Etruscan and Roman Art

Etruscan Art

During the Greek Archaic period - when the

Greeks had also inhabited South Italy and the
Latins were confined to mud huts around Rome -
the Etruscans lived in central Italy around
Tuscany, which is named after them.

The Etruscans were influenced by the Greeks.

Much of the Greek pantheon was incorporated by
them. For example, we have a life-sized terracotta
figure of Apollo with an archaic smile, indicating
that the Etruscans were also influenced
stylistically by the Greeks.
Apollo from the Temple of Minerva,
500 BCE, painted terracotta, 1.8 m
 The Etruscan temple structures also owed
something to the Greeks, although there were
several modifications. They were similar in the
rectangular plan and peeked roof. But were raised
on a podium with one set of stairs leading up to a
porch.

They were built using the Tuscan order, in which

the columns had a simplified, unfluted Doric
structure with a base.
Although examples of Etruscan temples no longer
exist, many tombs do.

The Tomb of the Reliefs, a rectangular rock-cut

room, has been made for a family and has place
for over 40 bodies. It replicates a home: on the
walls are images of daily life and have tools
hanging.

The beds even have stone pillows.

Tomb of the Reliefs, Cerveteri, 3rd century BCE
 From the same site, there was also found a
sarcophagus of a husband and wife. It is modeled
in clay and would have been painted.

It is shaped like a couch upon which the couple is

reclining. Like contemporary Greek statues, they
display Archaic smiles. Additionally, they seem to
be happy and healthy, exhibiting Etruscan
optimism.

There are also examples of painted tombs, which

bear resemblance to the frescos of Cycladic and
Minoan cultures.
Etruscan Sarcophagus, Cerveteri, 520 BCE,
Tomb of the Triclinium, 480 BCE
 Roman Republic

Both the Greeks in the south of Italy and the

Etruscans in central Italy exerted a civilizing force
on Rome. By 500 BCE, Rome established itself as
a Republic with an advising senate. It lasted until
27 BCE with the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus.
 Although the Romans eventually conquered the
Greeks militarily (Battle of Corinth,146 BC), as the
Roman poet Horace said, “Captive Greece
conquered her wild conquerer.”

So, for example, the Roman pantheon is

essentially the same as the Greek one but with
different names, but emphasizing the Roman’s
political, rather than spiritual, ideals.
 Roman writers rarely spoke about Roman artists
but rather the Greek masters like Polykleitos.
Likewise, the Romans employed Greek artists to
copy Greek originals.

The Romans themselves were more pragmatic.

They excelled in engineering and their sculptures
are more realistic and lifelike with an emphasis on
particulars: specific people and places.
Patrician carrying portrait busts of two ancestors
1st century BCE, marble, 1.65m
Roman Temple, 2nd century BCE
The Romans constructed an extensive network of
aqueducts throughout their territory, some many
miles long crossing valleys and rivers. By 144
BCE, all seven hills of Rome itself had running
water bought and paid for by the pillage of
Carthage in the Punic Wars.

The most famous and best preserved of the

ancient Roman aqueducts is the Pont du Gard
near Nimes in Southern France from the late 1st
century BCE.

The three arcades rise 50 meters above the river.

The lower arcade serves as a road and the upper
one delivered 12,000 gallons of water to Nimes
 By the middle of the 3rd century BCE, Rome had
control of most of the Italian peninsula and began
a series of campaigns against Carthage,
establishing itself as an empire.

There were struggles for power between many

factions which resulted in Julius Caesar taking
control of an empire that included Italy, Greece,
Spain, the Levant, and North Africa in 48 BCE.

He was assassinated three years later and civil

wars brought an end to the Republic. Caesar’s
grand-nephew and adopted son Octavian became
the sole power in Rome in 27 BCE. He renamed
himself Augustus, “the revered one.”
Coin with portrait of Julius Caesar, 44 BCE, silver,
2 cm diameter
 Roman Empire

When Augustus assumed power in 27 BCE, he

claimed to have restored the integrity of the
Republic, but the large geographic extent made it
technically an empire with Augustus as it’s
supreme emperor.

Augustus created the conditions for peace and

stability in the empire that would last 200 years,
known as the Pax Romana.
Augustus, early 1st century CE, marble, 2 meters
(perhaps a copy of a 20 BCE bronze statue)
When Augustus rose to power in 27 BCE, the style
of sculpture changed: Greek idealism was
combined with Roman realism. For example, an
over-sized marble statue of Augustus is
recognizably him, although it is slightly idealized a
few ways in order to glorify him as a peaceful and
powerful emperor.

