Art of the Ancient Italian Peninsula,

Transcription

1 Art of the Ancient Italian Peninsula, Part 1 The Art of the Etruscans Italic, Greek and Roman states. Italy is a long peninsula jutting southeast from Europe into the Mediterranean, creating seas on either side; the Adriatic on the east, the Tyrrhenian on the west. The peninsula is shaped like a boot, and off the toe of the boot is the island of Sicily, triangular-shaped, sometimes compared to a three-cornered hat being kicked by the boot. 1

2 Running down the spine of the peninsula are the Apennines, a mountain range that somewhat separates the two coasts. Two major rivers transverse the peninsula, the Po in the north, which runs through and waters a vast fertile plain, running into the Adriatic, and the Tiber, rising out of the Apennines and flowing west until it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea near the site of Rome. Protecting the northern region are the Southern Alps, which crown Italy with an arc of lofty dolomitic limestone peaks. The climate of the peninsula is conducive to outdoor life, and the gregarious culture of the Italians is at least in part formed by this fact. The Italians love to gather and entertain at cafes, eat outdoors, go to the beach, stroll through streets, go to the outdoor markets, and in general just enjoy the good weather. The piazza or urban open space (corresponding to our square) is a prominent feature of Italian cities, and often they are surrounded by arcades or loggias (covered walkways) which provide shade. Italy is an ancient land continuously inhabited since ice-age times, dotted with ruins from several civilizations. Ice-age hunters lived here and decorated caves as they did in France. Around 10,000 BC a Neolithic culture appeared called the Liguri and Siceli. They made ornamented pottery and built round huts of wattle and daub. Around 2000 BC northern Italy was invaded by Neolithic tribes from central Europe. They were called the terramaricoli, from words that mean earth marl from the refuse they piled around their villages. These people built homes on stilts which had their origins in homes built on piles in lakes. At first they built in Italian lakes in the north, but then extended south, where they built on solid land, but surrounded their settlements with moats and fortified walls, beginning a tradition which lasted all the way through the middle ages in castles and chateaux. By 2500 BC bronze had come into use, and these people were prolific in bronze manufacture of tools and implements. By 1000 BC they had learned from central Europe the use of iron, and their culture was now known by the name of its center, Villanova, near Bologna, --the Villanovians. The Villanovans continued the use of round huts. This tradition may have been passed on to the Etruscans and Romans in the form of round tombs and temples. Villanovans were in turn conquered about 800 BC by a mysterious people who might have come from Asia Minor. The Greeks called them Tyrrenhenians; the later Latin peoples called them the Etrurians, and we call them the Etruscans. Etruscans traded throughout the Mediterranean and were heavily influenced in their art by the style of the Greeks. 2

3 The region the Etruscans inhabited, between the Po River on the north and the Tiber on the south, is today called Tuscany, and is the center of the early Renaissance, the home of Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and many other great artists. View this link to Maps of Italy and Etruscan regions Cerveteri. Etruscan Necropolis. No one knows where the Etruscans originated. Perhaps they came from the eastern Mediterranean. Before the Romans absorbed them, the Etruscans had a lively culture which we know about today from their tombs. Etruscan religion had a strong influence on later Roman religion, including the form of the temple, and their cosmological view controlled the layout of cities (cardo and decumanus) another feature the Romans adopted. The link at the beginning of this paragraph gives a picture of a temple, the major gods with Roman equivalents. The Etruscans buried their dead in tombs called tumuli(singular, tumulus) arranged like a city. The word for this "city" is Necropolis, literally "city of the dead." Follow this link to view and read more about Etruscan Tombs Above: Banditaccia Necropolis: group of Etruscan tumuli, latter 7th to early 6th century B.C.E. 3

