Key Features of Roman Architecture and Sculpture
Roman Architecture
Historical Introduction
The history of the Roman Empire began in the eighth century BC on the Italian peninsula with the founding of Rome.
General Features
Roman architecture had an official status (works were commissioned and paid for by the state) and was utilitarian (buildings were in the service of citizens, meant to be used). This led to the importance of interior space, unlike the Greek concept. Consequently, technique became more important than the concept of beauty in Rome, often leading to a disregard for proportion and a mixture of styles within a single building.
Temples
Although derived from Greek temples, Roman temples have important differences:
- They stand on a podium.
- Front steps mark the access inside, creating a distinct facade.
- The staircase leads to a deep portico providing access to the cella.
- The cella walls extend outwards and feature engaged half-columns, which are decorative rather than structural.
- They often lack strict proportion.
- Example: The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France.
Exceptions to this model include the Pantheon and circular temples dedicated to Vesta.
Roman Sculpture
General Features
The two most distinctive and original genres of Roman sculpture are the portrait and the historical relief, reflecting the Roman interest in realism and history. Realistic portraiture is the most genuinely Roman form, a product of a militaristic, imperial, and highly hierarchical society. The goal of Roman visual art was not to represent an ideal of beauty, but rather reality. Some works idealized the Emperor, but for political rather than aesthetic reasons.
The Portrait
Influences
Roman sculpture received strong Etruscan and Greek influences:
- Etruscan influence is evident in early realistic portrayals; Romans inherited the Etruscan tradition of creating death masks from wax, taken directly from the face of the deceased.
- Greek influence stemmed from the Roman conquest of Magna Graecia and later Greece itself. This resulted in the arrival of numerous Greek sculptures and sculptors, often brought to Rome as slaves. The Roman fascination with Greek art is evidenced by the large number of copies made of Greek originals, allowing us to study this largely lost original production today.
Materials Used
Common materials included bronze and stone (especially Carrara marble), as well as hard stones like alabaster, granite, and basalt. Sculptures were typically painted (clothing, beards, eyes, hair) for realism, but this custom faded in the third century, replaced by polishing the marble.
Artists
Artists often remained anonymous because sculptors were sometimes looked down upon for performing manual labor, seen as submission and service for a wage. This perspective stemmed from the Roman view that patient, slow work could be seen as a sign of weakness compared to essential Roman occupations like war and hunting, which demanded courage, strength, and agility. However, during the time of Augustus’s patronage and later emperors, while painting was sometimes practiced by the elite, sculpture was generally not, considered less elegant due to the physical strength and technique required.