Roman sculpture He stood out about the Greek in this aspect in which they created what has been called the sculpture-back. The Roman portrait bases its roots in Etruscan art, although it also had influences from the Hellenist period of Greek sculpture and on the “major masks”, that is; Wax masks that applied to the face of the deceased to conserve in this material the impression of its physiognomy and be able to be remembered.
The most used materials in the Roman portrait were bronze and marble: the statues were not colored, although at first the eyes were colored, a practice that was further abandoned to be carved.
Addresses both the concepts that represent the idealism Like those that have to do with the realism . The central theme is the portrait. Thanks to these Petreas images, it has been possible to know today about these characters in antique, their outfits, customs and way of thinking.
In its beginnings, the Etrusca influence is present in some bronzes, to give way to the Greek influence through the Hellenic sculptors who lived in Rome or Greece. But they also influence the philosophical concept of the works discovered on Greek soil and that were taken to Rome during the conquest of the Roman Empire to the island of Greece.
All these elements as a whole drive the idealistic current and a confrontation is generated with the realistic current that are perceived in works of the Republican period.
Main characteristics:
– Created with a utilitarian destination that is fulfilled in its narrative, honorary or descriptive function.
– More than a art It is a craft subject to honorary or commemorative religious demands.
– Preferably cultivate the portrait leading it to its maximum identification with the model.
– It’s a art naturalist.
– It is an anonymous work.
At the beginning, the Roman portrait sculpture only represented the head and part of the neck. Subsequently, the entire bust is represented, including the shoulders and chest.
Integer body figures were also sculpted, where the character could be standing or sitting. The portrait of sitting characters looks more in women than in men. The Roman portrait sculpture was born for the emperor and then adapted to other types of wealthy characters that could pay the work of the artists.
– Togatos portrait: Religious representation with toga and mantle on the head.
– Toracatos portrait: Military representation; With shell.
– Apotheosic portrait: Divinized representation of the naked body, laurel crown and attributes of a God.
He Roman portrait evolved during the different stages, it is perceived in details such as:
- The eyes and the way of representing the beard and hair.
- Fashion is shown on female hairstyles.
He portrait Roman In the Republic
- In republican era portraits the Roman sculpture It has great realism, with very accentuated facial features, which still remind the Major Masks.
- The portrait is short bust, showing only head and neck. Men carry short hair.
The Roman portrait in Augustus
– The Roman sculpture of this era is idealized.
– Hard features are hidden.
– The hair remains short, although it lengthens with respect to how the republic was represented, the strands are soft and undulating and adjust to the shape of the head.
– In female portraits, a hairstyle with the hair collected back and a kind of toupee (the node) on the forehead is shown.
Sculpture of portraits during the era of flavios. I.
– This period constitutes a moment of splendor in the Roman sculpture. The portrait shows a realism where the representative’s own features are softened.
– The bust lengthens to collect shoulders and pectorals.
– He hairstyle It bulges and the curls become broader, accentuating the clear areas of the dark ..
– In it female portraitJulia, Tito’s daughter, makes very striking high hairstyles.
Roman sculpture and the portrait of the second and second centuries
– The Roman sculpture of the second and III centuries tends to a growing barochism. The hair is sculpted longer and separated from the head, with very bulky curls and beard, so great dynamism is expressed.
– Since the time of the Adriano emperor, they begin to carve their eyes.
– In the female sculpture, Faustina appears combed with a line in which the hair falls forming very soft waves and is collected in the neck or on the head forming a bun.
The Roman portrait in the fourth century
In this advanced period of Roman art, marked by the presence of Christianity, the portraits are dehumanized. The concern is lost to make portraits that approach real man, and tends to a schematization that moves the emperor of society away. Therefore, your sculpture can be considered “anti-classic.” The factions are disproportionate and with a very hard size.
Such evolution can be seen perfectly in the abundant representations of Constantine. This late -Roman portrait anticipates the noble hieratism of Byzantine sculpture.
The chronic relief in Roman sculpture.
They constitute Roman historical stories made of stone, use the technique of relief to decorate architectural structures such as monuments, commemorative columns and funeral pantheons. They were mainly carried out with the objective of thoroughly left important historical facts and commemorative events. These reliefs had scenes that captured everyday facts and anecdotes with accentuated realism and detail.
Important government figures and their families, as well as simple citizens are represented in these scenes that are like stone portraits of these people at a certain moment of the action in which they are. The care in the representation of the natural fall of the folds, serene expressions on the faces and in the attitude of the portrayed is observed.
The legs and arms as well as the direction of the head support, however, the representation of the dynamics of the scene, for example: those that are advancing in the procession, speaking or reaching something. The ductility of the stone allowed these artists to stop printing important moments in history that have remained for posterity thanks to their durability. These reliefs add the narrative and didactic function to the decorative.