The gesture is generic, his facial features are realistic

but slightly simplified.

Next to his right leg is cupid riding a dolphin (ref. to

Virgil’s Aeneid), suggesting his divine heritage.

His bare feet are definitely not realistic but indicate

his idealization as a Greek archetypal figure.
 Roman art often commemorates not only
emperors but also events associated with them.
For example, the Altar of Augustan Peace depicts
Augustus’ return to Rome after establishing rule in
Gaul (modern day France, Switzerland, and
Belgium).

The altar includes several relief panels showing

members of the senate and the imperial family
who would have attended the ceremony. It thus
promotes family life as well as the dynastic
succession.
Altar of Augustan Peace, 20 BCE, marble 10x11 m
Imperial Procession, 1.6 m high
Augustus was sensitive to the people that Rome
conquered and he offered them Roman
citizenship. The governors in the regions built
great public works like aqueducts, theaters,
libraries, and roads facilitating trade and
increasing prosperity.

The empire was so stable by the end of Augustus’

rule that even a series of corrupt emperors like
Caligula (37-41 CE) and Nero (54-68 CE) could not
bring it down for the next 200 years.
Augustus also funded many architectural projects
and covered many of the buildings of Rome in
marble. Many other emperors also sponsored
huge building projects.

The Colosseum (named after a colossal statue of

Nero) was opened in 80 CE by Titus. It was
conceived as an enormous entertainment center
where audiences watched fights between humans
and animals, humans and humans, often to the
death.
Base area: 24,000 square meters.
Height of outer wall: 48 meters.
The Colosseum could sit more than 50,000 people
who all had a clear view of the action. A cover
could have been stretched over the roof in days of
intense sun or rain.

The supporting structure is made of concrete

covered with limestone. On the lowest level,
spectators could enter through any of 80 arches.

The three architectural orders are combined in

engaged columns with no structural function:
Tuscan on the lowest level, Ionic on the next, and
Corinthian on the top level. Such stacking is still
used today.

Many such amphitheaters were built across the

 The Column of Trajan commemorates Roman
emperor Trajan’s two victorious military
campaigns against the Dacians (Romanians). The
lower half illustrating the first (101–102 CE), and
the top half illustrating the second (105–106 CE).

A continuous relief winds up around the tower

from base to capital, with the narrative band
expanding from about 3 feet at the base of the
column to 4 feet at the top, allowing for easier
viewing of the relief. The spiraling narrative strip -
if laid out straight would be 190 meters long -
includes more than 2500 individual figures, which
are punctuated by the figure of Trajan 60 times.
Column of Trajan, 115 CE, marble, 38 m
 The Pantheon was constructed in 120 CE under
the rule of emperor Hadrian, Trajan’s successor. It
is a large circular temple that provided the model
for many circular temples in the following
centuries.

In contrast to the Greek’s emphasis on the

exterior of temples, the most important part of
the Pantheon is the interior with its enormous
44m diameter dome (the largest unreinforced
solid concrete dome to date). An important
innovation of Roman architecture, the interior was
once plated with gold.

The sense of space and the dazzling sense of light

The last of the Emperors of the pax romana and
Hadrian’s successor, Marcus Aurelius, was also
one of the most famous Roman Stoic
philosophers.

In his Meditations, written during military

campaigns, he recommended that people do not
return evil for evil but rather ignore it since what
happens to an individual and his possessions was
inconsequential.

In a commemorative statue, he wears the

traditional robes of Republican philosophers. By
depicting him riding a horse, the statue also
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, Piazza del
Campidoglio. 165 CE. Bronze, 3.5 meters high.
 The art of portraiture became quite common
amongst wealthy Romans. For example, a
sculpture of a middle-aged woman and a wall
painting of a married couple show them without
idealization.

Middle-Aged Woman Portrait of a

Married Couple
st
After 180 CE, the Roman Empire began to decline.
Various military and political factions competed
for power, many emperors were assassinated, the
plague struck Rome, and the borders began to be
threatened by “barbarians.”

The last emperor, Constantine (324-337 CE),

moved the seat of government to Byzantium,
which he renamed after himself.

A massive commemorative arch, dedicated to

Constantine in 312 celebrating his victory over
emperor Maxentius, still marks central Rome
today.
Arch of Constantine, 312 CE, Rome, 21 meters
high