Ancient Rome was the conqueror of ancient Greek territory, but it became the conquered of ancient Greek culture. The outstanding contribution of ancient Roman sculpture art to western civilization lies in its inheritance and development of ancient Greek sculpture art tradition. The sculpture art of ancient Rome inherited the fine tradition of ancient Greece, and was integrated into the local Etruscan sculpture art and bronze carving skills, which played a role in connecting the past and the future between ancient Greece and the Middle Ages.
Sculpture has a very high position in the social life of ancient Rome, and the number of sculptures is still unimaginable today. The Romans made great achievements in portrait sculpture. The Romans worshipped their ancestors and began to remove the molds from the faces of the dead with plaster or wax very early, and painted them into realistic masks and put them at home. Another reason is that Roman rulers tried their best to show off their personal authority and create personality cult. Portrait sculpture in this period is famous for its realistic style. Sculptors are good at using exaggerated and generalized artistic techniques, depicting characters in detail, abandoning cumbersome things and strengthening the sense of movement, so that their works leave a deep impression on the audience. In the second half of the 2nd century, emotional portraits prevailed. This kind of portrait fully shows the inner feelings and psychological state of the characters, and the expression techniques are much richer than in the past. For example, in order to show the change of light and shade of the eyeball, sculptors carve circles with different shades on the eyeball. The Statue of Roman Emperor Carla was a masterpiece at that time.
Ancient Roman sculpture follows the tradition of ancient Greek sculpture, but it is more secular, thus taking a more solid step on the road of realism. In portrait works, the sculptor first pursues the realistic appearance of the model and pays attention to the characterization of the characters. Ancient Roman sculpture is an important part of western ancient civilization and has made outstanding contributions to the development of western realistic sculpture.
Ancient Roman art attached importance to the exquisiteness of artistic expression. The statue of the Roman emperor, with both individual characteristics and idealized treatment, became a symbol of Roman heroism and enterprising spirit. Roman portrait sculpture has many creations in realistic treatment, emotional expression, exaggeration and emphasis on details, and has made great achievements. Roman sculptors emphasized to reproduce the image of the sculpture they wanted, paying special attention to the depiction of facial details. The spiritual temperament of the Greeks is mainly conveyed through body language, while the portrait of Rome is mainly expressed through the head. The life of Greek statues is full of all parts of the body, even if there is only one broken arm, it can still give people a unique life and beauty. If the head of a Roman statue is missing, the rest is meaningless. Roman statues in the imperial era are full of idealistic tendencies. Octavian's statue has a grim facial expression. His left hand holds a scepter of dictatorship and his right hand points forward, which seems to command thousands of troops. His resolute character is very distinct. Horizo's face on horseback shows introspection and meditation, with melancholy sadness and philosophical thinking, with decadent, negative and contemplative colors. The Augustus Peace Altar dedicated to the goddess of peace is a unique novel creation in Roman art. The group relief on the altar shows the grand scene of craftsmen building temples and emperors leading people to sacrifice, vividly shows the personalized figures and vivid scenes with rich expressions and different expressions, and reflects the highly realistic, perfect and superb artistic skills of Roman sculpture from a technical point of view, showing a calm atmosphere of praise and reverence, which makes people feel like the empire is in good weather, the country is prosperous and the people are safe.
True art is immortal. According to the chronological order of Greece and Rome, this book comprehensively understands the art, historical background and representative masterpieces of ancient Greece, grasps the characteristics and the evolution of styles and techniques of artistic works in various periods, and directly appreciates the profound and infinite charm of ancient art with the help of many exquisite color pictures.
She is a wolf; she?wolf;?female?wolf
Now, the statue of "female wolf" has become a symbol of Rome. The female wolf, bronze, 85 cm high, was created around 500 BC, and is now collected in the Rome Municipal Museum, Italy.
She is a wolf; she?wolf;?female?wolf
From the 8th century BC to the 4th century BC, the Italian peninsula was ruled by the Cyrus, and the subculture of Troni was formed in history. The subculture of Troni was later inherited by its conqueror, the Romans, and became the basis of Roman culture.
