chisel strokes to represent short-cropped hair and beard of soldier emperor type

Gallienus (253 to 268)

• only significant deviation from the “style of crisis”

• Gallienus a philhellene with an interest in Neo-Platonism (a philosophy set forth in the mid-3rd century A.D. by Plotinus; simply stated, this philosophy was concerned with the liberation of the soul form the body)

• 5th century B.C. concept of the beauty of proportions vs. Neo-Platonic emphasis on the soul illuminating the body

“San Marco Tetrarchs” (after 293 A.D.) Sculpted in Porphyry

• Immured in the Corner of the Church of San Marco in Venice

• originally 2 pairs of figures decorating the upper shafts of two columns

• porphyry--a hard reddish-purple stone quarried in Egypt and reserved for use by the imperial family

• symbolic embrace

• pillbox-like hats--popular only in the Tetrarchic period

• made in period of Tetrarchs

  • tetrachy: political system in which power of the empire were shared in 4 ways: 2 emperos (each with title augustus) in the west and east respectively and 2 deputies and successors (each with title caesar)

Constantine the Great (324- 337)

• establishment of Constantinopolis (literally "the City of Constantine") as a new and Christian capital and of Christianity itself as the state religion

• colossal sculptural portrait of Constantine from Basilica of Maxentius

  • clean-shaven

  • Constantinian classicism

  • archivolt hairstyle a characteristic hairstyle of Constantine,: resembling the voussoirs of an arch

  • sacer vultus (literally "sacred countenance")--the holy countenance of imperial power

RELIEFS: SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS THROUGH CONSTANTINE

NEXT PART

Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum (completed in 203)

• Commemorated Septimius' victory over the Parthians (195-199) and the decennalia (or 10th anniversary) of his Principate in 203

• alteration of dedicatory inscription

  • name of Geta erased and Caracella reinscribed

• "historical" reliefs on either face of the arch--division of panels into 2
  superimposed registers, with figures at different levels on their own
  ground lines

  • septimius receives suppliant barbarians

  • romans attack a parthian city

Reliefs in the period of crisis (235 - 284)

• little public building, resulting in dearth of “historical” reliefs

• mass production of sarcophagi

"Badminton Sarcophagus" (220-230 A.D.)

• Dionysiac procession flanked by 4 Seasons

• quality and technique

Balbinus Sarcophagus (238 A.D.)

• sarcophagus of the emperor Balbinus from Tomb of the Praetextatus in Rome

• Balbinus emperor for 99 days in 238

• Balbinus represented 3 times on the sarcophagus

  • on the lid

  • joining hands with his wife on the front in the presence of
    Concordia

  • in the guise of Mars crowned by Victory: his wife in the guise
    of Venus, with other divinities around them

"Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus" (C. 250)

• cross incised on the forehead of the general (possibly a soldier-
  emperor)--symbol of the Persian sun-god Mithras

  • general is probably Herennius Etruscus, co-emperor who died in 351 A.D. fighting the goths in the battle of Abritius in Moesia Inferior

• expressionistic treatment

Arch of Constantine (312-315)

• triple arch near the Coloseum commemorating Constantine's victory at the Milvian Bridge in 312 and the 10th anniversary of his rule (315)

• reused sculptural decoration from earlier monuments

  • Hadrianic tondi (on faces of arch)

  • panel reliefs of Marcus Aurelius (in attic of arch)

  • statues in attic

  • reliefs on inside of central passageway--Great Trajanic Frieze

• sculptural decorations of Constantinian date

  • Victories in spandrels

  • figures on base of attached column (not all of them are)

  • tondi on sides of arch: helios in solar chariot rising, selene in luna chariot setting

  • 6 relief panels set in an almost continuous manner around the middle of the arch--historical subject matter of Constantine

    • stylistic features

    • cf. reliefs of Republican and early imperial date in the plebeian tradition of Roman art

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS THROUGH CONSTANTINE ARCHITECTURE

NEXT PART

Baths of Caracalla (dedicated in 216)

• located near the Circus Maximus in Rome

• larger even than the Baths of Trajan

• domed caldarium with clearstory lighting (cf. Pantheon)

• "Herakles Farnese" and "Farnese Bull Group"

Baths of Diocletian (298- 306)

• slightly larger than the Baths of Caracalla, making the Baths of
  Diocletian the largest Roman bathing establishment

• modern buildings of the Piazza della Repubblica (or Piazza Esedra)
  retaining the form of the perimeter wall of the baths of Diocletian

• part of central nucleus of the Baths incorporated in the Terme Museum

• frigidarium of the Baths converted into the Church of Santa Maria degli Angelli

Basilica of Maxentius (also called the Basilica of Constantine) (c. 306 312)

• short buttresses reinforcing the central ceiling (foreshadowing "flying
  buttresses" of Gothic architecture)

• colossal statue of Constantine placed in apse on short west end

• contrast of interior and exterior

Villa at Piazza Armerina in Sicily (late 3rd-early 4th century)

• Once thought to be the property of the Tetrarch Maximian or his son
  Maxentius; now believed to be of a Roman aristocrat based on other grand luxury villas also found in Sicily

• asymmetrical plan and curvilinear forms

• floor mosaics

Diocletian's Palace at Split (W. coast of Yugoslavia) (300 A.D.)

• built to serve as residence after his retirement in 305

• defensive walls with towers surrounding 10 acres by the sea

• praetorium--commander's headquarters; term used for the private
  quarters of the Palace at Split

• "peristyle" of the Palace--arcade forecourt to the praetorium

  • arcuated lintel--an architrave with both horizontal and arched
    elements; also called the "Syrian arch" (found as early as the 1st century B.C. in the East)

  • arcuated colonnade with arches springing directly from column
    capitals (important in Romanesque architecture of 1000-1300
    A.D.)

• octagonal mausoleum of Diocletian and his family

• 4th century Mosaics from N. Africa representing fortress-like country
  villas