ROMAN ARTFORM

Roman art is generally defined as much more than the art of the city of Rome; rather, it is the art of Roman civilization from Romulus to the Emperor Constantine, and covers a period of more than 1,000 years.

ROMAN ART

Paintings and in particular frescoes (or Frescos) were a favorite method of interior decoration within buildings of ancient Rome. Particularly within the houses of the rich.

Ancient Roman Painting relies in large part on the preservation of artifacts from Pompeii and Herculanuem, and particularly the Pompeian mural painting, which was preserved after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

painting

The basic characteristic of Roman paintings was the wide variety of subjects that it treated. These subjects included animals, historical events, events from daily life, myths and portraits.

Principal colors that the Roman Artists used:

Ocre – an earthly color

Blue – very difficult and expensive to make

Red – also known as Pompeii red

Black

Raw materials were minerals, animals and vegetable matter.

Ancient Roman Colors

The Severan Tondo, a Panel Painting of the Imperial family. (200 AD)

Pompeian painter with painted statue and framed painting Pompeii

Roman Fresco from Boscoreale (43 – 30 BC)

Boscotrecase, Pompeii

In Rome, Panel Painting is the highest form of painting. This panel painting were executed using the encaustic and tempera methods.

Panel Paintings

Triumphal PaintingsRoman artists were also frequently

commissioned to produce pictures highlighting military successes.

Mural paintings are executed using either “al fresco” or “al secco”

for al fresco – it is a painting on a wet plasters.

For al secco – it is a painting on a dry walls.

Mural Paintings

Hercules and Deianira. Pomeian wall painting.

Dances in honor of Baco

Young woman with stylus.Fresco. Pompeii

1. The first style, also known as incrustation or masonry style, was derived from Hellenistic palaces in the Middle East. It uses vivid colours and simulates the appearance of marble.

It is characterised by the simulation of marble, with other simulated elements, and the use of vivid colour, both being a sign of wealth.

Styles in Roman Paintings

2. The second style is aimed to create the illusion of extra space by painting pictures with significant depth, such as views overlooking a garden or other landscape.

It is characterized by use of relative perspective to create trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye) in wall paintings.

Transparent glass bowl of fruit.

3. The third style was more ornamental with less illusion of depth. The wall was divided into precise zones, using pictures of columns or foliage. Scenes painted in the zones were typically either exotic representations of real or imaginary animals, or merely monochromatic linear drawings.Its main characteristic was departure from illusionistic devices, although these (along with figural representation) later crept back into this style. It obeyed strict rules of symmetry dictated by the central element.

4. The fourth style was a mixture of the previous two styles. It was executed more decoratively, with greater use of ornamentation.

The wall surface of the fourth style thus becomes a physical surface again. Rather than an illusion it becomes a support for the decorative medium (like the canvas of a painting).

The portraits were attached to burial mummies at the face, from which almost all have now been detached. They usually depict a single person, showing the head, or head and upper chest, viewed frontally. The background is always monochrome, sometimes with decorative elements.

These portraits reflect a chronological development of portraiture during the Imperial period in Rome

Portraits

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration.

It was made of small pieces of materials normally rough cubic of stone or glass of different colors, known as tesserae – used to to create pattern or picture.

Mosaic