Roman sculpture: a summary of its characteristics. From triumphal arches to the Ara Pacis, through portraits and the symbolism of portraits.Roman sculpture consisted of structural architectural elements, such as columns or arches, which were then transformed into true works of art of a celebratory political nature. A well-known example is the Triumphal Arch in honor of emperors and generals who had conquered peoples and territories.
The triumphal arches
Triumphal arches were built on the roads leading from Rome to the conquered places so that the army, returning victorious, could pass under them. To commemorate the event, reliefs were carved on the walls and on the spokes in which the feats accomplished by the person to be remembered were briefly but clearly recalled.
The features
Thanks to these triumphal arches it was easy to learn the history of Rome . A simple language was needed to make everyone understand the history. We can therefore speak of two types of popular art:
- Popular language : it does not pay attention to proportions, perspective and harmony but tries to be immediately understandable. Therefore, this language does not have the usual artistic characteristics, it may seem a crude and above all anti-classical language but of immediate understanding.
- Language desired by a strong power that aims to make all citizens enter the system.
When the Romans understand that politics can be done with art, they take advantage of it and begin to fill Rome and the provinces with very large columns (structural elements) on which the history of Rome was carved along the entire shaft .
Trajan’s Column
The oldest is Trajan’s column which tells the story of Trajan ‘s first and second campaign against the Dacians. There is a Nike (which symbolizes victory). There is a big difference compared to the Greek one: the Nike was winged (this indicated that it came from the sky and therefore from the Gods) and it landed on the ship of the victorious people. From this we can say that the Greeks were convinced that their well-being or ill-being came only from the Gods. Instead, among the Romans, the Nike is not winged and writes the name of the winner on her shield. For this reason we can say that in the Roman world, man writes his destiny thanks to what he does, therefore everything starts and comes from men.
The Ara Pacis
When Augustus became emperor he had the Ara Pacis built . To celebrate peace, Augustus had a very large quadrangular building built which is accessed by a series of very low and wide steps that give a seraphic, pompous and calm rhythm. Inside the Ara Pacis we find the sacrificial altar in the centre and all around a large seat where the most important people in both politics and the priesthood sat. The external part is divided into two bands: in the lower part there are floral decorative elements while in the upper part there is the history of Rome told through the myth of Romulus and Remus . With this myth they wanted to underline how Rome was a combative and strong city having been born from Mars (god of war)
The concept of perspective
The concept of perspective in Roman culture was meant to give a sense of truth and reality but it was also used to give a political meaning to the characters in portraits : in fact, those in greater relief were the most important, while the further inward one went, the less important ones appeared.
We can therefore speak of a bureaucratic perspective . We can also say that in order to recognize these characters, the faces were sculpted in a very realistic way. Therefore, the Roman portrait can be defined as similar to the Etruscan one in terms of form but also to the Greek one because attention was also paid to the social position that the characters represented had.
Sculpture in the round
Another example of Roman sculpture is the sculpture in the round . With Augustus, who had to be recognized throughout the empire, a statue was made that had to represent him as the man par excellence, that is, the true man, politician, who led Rome with strength and vigor. We can say that it had to represent in the figure of Augustus all the main symbols for which Rome was known throughout the empire.