4 Above: Interior of "Tomb of the Leopards," banqueting scene with musicians and dancers within a decorated pavilion, ca. 470 B.C.E. In spite of the care given their dead, the Etruscans were not a morbid people and they didn't focus on death. They decorated their tumuli as if they were houses, painting the walls with bright colors, frescoes and using sculptural relief. With regard to sculpture, some of the best surviving works of the Etruscans are found on their burial containers or sarcophagi (literally meaning flesh eater ). Many of these sculptures were crafted of terra cotta or fired clay/baked earth. To view a variety of Etruscan art follow this link: Above: Lid of an Etruscan sarcophagus. Museum Santa Maria della Scala, Sienna, Italy. 4

5 In the above sarcophagi notice the similarities in style to the sculpture of the Greeks. To see multiple views of a sarcophagus of a married couple follow this link: An intriguing type of pottery with a black finish created by the Etruscans is called bucchero. The word bucchero is derived from the Portuguese word bucaro meaning odorous clay referring to the earthy smell given off by the dampened clay vessel. The red clay body was turned to its distinctive black finish through a process of reduction firing in which the clay turned black. Left: Bucchero oinochoe, 3rd or 4th Latial Period. From tomb no. 62 at the cemetary of Osteria dell'osa, near Rome 5

6 Etruscan Sculpture In addition to creating excellent terra cotta sculpture, Etruscans became masters of bronze. Their bronze pieces depict a variety of subjects including one of the most famous sculptures of animals in history. This piece is called the Capitoline Wolf. It shows a female wolf nursing two young boys, Romulus and Remus. This story involves the epoch tale of the founders of Rome, described below. This sculpture and the one further below (Chimera of Arezzo) shows the typical energetic style of Etruscan sculpture. Above: Capitoline Wolf, Rome, Italy 6

7 Above: Chimera of Arezzo, c. 5 th century B.C. Bronze, approx. 31 high. Museo Archeologico, Florence, Italy. Etruscan Temples The Etruscan temple was made of wood, which accounts for the widely spaced columns. "Nothing remains of Etruscan palaces, public buildings, and early temples, which were built of wood and brick. Votive ceramic models of temples, as well as traces of later stone structures, indicate that temples were built in enclosures and had tiled, gabled roofs supported on pillars, like their Greek counterparts. A Greek temple, however, was built on an east-west axis on a low terrace and could be entered from a colonnade on all four sides; an Etruscan temple, to meet religious requirements, was located on a north-south axis and stood on a high podium with a four-columned porch in front of three doors leading to three parallel rooms for the three chief Etruscan gods, Minerva, Juno and Jupiter. The brilliantly painted terracotta statuary that decorated the roof along the eaves, ridge pole, and at the gable ends also served the practical purpose of hiding and protecting tile joints and rafter ends. Plaques with low-relief figures adorned the entablature. Roman temples followed the plan developed by the Etruscans. More in this link: provided by 7

8 Art of the Ancient Italian Peninsula, Part 2 The Art of the Ancient Romans Art of the Republic Map, Rome and Carthage at Beginning of 2nd Punic War, 218BC. To the south of Etruria and near the mouth of the Tiber River lay the settlement of Rome. The Etruscans around 1000 BC had extended their territory southward when they crossed over the Tiber into the region called Latium, settled there and farmed, gradually developing several city states. One of these was Alba Longa., about 20 miles southeast of Rome. In the 8th century BC some of the native Latins moved from Alba Longa to a marshy area along the Tiber River, perhaps because it was an easily defensible site against the Etruscans, with hills surrounded by moats of marshes, but perhaps also because it was a good site for trade. The Palatine Hill was the first to be occupied. Then they gradually expanded onto the other hills, the Capitoline, the Caelian, Esquiline, Aventine, Viminal, and Quirinal. Seven in number, these modest hills were occupied by the three local tribes--the Latins, Sabines and Etruscans--and formed into a federation called the Septimonium (Sept=seven, mons=hill), which eventually merged into a city. Across the Tiber there were two other hills, the Vatican and Janiculum, which were eventually incorporated. The actual founding of Rome is lost to memory, but the Romans accounted for it through legend and mythology. They credited the founding to Romulus and Remus, the twins who were descendants of Aeneas. The most famous of the poetic epics recounting this is the Aenaeid by Virgil, a poet who lived at the time of the Emperor Augustus. There is a nice connection to Greek mythology and legend and the poet of the Iliad, Homer, because Aeneas was believed to have been a Trojan, himself a son of Venus, who fled from the fall of Troy with his father and son, bringing the god-images of Troy with him. After many adventures he ended up in Italy, where he married the daughter of the King of the Latins, Lavinia. Eight generations later, Numitor, a descendent of Aeneas, was king of the Latins, but was overthrown by Amulius who killed Numitor s sons to end his line, and forced Numitor s only daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a virgin priestess of Vesta (Vestal Virgin). Nevertheless, she was spotted by the god Mars, who, overcome by her beauty, made her pregnant with twins. Amulius, of course, commanded that these twins, Romulus and Remus, be drowned. But, placed on a raft, or, in another version, simply placed by the banks of the Tiber where they would later found the city, they drifted to shore where they were nursed by a wolf and fed by a woodpecker, also sacred, along with the wolf, to the god Mars. The grown twins later killed Amulus and restored Numitor to 8

