Comprehensive Study Notes on Ancient Greek and Roman Portraiture, Identity, and Public Images

Self-Presentation and Individual Identity in Greek and Roman Societies

• Conceptual Framework of Self-Presentation:
  • Self-presentation in antiquity is analyzed through various lenses including self-consciousness, the materials used for representation, the location of monuments, the methods of construction, and the ultimate social or political purposes.
  • There is a constant interplay between reality and art, where the social impact of an individual's appearance is mediated through artistic choices to emphasize specific personal qualities.
  • Statues and Portraits: These are defined as the intended representation of a particular person, serving as a social vehicle for their legacy or role.

Evolutionary Timeline of Human Representation in Greece

• Archaic Period:
  • Archaic Kouros from Athens, Dipylon ($600\,BC$): Early representation characterized by rigid, idealized forms.
• Classical Period:
  • Riace's Bronzes ($460\,BC$): Representing a peak in anatomical realism and the "Severe Style."
  • Portrait of Aristotle ($ca.\,320\,BC$): Known through Roman copies, showing the shift toward capturing intellectual and individual character.

Athenian Funerary Culture and Visual Rhetoric

• Archaic Funerary Monuments: These were built according to precise visual rhetoric aimed at enhancing beauty ($\text{kalon iden, charien}$) to reflect the excellence of the deceased and define their stable social position through the combination of words (inscriptions) and images (D’Onofrio $2020$, p. $169$).
• Case Study: Monument for Anaxilas ($525/500\,BC$):
  • Location: Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens.
  • Context: Anaxilas was the son of Ariston and a Naxian metic (resident alien) whom the Athenians honored.
  • Inscription (Verbatim): "Tearful, exceedingly sorrowful, and mournful I stand here as a stone mnema of the deceased Anaxilas, a Naxian whom the Athenians honored as a metic especially on account of his good character and excellence. Timomachos set me up over him having performed a reverent funeral honor, thereby gratifying the son of Ariston, who died."
• Case Study: Aristodikos ($500-490\,BC$):
  • Description: Known as "the splendid warrior," this kouros combines youthful, heroic nudity with a helmet, alluding to the panoply and rank of a hoplite.
  • Historical Significance: Represents the transition to the $5^{th}$ century $BCE$ and the sculptor's ability to respond to complex client needs and social changes (D’Onofrio $2020$, pp. $182-183$).
• Case Study: Kouros Kroisos ($530-520\,BC$):
  • Physical Specs: Height of $194\,cm$; found in Anavyssos, Attica.
  • Values: Representation of aristocratic ideals through physical features like $\text{charis}$ (grace), strength, and athletic valor.
  • Inscription: "Stop and show pity beside the marker of Kroisos, dead, whom, when he was in the front ranks, raging Ares destroyed."

Theoretical Approaches to Portraiture

• Types of Portraits in the Classical Era:

  1. Generalizing Portraits: Focus on broad types rather than specific individuals.
  2. Similar Individual Portraits: Capture recognizable likenesses.
  3. Invented Individual Portraits: Retrospective creations of historical figures.

• Physiognomy and Pathognomy:

  • Physiognomy (J. Lavater): The analysis of individual features to recognize the pure physical substance of an individual.
  • Stylized Appearance (P. Zanker, $1970\rightarrow$): Faces and bodies are viewed as visual expressions of cultural behavior, social roles, and political messages.
  • Pathognomy (L. Giuliani): The study of emotions and passions through outward signs, such as facial expressions and gestures.
  • Visual Habitus (T. Hoelsher): The idea that cultural formation determines a visually efficient corporeal habit, bridging the gap between art and social life. This often results in the prevalence of social role over individual realism.

Definitions of Hexis and Habitus

• Greek Hexis: An Aristotelian term for a "state," "stable disposition," or "way of being" expressed through clothes, gestures, and expressions.
• Latin Habitus: The translation of hexis, referring to acquired virtues necessary for a virtuous life: temperance, fortitude, justice, and prudence.
• Social Function: These concepts subsume individual character under collective norms and rules (Hoelsher $2018$, p. $187$).

