funerary art Flashcards
columbaria and class
freedmen and slave burial chambers for up to hundreds of individuals who paid into a ‘burial club’
typical of 1st century AD
major sites for large tombs in italy
Isola sacra - tomb buildings like terrace houses with most prestigious families etc closer to the front - insides contain frescos, mosaics and sarcophagi
rome - street of house-tombs under st.peter’s rom 2nd century - almost full inventory of decoration and reliefs
street of tombs, pompeii
tomb of the bread man
incredibly a-typical
tomb form utilises bread-kneading cylinders as the building components of the form
typical in several other ways: consistent with corinthian style
frieze around the top shows the work of a bakery (group of slaves rather than the dead man himself working - may have been a big time supplier)
tomb of the crane man (tomb of the haterii)
constructed between 100 and 120 AD along Via Labicana (south east of rome)
primarily dedicated to Hateria - freedwoman and priestess and her husband, so freedman identification is fairly solid
depicts in reliefs on his tomb the tomb that he built for his wife (kinda meta for that) - example of ornate ‘freedman’ tombs? - decoration does not match that found at the site - probably a heightened and elaborated vision
huge amount of decoration - eagles on columns, wreaths etc - in so called ‘freedman style’ because of the foreshortening and perspective play but the term is an example of trimalchio vision
funerary monument of Lucius Storax, Chieti
dated between AD 30 and 50 (based on epigraphic and stylistic grounds)
have inscription and the pediment - made for himself and his wives (bigamist, 2 wives)
freedman became Sevir Augustalis in Teate (southern italy)
pediment with dead man himself officiating with members of the council, in front of temple - looks down on frieze below
second frieze: set of gladiator pairs, arena setting alluded too by the trumpeters on side of pediment
terracotta grave reliefs from Ostia
2nd century (ish)
The Cutler: intense detail on cutlery being sold laid out around the man as he sells but in a draped toga
Blacksmith: man stands behind a work bench with the tools of blacksmithing splayed out around him - tools occupy abstract space rather than laid out realistically - suspended in space. Disproportionally large when compared with figure at the work table
The Butcher: depicted with a butcher knife, mid working with an animal carcass - other parts having off of hooks - quite visceral depiction of work in that sense but depicted in draped toga demonstrating his status
Vernasiae Cycladi gravestone
1st century AD, Rome
Marble cinerary urn provided by Vitalis, former slave of the emperor and scribe of the bedchamber for his wife Vernasia Cyclas - who lived 27 years
front of the urn framed by 2 tall torches and below the inscribed panel is Vitalis and Vernasia - right hands joined as during wedding ceremony
what are the fayyum mummy portraits?
hybridisation of egyptian funerary art and greco-roman funerary tradition
painted on wooden panels often with hot wax used as pigment medium - contributes to the ability for subtle use of colour enabling naturalism
when found: many detached from the mummy’s there were found with initially and displayed like panel paintings
paintings either inserted into sarcophagus (like sarcophagus of Artemidorus) or into binding of mummy
sarcophagus they would be in = egyptian tradition: proxy for the body, adorned with scenes from egyptian funerary religion like osiris
mummy mask of aphrodite, daughter of Dides, Hawara
50-70 AD
painted and guided cartonnage mask of 20 year old woman
combines the death mask of egyptian tradition with contemporary roman features: roman hairstyle - curls around ear and up onto forehead in elaborate crown-like updo
wall-painting in house of terentius Neo
50 AD, Pompeii
depicts two figures male and female in a style very reminiscent of the Fayyum Mummy death-mask style but outside of expected context
naturalistic style
examples of Fayyum mummy portraits
Hawara Portrait c. AD 55-70: young woman with distinctive uni-brow, purple gown and golden jewellery. tightly curled black hair in an updo, another similar from 100-120 AD, similar features and colour palate minus the unibrow and with emerald and gold necklace
Eutyches, freedman of Kasianos c. AD 200: extremely young man - looks like a teenager, dark hair and white garment, soft features
points of contention in Fayyum mummy portraits
were they made of someone while still alive as they all appear quite young (several older women depicted in examples at the museum of Zurich)?
commissioned for funeral after death?
stewart suggests they ere set up in funerary complexes that were open for visiting the dead - as existed across the empire
did terentius neo take this style from fayyum? or was it a style across the empire utilised her for a specific purpose? (also panel paintings either inserted in this style from Er-Rubayat - 160-70 AD)
perhaps style of death p[ortrait favoured in the area by those who believed themselves descended from greeks? (not sure about that)
palmyrene funerary portraits (general info)
over 3000 funerary portraits found, more portraiture from here than from any other city except Rome.
originally busts and reliefs were put up as closing slats in temple tombs and underground hypogea.
Palmyrene style is unique - highly stylised and originally highly coloured but this does not survive. Lavish jewellery as part of the decoration - 7 necklaces, jewellery and textile attackhed to head gear, eyes often inset/inlaid
inscriptions generally written in Palmyrene Aramaic - of 1000 surviving inscriptions. only 32 in greek and 5 in latin
portraits very idealising and uniform/unidividualised - unlikely to be straightforward portraits
Peter Stewar: portraits to represent the ‘soul’ or ‘nefesh’ of the deceased - word often mentioned in the inscriptions - not unlike how particular characteristics reveal something of the. character or identity of individuals in greco-roman art at large, beyond physical likeness
Haliphat, c.231 AD
Depicts upper body of a woman in a bust relief format, wearing a tunic and veil which covered her head above a belt of material - turban without usual diadem as material is carved to be folded for the appearance of softness - diadem usually stiffer
typical middle-parted hairstyle for syrian women but with lock of hair down centre of her forehead
shallowest eyes with incised pupils and irises, straight brows, frontal gaze, expressionless
barbell style earrings, multiple necklaces both beaded and imitation metalwork, round broach
neck with soft venus rings - in classical greek art reflected prosperity/bounty
veil gathered in one hand, index and pinky finger extended, other brought up to cheek with index and middle extended
background: curtain pinned with rosettes
wave curl pattern of hair COMPARANDA: Lady Marti (170-90 BC)
71% of female portraits have hands placed as such
Jewellery- less lavish than COMPARANDA RELIEF OG TAMMA (100-150 AD)
palmyrene vs roman grave relief
Haliphat VS plaque of Stabilio, Iucunda and Faustus
women in both friezes have hands placed to their cheek with two fingers extended background
greater focus on portrait features in roman example - compare the obvious naso-labial folds in the roman to the almost complete lack in Haliphat
potential reasons for the rise of sarcophagi in Rome
cremation vs inhumation: the empire at large was shifting from cremation to inhumation, potentially because the sarcophagus provides another manner to express wealth and values / events of the deceased’s life
Statius Silvai 5.1 ‘here your fine husband laid you out Priscilla…for he could not bear the smoke, burning, and clamour of the pyre’ - revulsion of cremation?
