Chapter 3: The Roman Empire

"In fact, most of the scenes on the Column of __________ do not depict battles, but the routine business of warfare, including the transportation of supplies and the building of roads and bridges."

Trajan

"The typical Archaic Etruscan temple resembled Greek stone gable-roofed temples, but it had __________ columns, a tile-covered rimber roof, and walls of sun-dried mud brick."

wood

"Cremation was the most common means of disposing of the dead in Etruscan Italy. This kind of funerary monument has no parallel at this date in __________, where there were no tombs big enough to house large sarcophagi."

Grecco

"The Etruscans also decorated their underground burial chambers with __________."

mural paintings

"__________ was one way that the patrician class celebrated its elevated position in society."

Ancestral portraiture

"One of the most striking of these so-called __________ (super-realistic) portraits is the head of a Republican priest now in the Vatican museum."

veristic

"Roman builders mixed concrete according to a changing recipe of __________ mortar, ___________ sand, water, and small stones (caementa, from which the English word 'cement' derives)."

lime

volcanic

"The evidence from Pompeii regarding Roman __________ architecture is unparalleled anywhere else."

domestic

"Art historians divide the various Roman mural types into __________ four 'Pompeiian Styles.'"

four

"To suggest recession, the painter employed another kind of perspective--__________--in which the illusion of depth is achieved by the increasingly blurred appearance of objects in the distance."

atmospheric perspective

"The models for Augustus' idealized portraits were __________."

Classical Greek statues

"On the Pantheon, __________ figures act out an event that recurred every four years. The frieze stands for all Panathenaic Festival processions. The Ara Pacis depicts a specific event--probably the inaugural ceremony of 13 BCE--and recognizable ________ figures."

anonymous

historical

"The use of __________ columns and a ___________ to frame the openings in the Colosseum's facade is a common motif on Roman buildings."

engaged

lintel

"A comparable __________ of divine and human figures characterized the Dionysian mysteries frieze at Pompeii, but the Arch of __________ panel is the first known instance of divine beings interacting with humans on an official Roman historical relief."

intermingling

Titus

"The __________ reveaks the full potential of concrete, both as a building material and as a means for shaping architectural space."

Pantheon

"__________ architects were the first to conceive of architecture in terms of units of space that could be shaped by the enclosures."

Roman

"Painted __________ were common in the Roman Empire, but most have perished. In Roman Egypt, however, large numbers have been found because the Egyptians continued to bury their dead in mummy cases, with painted wood panels depicting the deceased replacing the traditional stylized __________."

portraits

portrait masks

"The groin-vaulted nave of the church of Santa Maria deli Angeli in Rome was once the frigidarium of the __________ of Diocletian. It gives an idea of the lavish adornment of imperial Roman __________.

later Baths

bathing complexes

"The unstable times of the so-called __________ emperors nonetheless produced some of the most moving __________ in the history of art."

soldier

portraits

"For many scholars, the transfer of the seat of power from __________ to __________ and the recognition of __________ mark the beginning of the Middle Ages."

Rome

Constantinople

Christianity

What is an observation about Etruscan Temples?

They did not survive in their original form and are largely lost to history

Why did the Etruscan Temples not survive?

They were constructed of highly perishable materials

What do Archaic Etruscan temples resemble?

Greek temples

While Etruscan temples resembled Greek temples, they did not use what?

The Greek orders

What are some characteristics of Etruscan temples?

-Narrow staircase at the front of the temple

-Columns in front of the temple only

-Free-standing figurative sculptures were displayed on the roof, not in a pediment

What is the Temple of Portunus?

A Roman temple dedicated to the god Portunus, the god of harbors, and one of the few surviving monuments that dates to the Roman Republic

How was the Temple of Portunus influenced by the Etruscans?

-a flight of steps at the front

-freestanding columns only in the porch

-a clear front view of the temple

What are the characteristics of the Etruscans on the Temple of Portunus?

-a high podium (a raised platform, made from concrete)

-deep porch

-the walls of the temple are not extended forward

How was the Temple of Portunus influenced by the Greeks?

