Roman Sculpture: Portraits and Historical Reliefs – A Comprehensive Guide
Sculpture in Rome: The Portrait and Historical Relief
Introduction: General Characteristics
Roman visual arts, particularly architecture and painting, held a distinct realistic quality. This stemmed from Etruscan artistic contributions, known for their realistic funeral portraits and tomb paintings, and the practical nature of Roman society, which favored recognizable depictions of individuals. Furthermore, the Romans’ interest in commemorating their historical achievements fueled the development of highly realistic, sometimes anecdotal, relief sculptures.
However, Roman culture couldn’t ignore the abstract and idealistic influence of Greek art, which appealed primarily to the aristocratic elite. This created two parallel artistic streams in Rome: a popular, realistic Etruscan tradition and an aristocratic, idealistic Greek tradition. Sculpture was viewed as a decorative element, embellishing architecture, homes, and gardens.
General Characteristics
Romans, preoccupied with political and military affairs, often relegated sculptural work to foreigners or slaves. This societal disregard for artistic pursuits led to a lack of native artistic origins and the anonymity of early Roman artists. Early Roman sculptures often copied Greek models, ranging from archaic to Hellenistic styles, as well as Etruscan art. Distinguishing originals from copies can be challenging, as exemplified by the San Ildefonso Group in the Prado Museum, potentially a Greek work from the 4th century BC or a Roman copy. This trend intensified after the Roman conquest of Greece in the 2nd century BC, with an influx of Greek artists and plundered artworks into Rome.
Roman sculpture developed two primary genres: portraiture and historical relief. Common materials included bronze, continuing the Greek and Etruscan tradition, and marble, abundant in Italy. Later, precious stones were incorporated for enhanced realism. Sculptures were polished, following Greek practices, and drills were used to create light and shadow effects. Early polychrome techniques eventually faded, leading to innovations like carving irises and pupils into eyes and using different colored stones for various sculptural elements (leather, fabric, hair, eyes).
The favored theme was humanity, representing the state for propaganda or depicting private citizens. Mythological subjects and gods, while present, were less prominent. Historical themes played a significant role, serving to glorify Rome. Both round sculptures and reliefs were cultivated, with reliefs often integrated into memorial architecture, triumphal arches, and columns.
The Portrait and Historical Relief: Evolution Through Republic, High Empire, and Late Empire
Roman portraiture, while rooted in Hellenistic and Etruscan traditions, developed its own distinct character. Key features include:
- Originating in the private sphere, ancestral portraits were displayed in homes and used in funeral ceremonies. The ius imaginum restricted these representations to the upper classes.
- Roman naturalism contrasted with Greek idealization, stemming from the practice of creating wax death masks. However, idealization did appear at times, such as during Augustus’s reign, to emphasize his divine status and that of his family. Even then, facial features remained accurate.
Portraits were primarily created in the round and could take various forms:
- Full-length, standing: The most common form, depicting individuals in togas (robed) or armor (toracatos). Emperors were represented with various attributes and poses: as consul with a raised hand and consular robe, as praetor with a scroll symbolizing power, as Pontifex Maximus with a toga over his head, as a naked hero crowned with laurel, or deified with the emblem of the god they were assimilated to.
- Seated: Especially common for women.
- Equestrian: An imperial prerogative.
- Bust: A form receiving particular attention, with variations ranging from short busts to nearly half-body representations.
Evolution
- Republic: Short, triangular busts were common, with minimal attention to clothing. Hair was short, flat, and uncombed. Women’s portraits featured center-parted hair. Most sculptures were created by Greek artists, with Pompey and Cicero as typical examples.
- High Empire: Augustus’s reign introduced an idealized phase, particularly in imperial portraits. Women’s representations featured center-parted, wavy hair. Examples include the Prima Porta Augustus, Livia, and Claudius. Later, a more naturalistic style emerged, portraying individuals with wrinkles and turned heads. Women’s hairstyles became curly and high.
- Late Empire (from Hadrian): Men’s portraits featured beards, and hair was treated with chiaroscuro. Pupils and irises were depicted. Examples include the equestrian portrait of Marcus Aurelius and the portrait of Caracalla. From the 3rd century AD, an anti-classical trend emerged, simplifying features with large, wide-open eyes, schematic beards, and enlarged heads, foreshadowing Byzantine portraiture. Many of these sculptures were colossal.
The Historical Relief
The historical relief originated in the East, used by Egyptians, Persians, and Assyrians, reaching a high level of sophistication with the latter. This heritage passed to the Greek world and subsequently to Rome, particularly during the Hellenistic period. Roman reliefs are characterized by their narrative quality, realism, use of perspective through landscape or architecture (pictorial character), detail, and elaborate compositions. They served commemorative and documentary purposes, integrated into triumphal arches, columns, and altars, depicting the exploits of consuls and emperors for public admiration.
Evolution
- Republic: Historical reliefs were a late development, with few examples from the Republican era. One of the earliest is the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus from 46 BC.
- High Empire: Modeling became more voluminous. Notable examples include the reliefs of the Ara Pacis of Augustus. The reliefs of the Arch of Titus (71 AD) exhibit greater movement and depth through varied levels and landscape inclusion. In the 2nd century AD, the Column of Trajan, chronicling campaigns against the Dacians, represents the pinnacle of historical relief. Its entire stem is decorated with continuous, helical reliefs, depicting a historical narrative without scene separations. The relief becomes shallower, and the naturalism of the figures is diminished.
- Late Empire: From the 3rd century AD, the Empire’s decline is reflected in fewer and lower-quality reliefs. The Arch of Constantine (4th century AD) exemplifies this, with its borrowed sculptures, coarse modeling, rigid, isocephalic figures, and monotonous composition, influencing Byzantine and Western European relief styles.
Sarcophagi
Sarcophagi, while rooted in Etruscan tradition, flourished during the Trajanic period (2nd century AD) as burial replaced cremation. Typically carved from a single marble block, three sides were worked, and the fourth was attached to a wall. Reliefs on sarcophagi shared the characteristics and evolution of historical reliefs. Themes varied, including mythology, battles, hunts, garlands, pilasters, and cherubs, arranged continuously or compartmentalized. During early Christian persecution, themes with double meanings or lacking overt religious significance were used, such as strigils, spikes, fish, grapes, and peacocks (symbols of Christ). With religious freedom, themes from the Old and New Testaments became prominent.