Among Etruscan works of art, the artistic level of sculpture is the most outstanding, and the bronze statue "Mother Wolf" is one of the most famous works. The statue is based on the legend that Rome built a city: after the famous Trojan War, the Prince of Troy fled to the Italian peninsula and established the city of Alba, which was handed down from generation to generation; Later, a king named Numito was overthrown by his brother A Mu and his son was killed. However, his daughter was favored by the God of War and gave birth to twins Romulus and Remus, but A Mu left him in the basket and humiliated the Tiber River. The two brothers were later discovered and taken in by a female wolf, and were soon discovered and adopted by shepherds. When they grew up, they killed their enemies, rescued their grandfather and created a new city. Later, romulus killed remus and named the city Rome after him. This statue depicts the female wolf who once nurtured the founder of Rome.
The statue is a highly realistic work of art with a rigorous structure, which embodies the theme of ferocious appearance and kindness at heart. The female wolf has strong limbs, fierce expression and wild nature. The curly hair on the neck, drooping breasts, thin abdomen and ribs are all extremely realistic. The overall expression of the female wolf is alert and dignified, which seems to be a symbol of the resolute and cold national character of the Romans. /kloc-in the 6th century, someone made statues of two babies under the belly of a wolf, which more completely expressed the legend of Rome.
This statue is a masterpiece of art by the people of Serus. For the Romans, it is also of commemorative significance, and people worship it as the ancestor of national origin.
Bust of Brutu.
Brutus's bust is a bronze statue, which was created in the second half of 4th century BC.
According to textual research, ancient Rome was originally just some village tribes along the Tiber River in the Italian peninsula, and the city of Rome was founded around 754 BC. In 509 BC, Rome abolished the monarchy and entered * * *, which lasted until 3 1 year BC. In the past 500 years, Rome has gradually developed from a small city-state into the overlord of Wei Town in the Mediterranean region. Because of the war, Rome's art developed slowly, but it reflected the calm and realistic character of the Romans and had a strong realistic color. Among them, the main achievements of sculpture art are embodied in portrait sculptures. The bust of brutus was the most important representative work of portrait sculpture at that time.
Although there is still some controversy, many people think that the statue depicts Rome and brutus, the first chief executive of that period. The bust's facial expression is serious and firm, and its deep eyes and tight lips show the confidence and wisdom of the leader. The head portrait is very realistic, distinctive and unpretentious, which successfully reveals the personality characteristics of the characters, shows the spiritual outlook of the characters during the political rise of Rome, and the fine processing of the statues also reflects the superb metal casting skills of the Romans. The eyeball of the statue was made of ivory and glass, which was a common method at that time, in order to make the characters look more real and natural.
Augustus in uniform
Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder and first emperor of the Roman Empire. He ended the civil war that plunged Rome into chaos in BC 1 century and brought two centuries of peace and prosperity to the Greek-Roman world.
Augustus in uniform
He was Caesar's nephew and later became his adopted son and heir. Caesar showed his interest in him very early and trained him wholeheartedly, paving the way for him to enter politics. But when Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, Octavian was only a boy of 18 years old. Caesar's death left a huge power vacuum for Rome, and set off a long-term, intense and complicated power struggle among many military and political officials. Under the extremely unfavorable situation, Octavian showed his strategy, calmness and willpower far beyond his age. After a power struggle, Octavian formed the last three alliances with his two sworn enemies Libida and Antony, and became the highest ruling power circle in Rome at a young age. Since then, the war between them has continued until Octavian solved Libida in 32 BC. The following year, the Battle of Akexin defeated the alliance between Antony and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, and became the sole ruler of Rome. Later historians regard this as the beginning of the Roman Empire. He was regarded as the head of state (the first citizen), initially ruled as a consul, maintained the * * * and political power, accepted the title of Augustus in 27 BC, and was even regarded as a god after his death.