-the use of the Ionic order

-the use of the Ionic frieze (once filled with relief structures)

-the use of engaged columns (decorative) on the sides and back of the temple

What are the characteristics of the Greeks on the Temple of Portunus?

-constructed of stone (tufa and travertine) and overlaid with stucco in imitation of Greek marble

What are engaged columns?

A curved shaft embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface

What is the result of the influence of the Greeks on the Temple of Portunus?

Creates a pseudo-peripteral style (having a single row of pillars on all sides)

What does Verism mean?

From the Latin word meaning "true"

What is Verism?

A super realistic style of art that focused on exaggerated facial imperfections of mostly older male politicians

ex: wrinkles, creases, warts, etc.

What was highlighted by the imperfections in Versim?

One's maturity, seriousness, and life experiences

What did Verism later become?

Symbols of the virtues of the Roman Republic and it is widely regarded as a uniquely Roman art form

Where did we get Roman Mural Paintings?

The houses and villas around Mount Vesuvius have provided the most complete record of the changing fashions in mural paintings in the ancient world

What do art historians do with Roman Mural Paintings?

Generally divide Roman mural paintings in four "Pompeian Styles"

What is the First Style of Roman Mural Paintings?

The imitation of expensive marble panels using painted stucco reliefs (the illusion of expensive and colorful marbles imported from all over the Mediterranean

What is the Second Style of Roman Mural Paintings?

The use of linear perspective and atmospheric perspective to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth (the style appears to be a Roman innovation)

What is linear perspective?

A system of creating an illusion of depth whereby parallel lines converge in a vanishing point on the composition's horizon line

What is the Third Style of Roman Mural Paintings?

Small, fanciful landscapes and delicate architectural features painted on large, predominantly monochromatic backgrounds

-gone is the imitation of marble or the creation of three-dimensional worlds

What is the Fourth Style of Roman Mural Paintings?

A combination of the three previous three styles with a wider range of themes

ex: mythological, genre, landscape, still life

What is Roman Classicism?

Imperial portraits and monuments recounted the emperor's great deeds and reminded people that they were the source of peace and prosperity

What was the goal of Roman imperial portraits and monuments?

To sway public opinion, not recount objective history [propaganda]

What is Ara Pacis Augustus?

A monument commemorating Augustus' establishment of peace and dedicated on his wife's birthday

What was Ara Pacis Augustus reconstructed from?

Recently discovered fragments under the reign of Mussolini, who was trying to resurrect and/or establish some kind of Italian empire

What was the art historical focus of Ara Pacis Augustus?

Separate panels

-east and west ends: scenes from mythology

-north and south ends: scenes of an imperial procession with recognizable historical figures

-lower frieze: botanical scenes with animals=symbol of fertility, prosperity, and peace

What was the inspiration for the Ara Pacis Augustus?

The Parthenon's inner Panathenaic frieze because Augustus wanted a new Roman Golden Age similar to Athen's Golden Age under Pericles

What was the Arch of Titus?

When Emperor Vespasian's son, Emperor Titus, died in 81 AD, his younger brother, Emperor Domitian, constructed a triumphal arch connecting the Colosseum and the Roman Forum

What is the function of Triumphal Arches?

-To commemorate Titus' official deification

-To celebrate Titus and Vespasian's victory in the first Jewish-Roman war

-To help connect the Colosseum and the Roman Forum

What is the significance of the second panel inside the Triumphal Arch?

The first known instance of divine beings interacting with humans on an official Roman historical relief

What are Mummy Portraits (or Fayum Portraits)?

They were painted portraits that were common in the Roman Empire but few survived

What do Mummy Portraits represent?

The largest surviving example of painted portraits from the ancient world

When were the Mummy Portraits (or Fayum Portraits) painted?

During the person's life, capturing their true likeness and then displayed in their home until death

-people from all walks of life

Where does the style of the Mummy Portraits (or Fayum Portraits) come from?

The Greek tradition

Where does the function of the Mummy Portraits (or Fayum Portraits) come from?

The Egyptian tradition (*a few were painted on linen and papyrus