Ancient Roman Art

The year 510 B.C.E. is usually the year cited as the beginning of the Roman era, for it was then that the Roman Republic was founded. This period included a long era of expansion and consolidation in which many territories were brought under Roman rule and with this rule came the ushering in of great works of art. Roman art world evolve to include not only the visual arts that were produced in Rome, but major art forms known as mosaics, architecture, sculpture, and painting. All of these unique styles have their own contribution to Rome through their communication and portrayal of the different aspects of the Roman culture.

The first kind of very popular artwork done by the Romans was the mosaic. These intricate pieces of art were assembled by placing small portions of glass, tile, or stone into a mortar background, that shaped a pattern or picture. The Romans derived this skill from the Greek tradition and established this form of art in the third or fourth century. The mosaics were most commonly used as floors, and illustrated both Greek and Roman heroes within literature, gods, daily life, and impressions of nature. The level of detail in making these was extremely incredible; the great benefit of them being that obtained substantial durability and lasting color. Their durable construction and lasting quality gave way to explaining why floor mosaics remained intact for such long periods of time.

A second type of artwork that was done by the Romans was architecture. It was in this area that Rome produced its greatest innovations. Because the Roman Empire extended over a vastly large region, Roman engineers developed methods of building on a very impressive level. Some of the most renown structures built include the Colosseum and the Pantheon, which required vast progress within the engineering field on a substantial scale.It was during Rome’s Golden Age that the massive building programs of monuments, aqueducts, baths, palaces, and temples emerged. The common Greek and Etruscan influences were also present in these developments as well. This was key in producing novelties such as the round temple and curved arch, both of which were very common and widespread

The third variety of Ancient Roman art was sculpture. It was at its peak of popularity in about 146 B.C. and most were inspired by the Greeks. Statues were most commonly used in decorating houses or villas, and were also used to honor a ruler, commemorate victories, or to promote the government. They were carved in such a way to produce the most realistic views of these things. This was prominent with the public, as for it being a society without any newspapers or photographs, it was the grand sculptures that was a significant source of both information and communication.

A fourth method of art was painting. Romans painted primarily on panels or plaster, as well as the walls, ivory, and wood. Panting were usually done of gardens, woods, groves, trees, channels, coastlines, and rivers. “ This was sometimes done by covering the whole area of the walls with elaborate landscapes, in which depth, atmosphere, and light are rendered in a highly pictorial, illusionist manner.”(Hodge 14)This popular painting technique was known as “fresco” and included brightly colored backgrounds that were separated on walls in different rectangular sections. Not only was painting primarily focused on depiction, but also provides and illustrates a brief history of Rome.

Roman art is vast and wide and has generally been viewed as beginning with the republic in 510 BC with the end of Roman art and the beginning of medieval art occurring with the transition to the emperor Constantine to Christianity. Roman styles which include pagan roman subjects continued for centuries that followed however usually appearing as Christian art because of the influence of Christianity. "Roman art had been historically divided into two main phases the first being the art of the Republic and the second as the art of the Roman Empire with variations emerging depending upon which dynasty was ruling at the time."(D'Ambra, 46)With the initial Republic founding the expression Roman Art was tantamount with the city of Rome and it was only within the last two centuries that Greece and Roman art divided from Etruscan art and before Christ there is seen a unique Roman manner of building, sculpting and painting as described above. Owed to the diverse and expansive geography of the Romans Empire along with the many varied populace, the resultant art to come out of Rome has always been dissimilar with m any variations owing to the distinctive areas individual taste and inclination towards art at the time.

Hodge, Susie Ancient Roman Art: Heinemann Interactive Library: United States, 1998.

D'Ambra, Eve Roman Art: Cambridge University Press: Unites States, 1998.