Iconic Greek Portraits and Social Roles

• Themistokles and Socrates: Portraits serve as visual constructions of their specific social roles.
• Perikles ($ca.\,429\,BC$): Roman copy of the original; represents the ideal statesman.
• Alexander the Great ($ca.\,330\,BC$):
  • Alexander with the Spear: Late $4^{th}$ century $BC$ ($16.5\,cm$). Depicted as a conqueror with a spear and sword. Heroic nudity and certain headdresses evoke the sacred cult devoted to him after his death in $323\,BC$, particularly in Ptolemaic Egypt.
  • Akropolis Head ($338\,BC$): Pentelic marble, height $0.35\,m$.

Roman Republican Portraiture and Verism

• Veristic Aim: Roman portraits often emphasize the faithful, even harsh, reproduction of individual physiognomy. This became a norm in the Republic.
• The Patrician Image: Examples include Lucius Iunius Brutus ($early\,3^{rd}\,cent.\,BC$), the "Unknown" from Osimo ($80-70\,BC$), the "Togato Barberini" ($1^{st}\,cent.\,BC$), and the Torlonia Portrait ($80-70\,BC$).
• Gruen on Verism ($1996$): Individualized portraits become part of a collectivity expressing devotion to the $\text{mos maiorum}$ (ancestral customs) and the solidarity of the ruling class.

Mos Maiorum and Cato the Elder

• Marcus Porcius Cato ($234-149\,BC$): Soldier, senator, and leader of Roman Conservatives. He strongly opposed Greek influence and defended traditional Roman morals.
• Cato's Contributions: Wrote "Origines," the first history of Rome in Latin.
• "Delenda est Carthago": Following an embassy to Carthage in $153\,BC$, he insisted that Carthage must be destroyed, ending all Senate speeches with this phrase.

Hybridization and Public Images of Leaders

• Roman General from Tivoli ($ca.\,90-70\,BC$):
  • Found in the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor. Height: $186.5\,cm$.
  • Hybridization: Features a veristic, realistic head of a specific individual on an idealized, semi-nude body reminiscent of Hellenistic ruler portraits, though draped for Roman propriety.
• Pompey the Great ($1^{st}\,cent.\,BC$): His portraits are categorized into "private" (Copenhagen) and "public" (Venice) styles.
• Julius Caesar ($ca.\,46-44\,BC$): The Tusculum portrait shows him as he appeared near the end of his life (balding), which matches his numismatic imagery (the denarius of Caesar, $44\,BC$).

The Augustan Age and the Principate

• Augustus ($27\,BC$): Described as having a $\text{vultus tranquillus et serenus}$ (a calm and serene face).
• Augustus of Prima Porta: A marble copy ($20\,AD$) of a bronze original emphasizing his military and divine authority.
• Augustan Art as Visual Language: Paul Zanker ($1988$) argues art mirrors society; Augustan art transformed Roman society by creating a specific visual language.
• The Ambiguity of the Princeps: Andrew Wallace-Hadrill ($1982$) notes the emperor was part Hellenistic king and part Republican magistrate, satisfying both the plebs and the aristocracy through ambivalence.

Communication Through Symbols and Accessories

• Toga: Symbolizes $\text{dignitas}$ (dignity).
• Red Strips in Toga: Indicate the senatorial or equestrian order.
• Veiling the Head: Represents $\text{pietas}$ (religious duty; e.g., Augustus Pontifex Maximus).
• Sella Curulis: Denotes a magistrate.
• Cuirass: Identifies an army leader (military value).
• Half-naked/Nude Body: Represents glorification.
• Divine Attributes: Thunderbolts, staffs with snakes, or clubs used to assimilate the individual to a specific deity (e.g., Claudius as Juppiter).