Under his rule, the Roman Empire started from Iberian Peninsula in the west, Capadocia in the east, Gaul in the north and Egypt in the south. During his reign (3 1 year BC ~ 4/year AD1year AD), he devoted himself to the reform of tax structure, financial system and military system, promoted public construction, and established a huge road network and water supply system throughout the empire. At that time, Rome was peaceful, the economy was prosperous, and literature and art were prosperous. The Augustus era was the golden age of Roman literature, and Virgil, Horace and Levi all appeared in this period. The civil peace he initiated, that is, the peace in Rome, lasted for about 200 years. During this period of peace and prosperity, Roman culture spread in the territories conquered by Augustus and other Roman leaders.
Roman plastic arts mainly came from the influence of ancient Greek art, but due to the different political nature, it formed its unique artistic style in architecture, painting, sculpture and so on. Portrait carving is the main achievement of Roman sculpture, because Etruscans often put wax models on the faces of the dead and keep them in the niches of Kitchen God. Every anniversary, the sacrifice was taken out. Later, this method was gradually applied to sculpture, requiring accurate expression of the characteristics of the object when making portraits, which became the pursuit goal of statue art. By the time of the Augustus Empire, portrait sculpture had been highly developed, but Emperor Augustus also asked to imitate ancient Greece, that is to say, he liked to idealize the characters, so this style was called Augustus classicism in the history of art. The marble "Augustus in uniform" unearthed in Prima Porta is the most representative.
He held a scepter in his left hand and held his right hand high as if he were giving a lecture. The facial expression is severe, the lips are thin, and the personality is very distinct. He looks very big in gorgeous armor, and the pattern on the armor symbolizes the idea that Rome will rule the world. Using this symbolic means, the purpose of art is clear at a glance, that is, to praise the emperor. The author of the statue was not named. It seems that artists in the Roman Empire did not have the right to create.
Next to Octavian Augustus' right foot, the artist also created the image of Cupid, an angel with wings and no eyes. Why is this little love god in Roman mythology shaped here? No eyes, symbolizing the blindness of his love; Another judgment, it is said that he is reckless by nature and needs the guidance of people of insight at any time. He will never grow up, that's all. Most art historians explain that it is possible to show Augustus' height as a contrast in art.
It is said that the marble surface of the statue still has stains such as gold, blue, brown, yellow and purple. It is likely that when it is finished, the statue will have brilliant colors. The statue was made in BC 19 ~ BC 13, and is now in the Vatican Museum in Rome.
Portrait of women
Roman portrait sculpture is famous for its vivid characterization. We have enjoyed the statue of Augustus in front of us, but the most wonderful portrait sculpture in this period is not a full-length statue, but a bust, bust or head portrait placed by slave owners and nobles in the living room of the house.
/kloc-in the second half of the 20th century, great achievements were made in portrait carving in Rome, especially during the reign of Flaviu. The diversity and strict realism of portraits have reached a very perfect level, which can almost be said to be impeccable. In the statue of Augustus, we also found that the artist followed the legacy of the heyday of Greece, paying attention to the idealization of the image, that is, beautifying it as much as possible, while in the portrait sculpture of this period, it seems that only the methods of Hellenistic period are used to carry out tradition. This statue "Portrait of a Woman" is more concise than before in terms of character description and artistic techniques.
The hairstyle on this woman's head is exaggerated to highlight the status, identity and personality of the portrait. This sculpture language is new in Roman portrait sculpture. Obviously, the sculptor has carefully studied the subtle changes of the marble surface and noticed the visual effect of the contrast between light and dark, so he used the strong concave-convex shape on the hair curls to contrast the soft and smooth face of women, making the overall feeling of women fuller and more beautiful.
This is a noble family in Rome. Her arrogant behavior is to show her nobility, reserved expression and cold heart. Through her slight gesture of turning her face and neck, we can gain an insight into some kind of self-interest in the inner world of this upper-class aristocratic woman. Some archaeologists have confirmed that this lady is the niece of Emperor Trajan, Veglia Matthias. Before shaping, the sculptor must take great pains to find the right idea. After careful consideration, I decided to exaggerate the local details, so that the hairstyle and eyes echo each other, resulting in a particularly typical figure. This is the creative harvest of the Roman portrait sculptor, and its perfection amazed the viewer.
