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Roman Painting

Roman Painting. The only large body of ancient painting Has only come to light in modern times Almost all are wall paintings and span only about 200 years Since there are no Greek examples left, it is hard to know what are Greek copies and what are truly Roman in nature.

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Roman Painting

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  1. Roman Painting • The only large body of ancient painting • Has only come to light in modern times • Almost all are wall paintings and span only about 200 years • Since there are no Greek examples left, it is hard to know what are Greek copies and what are truly Roman in nature

  2. Battle of Issus/ Battle of Alexander and the Persians, 1st c. BC, Pompeii • Copy of a Hellenistic painting- but we don’t know of what date-all we know is that it’s a Greek subject • The crowding of figures, frantic energy, cast shadows, foreshortening are accomplishments not seen before are a mystery- not sure how Greeks got to this point

  3. Roman Illusionism-- • Illusionistic architectural scenes and window effects • Sought to push back the wall surfaces • This style is called the “4th style” • Prevailed about the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD • This example has faux marble, panel pictures that are meant to look like they are set into the wall • Gives off an unreal quality, similar to theater backdrops The Ixion Room, House of Vettii, Pompeii, 63-79 AD

  4. Second style- more illusionistic, more realistic texture and modeling • 3-d quality, but very unclear and maze-like when the painting is examined • No systematic grasp of spatial depth (this is before the invention of perspective!) Wall painting from Boscoreale, 1st c. BC

  5. Very atmospheric, less concerned with spatial depth • Human figure are incidental • More poetic than structurally correct The Laestrygonians Hurling Rocks at the Fleet of Odysseus, Rome, late 1st c. BC

  6. Detail View of a Garden, Primaporta, 20 BC • Very detailed garden scene- any form of depth has been ignored • All details are very close to the viewer -very limited spatial depth

  7. Still life painting is present in the architectural paintings • Artist has no grasp of light and how it reacts with objects • Very detailed, but lacks a unifying structure- this separates Roman painters from Medieval and beyond Peaches and Glass Jar, Herculaneum, 50 AD

  8. Very disjointed looking- forms, brushwork vary between figures • one figure looks static and and immobile, while the other is more fluid Hercules and Telephus, Herculaneum, 70 AD

  9. Much more unified design • Figures are placed on a narrow ledge- a stage for strange dances • Semisecret cult of ancient origin-brought to Italy from Greece • Very intense expressions- mythical mixed with human qualities • Poses taken from Greece, but are not classicist- more free Scenes of a Dionysiac Mystery Cult, 50 BC, Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii

  10. Detail, Villa of Mysteries

  11. According to texts, there were many examples of portraits in Rome related to the ancestor worship but none have survived • More were found in the Egyptian part of the empire (Egyptians wrapped portraits with mummies) • Done on a wood panel with encaustic (freshness of color) • very lifelike and solid • Emphasis on eyes Portrait of a Boy, lower Egypt, 2nd c. AD

  12. Consecration of the Tabernacle and its Priests, synagogue at Dura-Europos 245-56 • 3rd century brought spread of eastern, oriental religions-rivals to Christianity such as Islam- gave birth to a new style of art that fused Greco-Roman with Eastern • Dura-Europos- Mesopotamian (Roman) town- Jews were effected by the melting pot of art- depicted biblical scenes on the walls of synagogues (even though this was rarely ever done)- Judaism engaged in missionary activities • No action or story, but an assembly of figures- more symbolic than narrative, echoes of Roman painting- cast shadows, classical architecture-serves as a link to Medieval

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