Roman Art

- owned by two brothers; both freedmen who made money as merchants

- narrow entrance sandwiched between several shops

- atrium open to sky w/ impluvium in center; cubicula radiate around

- peristyle garden in rear w/ fountain, statuary, and more cubicula; private area of house

- axial symmetry; someone entering can see all the way through to peristyle garden in rear

- exterior of house w/o windows; interior lighting comes from atrium and peristyle

House of the Vettii

- accommodated 50,000 spectators

- concrete core; brick casing; travertine facing

- 76 entrances and exits circle facade

- interplay of barrel vaults, groin vaults, arches

- meant for wild/dangerous spectacles (gladiator combat, animal hunts, naval battles) but not religious persecution

- facade uses engaged columns: first story Tuscan, second Ionic, third Corinthian, top flattened Corinthian; each thought of as lighter than order below

- above squared windows at top level: small brackets meant to hold flagstaffs; anchors for retractable canvas roof used to protect crowd on hot days

- much of marble pulled off during Middle Ages

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)

- Petra was central city of Nabataeans (nomadic peoples)

- built along caravan route

- dead buried in tombs cut out of sandstone cliffs

- 500 royal tombs in the rock, but no human remains found; burial practices unknown

- "red rose city"

Treasury, Monastery and Great Temple of Petra, Jordan

- lower story w/ influence of Greek and Roman temples

- columns not proportionally spaced

- upper floor: broken pediment w/ central tholos

- combination of Roman and indigenous traditions

- Nabataean concept and Roman features

- Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian gods on facade

Treasury at Petra

- in sacred precinct on southern citadel hill

- dedicated to Dushara (principal deity; unique to Petra)

-place of worship for a pantheon of deities

The Great Temple at Petra

- built w/ booty collected from Trajan's victory over Dacians

- large central plaza flanked by stoa-like buildings on each flank

- originally held equestrian monument dedicated to Trajan in center

- part of complex that included Basilica of Ulpia, the Markets of Trajan, and the Column of Trajan

Forum of Trajan

- 385 ft by 182 ft, w/ 2 apese; grand interior space

- nave spacious and wide

- double colonnaded side aisles

- second floor had galleries or maybe clerestory windows

- timber roof 80 feet across

- law courts held here; apses were a setting for judges

- said to have been paid by Trajan's spoils taken from defeat of Dacians

- Ulpius was Trajan's family name

Basilica of Ulpia

- original had 150 shops

- multilevel mall

- semicircular building held several levels of shops

- main space groin-vaulted; barrel-vaulted shops

Market of Trajan

- dedicated to every major deity

- inscription: "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, having been consul three times, built it"

- Corinthian capital porch in front of building

- facade w/ two pediments, one deeply recessed behind the other

- square panels in floor and in coffers contrast w/ roundness of walls; coffers may have been filled w/ bronze rosette designs to simulate stars

- cupola walls enormously thick: 20 feet at base

- oculus 27 feet across: allows for sunlight and air; acts as moving spotlight across interior

- height of building equals width; interior based on the circle

- walls have 7 niches for statues of the gods and represent 7 planets

- walls thenned at top; coffers take some pressure off

- triumph of concrete construction

- brilliantly decorated

- originally had large atrium in front and built on high podium; modern Rome has risen up to it

- large open space to accommodate many people

Pantheon

- triclinium: dining room in a Roman house

- main scene death of Greek hero Pentheus

- Pentheus opposed to cult of Bacchus and was torn to pieces by women (including mother) in Bacchic frenzy; two women pulling at his hair in this image

- architecture seen through painted windows; imaginary landscape

Pentheus Room

- extremely realistic face (veristic portrait)

- bulldog-like tenacity of features; overhanging flesh; deep crevices in face

- full experience and wisdom

- features may have been exaggerated by artist to enhance adherence to Republican virtues

- busts mostly of men, depicted as elderly

Head of a Roman Patrician

- idealized

- contrapposto

- confusion between god and man intentional; sense of divine rule

- standing barefoot indicates he is on sacred ground

- breastplate number of gods participating in return of Roman standards from the Parthians

- breastplate indicates he is a warrior; judge's robes show him as a civic ruler

- back not carved; meant to be placed against a wall

- characteristic of Augustus: part in hair over left eye and two locks over right

- may have carried sword, pointing down, in left hand

- right hand in Roman orator pose

- at base: Cupid at back of dolphin; reference of Augustus's divine descent from Venus

- found in Villa of Livia (Augustus's wife)

Augustus of Prima Porta

- burial chamber of Trajan (ashes placed in base)

- stood amid Trajan's Forum

- 128-feet high, 625 foot narrative cycle wrapped around

- told story of Trajan's defeat of the Dacians

- 150 episodes; 2500 figures; 23 registers; continuous narrative

- crowded composition

- low relief, few shadows to cloud what must have been very difficult object to view in entirety

- scholarly debate over how meant to be viewed

- meant to be entered; visitor wander up interior spiral staircase to viewing platform

- topped by heroic nde statue of Trajan; now replaced by St. Peter

- view would impress visitor w/ Trajan's accomplishments, including forum and markets

- two Roman libraries containing Greek and Roman manuscripts flanked

- also includes mundane activities

Column of Trajan

- extremely crowded surface w/ figures piled on top of one another

- lack individuality

- confusion of battle echoed by congested composition

- Roman army trounces bearded and defeated barbarians

- youthful Roman general appears center top w/ no weapons; only Roman w/ no helmet (indicates he is invincible and needs no protection)

- Rome at war throughout third century

- writhing figures

- emotional expressionism

Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus