Roman Art Flashcards
1
Q
What was the relevance of Greek sculpture in Rome?
A
- “must-have” in Roman villas
- All attested artists were Greek and military victories in Greece resulted in the retrieval and collection of Greek art
2
Q
Where was Greek art often found?
A
- Manubial temples
- Porticoes
- Atria of private houses
3
Q
What were early Greek collections characterized by?
A
- Heterogeneous displays divorced from their original Greek context
- Looted statues were perceived as trophies rather than artwork
4
Q
What is idealplastik?
A
- Scultpures of Greek divine or mythological figures
- Decorative purposes
5
Q
What is kopienkritik?
A
- close examination of Roman replicas to reconstruct the appearance of lost Greek originals
6
Q
When was the onset of domestic luxury in Rome and why?
A
- Large-scale import of statuary in bronze and marble after Marcellus’ retrieval of spoils from Syracuse
7
Q
What were the three categories of sculpture?
A
- Close replicas
- Variants of originals
- New creations based on Greek themes (eventually, the most evident category)
8
Q
What different period-styles were evident in the transformation of tradition?
A
- Archaic, classical, and hellenistic single statues
9
Q
What evidence of Roman art and influences is there?
A
- Cicero’s collection
- “the more the better”
- “anything suitable to my Tusculan villa”
- Roman desire to have art in excess in order to portray high status and refined taste
10
Q
What were the four styles of Pompeian wall painting?
A
- Masonry style, architectural style, mosaic, and opus sectile
11
Q
What are the characteristics of masonry style?
A
- Painted stucco in relief and rectangular panels in different colours, resembling marble slabs (e.g. Fresco from Herculaneum)
12
Q
What are the characteristics of architectural style?
A
- megalographic scenes from Greek mythology within painted architectural features, giving impression of spatial depth (e.g. Fresco from the Sala del Grande Dipinto in Pompeii)
13
Q
What is mosaic and opus sectile? and examples
A
- Contributed to busy effect of room decoration
- Campanian houses decorated in first style and monochrome mosaic floors with borders depicting Greek vegetal motifs
- House of the Faun: mosaic of Alexander and Darius with very miniscule tesserae - gave the effect of a painting
- Opus sectile from the Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli
14
Q
What was roman portrait sculpture like?
A
- Verism was uniquely Roman and was prided in realistic portrayals of the subject
- Age portrayal gave the impression of an aged and wise Roman man
- Contradicted Greek sculpture that typically portrayed everyone as young and powerful
15
Q
What are examples of verism?
A
- Pompey had forehead crease lines and smile lines
