Ancient Roman Art: Etruscan and Italic Influences
Ancient Roman Art: Origins and Influences
Roman Art Origins: Influences: Italic cultures, Etruscan art, Greek art (Magna Graecia).
Italic Cultures
Italic tribes and Etruscans became mixed with the founding of Rome. The Italic tribes did not develop a deconstructed art creation of their own, administratively and politically taking the art forms of their more developed neighbors.
Etruscan Culture and Its Art
Location: The Etruscan civilization was located in the region of Etruria, now Tuscany.
Source: The origin of this culture is uncertain (coming from Asia Minor or native?).
Type of Society: The Etruscan people developed a complex society, based on independent urban cities.
Economy: High agricultural development of cereal exploitation.
Etruscan Art
Originality: Etruscan art is original despite the remarkable Eastern influences (Greeks, Phoenicians, etc.).
Religious Art: The essence of art, as in almost all ancient cultures, is associated with sacred cult. In this sense, Etruscan religion greatly conditioned the development of sculpture, painting, and architecture associated with the cult of the dead.
Etruscan Temple
It will influence the Roman temple. Rectangular with access stairs. Columns at the back. With 3 doors = 3 cellae. They give much importance to one side of the sanctuary (entrance facade). Interior single cell or split into three (= Rome), gabled roof, decorative program consisting of reliefs and sculptures painted with bright colors.
Tuscan Order: Vitruvius says that the Etruscans introduced a certain architectural order called architraved: the Tuscan. Characteristics:
- A column with a base and a smooth shaft, the geometric way of a Doric capital, also wrote of an abacus, trained horses, and a collar.
- A smooth architrave, a frieze without triglyphs and simple metopes, and a cornice.
Etruscan Sculpture
Materials: Baked earth (to decorate temples) and bronze (votive sculptures and large statues).
Authors: We do not retain the name of any author with the exception of Vulcan.
Funerary Art: Depictions of the dead, often insignificant and relaxed.
The Portrait: The portrait of the deceased wanted to portray the forgotten, and the belief that the deceased will live another life. This will influence the Romans.
Greek Influences: It features Greek Archaic sculpture: forced smile, almond-shaped eyes, use of geometry, and some hieraticism. Use of statues: Sculptures were developed to decorate temples.
Etruscan Painting
Conservation and Technique: Only preserved in the tombs. It is always mural. Using fresco. The paint is applied directly on a light preparation of lime. At the site of Caere, where the volcanic rock allowed it, ground-cooked slabs were used and applied to the painted wall of the tomb.
Aims and Objective: To recreate the family environment enjoyed in the afterlife. Parties, dances, and music are represented with lots of color.
Formally: Characteristics:
- Common law of Egyptian frontality (simultaneous vision of face and profile).
- The figures are outlined in black.
- Using dark shades for men’s bodies, reserving dark red for architectural structures and ocher for backgrounds.
- Excessive elongation of the feet and fingers in an attempt to simulate movement.
General Features of Roman Art
Art in the Service of a Political View: Art seeks legitimacy and expansion of domination. So we come to say that: Roman art was never really intended for aesthetic programs.
Subsidiarity of Other Art Traditions: The end of subsidiarity. Genuinely Roman product.
Priority on Practical and Technical Aspects over the Aesthetic: Art seeks practical objectives and sacrifices, if necessary, efficacy on behalf of taste.
Importance of Patronage: The artist disappears before the glorification of the patron.