In the portrait sculpture of Flaviu's period, artists paid more attention to the bright and dark colors on marble, so there was the saying of Flaviu's colorism in history. This woman's head was painted between AD 90 and 100, about 63 cm high. It is now in the Capitoli Museum in Rome.
Peace altar relief
Since Augustus the Great, the Roman Empire has established a relatively complete ruling order, and the internal and external wars have decreased, entering a relatively stable period of nearly 200 years, which is called Roman Peace in history. In order to commemorate the peace brought to Rome by Augustus the Great, the Senate presided over the construction of an altar of peace and dedicated it to the goddess of peace. This is a square platform made of marble, with a length of 1 1 m, a width of 10 m and a height of 4 m, surrounded by walls, a doorway in the east and an altar in the middle. The surrounding walls are decorated with two layers of relief works, the upper layer is an unforgettable figure group, and the lower layer is a bright and beautiful plant decorative pattern. The relief on the upper floor shows the scene when the altar began to be built. The imperial rulers and all members of the royal family led by Augustus made solemn sacrifices, as well as sculptures symbolizing the peace and prosperity of the empire with Roman mythical figures. Relief embodies the highly realistic artistic skills of Roman sculpture in technique, with beautiful composition and distinct layers. Generally speaking, these reliefs on the peace altar show a calm atmosphere of praise and reverence, which makes people feel the prosperity of the empire, the country and the people.
First of all, let's learn about the structure of the altar itself and the position of the relief. The whole building consists of a huge U-shaped altar, which is built on a high stone base and surrounded by external walls. There are reliefs on the altar and the outer wall. Like all Roman reliefs, they were originally painted in oil. But the paint has long since disappeared, leaving only white marble today.
The inner side of the outer wall is carved with garlands composed of leaves, fruits and flowers. These are traditional images of the outer wall of the altar, which may reflect that garlands and bull's head bones were indeed used at that time-they are the remains of animal sacrifices and form a circle around the sacrificial site.
This mural in Roman architecture at that time can help us understand the color of the wreath. Above the wreath is paterae, a shallow bowl for pouring wine to the gods.
The upper part of the altar is decorated with small reliefs inside and outside, showing the religious team preparing for animal sacrifice. There is no doubt that it depicts the scene of offering sacrifices on the altar every year.
There are two groups of corresponding reliefs on the outer side of the outer wall. The lower parts of the four walls are decorated with sage and vines.
On the upper part of the long walls on both sides, there is another image, which shows the parade attended by all important members of the Augustus Group, including the emperor himself and family members. We will further analyze the relevant content later.
On two short walls, where there are doors on both sides, you can see four reliefs on the doors. Each painting shows a scene with characters. Here, the theme of the image is not the event at that time. On the east side, we can see images about the early history of Rome. On the west side, there are two themes related to myths. The relief on the west was once thought to represent romulus and remus-they were twin brothers, and romulus later established the city of Rome. The mother wolf is breastfeeding them. This legend is a very common theme in early Roman art and it is easy to identify. This is the same picture on the early Roman silver coins.
What we see here is another marble relief, which shows the whole process of a pair of twins being discovered by shepherds. It may have been carved during the construction of the peace altar. The relief on the outer wall on the east side is the one corresponding to the twins, showing the Roman goddess, the incarnation of the city of Rome.
The goddess' clothes are unique, so it is easy to recognize even though they are not perfect. In relief, she is like the image on this copper coin in the era of Emperor Nero.
The other two well-preserved reliefs are generally considered as follows: Aeneas, the Trojan hero, worships sows to the gods in the west, and Titus, the goddess of the earth, is in the east, so that Aeneas is opposite to romulus and Lemos, and Mother Earth is opposite to the goddess of Rome.
"Peace Altar Relief" is a replica of marble relief, which was created around 13~ 9 BC and is now collected in Rome Museum.
Different from Greek relief works, Roman relief works are no longer dominated by fairy tales, and most of their commemorative relief works directly express the great achievements of emperors. This is also directly related to the realistic national character of the Romans. Most of these relief works appear on memorial buildings such as altars, Arc de Triomphe and memorial columns, with unique styles.