Ancient Roman Art

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Ancient Roman Art:

As the strength and influence of the vast empire forged by Alexander the Great began to wane, what began as a small village situated along the marshy banks of the Tiber River increased in population and vigor and took the first steps toward imperial conquest. Mythic tradition maintains that Aeneas, fleeing the destruction and carnage of Troy, settled among the Latins and Etruscans in Italy, fathering the nation of people that would rise up to conquer the terra cognita of ancient world. The Roman people established their independence from the Etruscan dictators to the north in the fifth century BCE and created their republic. By the first century CE, Rome’s empire stretched from the Thames to the Nile. Two thousand years later, Roman art, architecture, and law are still important in our culture and society.

Roman art, like that of the Greeks, focuses on religion. Roman ideology and mythology form a crossroads between eastern influence, that of the Greeks, and the distinctly western Etruscan influence. The two meld together to form a religious and cultural base on which the Romans built a unique and opulent society. Roman art ranged from the monumental to the mundane, but some of the most impressive are the fresco paintings from the houses of the upper class. As the city became crowded, wealthy Romans began to build villas in the countryside and often commissioned painters to decorate the walls with frescoes from Roman myth.

An interesting addition to our Roman art collection, the Bacchante from the National Museum in Naples is a fresco of one of the followers of Bacchus, Dionysos in Greek. Bacchus, the god of wine and artistic endeavor, a patron of poets and drunkards was celebrated in ceremonies that involved copious amounts of alcohol. The Bacchante is painted off balance, seemingly in the throes of Bacchic reverie, clothes whipping around creating motion and tension. In her left hand, she holds a thyrsus, a staff topped with a bundle of ivy leaves, which represents Bacchus. Marc Antony, during the last days of the Roman republic, claimed Bacchus as his patron. When Octavian, who identified himself with Apollo, god of reason, defeated Antony and Cleopatra, he became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Out of anger at Antony, Octavian outlawed the worship of Bacchus and persecuted its followers, killing more Bacchants than Nero did Christians. However, some frescoes still exist that pay homage to this outlawed god, such as the one offered on this site.

Roman artists made several innovations to the Greek tradition they inherited. For example, Greek paintings typically portrayed figures from the profile or the front. In Roman art, figures are portrayed from varied perspectives, such as the fresco of Primavera, the Roman personification of spring. Painted with her back toward the viewer, she stops mid stride, turning her head, to pick flowers. There is a tension in her neck and back as she turns and stretches and the detail in the drapery of her robes is impeccable. The Romans left grand architectural works behind to commemorate their victories and grandeur, but in the art of household frescoes, one can see the domestic Roman. The daily life and beliefs of the average Roman is evident in this exceptional form of Roman art.


James Webb ©2005