9 power in Latium. They themselves went on to seek their fortunes at the spot where they were formerly abandoned to die. Romulus built a low wall around the hill called the Capitoline, but when Remus made fun of it by jumping over it, Romulus killed him. That's why Rome is called Rome and not Reme! The Capitoline Hill was crowned with a temple to the Etruscan chief gods--jupiter, Juno and Mars. The Etruscans dominated Rome until the beginning of the 6th century BC, when a Republic was established which lasted until about the time of Christ. Eventually the Romans expanded their hegemony over the Etruscans, then the Samnites in the south, the Greeks in Italy during the Punic Wars ( during which time Rome battled Carthage in what was most likely the largest war up to that time in history), Carthage on the north coast of Africa, then moved into central Europe, which they dominated as far north as the Rhine and Danube Rivers, England as far as the modern border of Scotland, Greece, Egypt and much of the Middle East. Early Roman Sculpture After the Roman conquests of Greece in 146 B.C., the sculptural style that emerged from the merging of Roman and Hellenistic elements came to be known as Greco-Roman. Romans had a strong desire for literalness in the representation of their ancestors which they represented in sculpture. This type of portrait representation is called imagines. The term literally means image or face. The objects were used as funerary masks and were often worn by hired actors to parade ahead of the deceased. Because of the Roman desire for literal representation of the subject in sculpture, (warts, scars and all other imperfections) the subject was very lifelike not godlike as often shown in Greek sculpture. While the marble portrait bust was a product of Greek sculpture, it was not idealized by the Romans during the late Republic period. The term Verism is applied to the sculpture of this period by the Romans. Below is an excellent example of a Head of a Roman which is a good example of verism. 9

10 A brief history of the Roman Republic Roman Republic government A chronology of the Roman Republic, but with a lot of pop-ups 10

11 Roman Architecture The architecture of Rome was also heavily influenced by the Greeks. They continued to use the three primary orders of architecture (Doric, Ionic, and Corithian). The Corinthian order was favored by the Romans. In temple building, the major difference between Greek temples and Roman temples was that the Romans placed their temples on a podium, which elevated it higher. Romans often built temples where half columns attached or engaged in a wall were used on three sides. This style is called psuedoperipertal. See the image below. It illustrates all of these characteristics discussed above. Maison Carree, Nimes: exterior, view from NE., ca. 20 B.C.E. 11

12 Above: The center of Rome during the Roman Empire Above: View of the ruins of the Roman Forum. The Romans developed an administrative and market center in Rome called the Forum. It was often referred to as Forum Magnum. This site is located in a small valley between Palatine and Capitoline Hill near the Colosseum. Over the course of history in Rome several additions were made to the forum, and eventually, the emperor Trajan built another entirely separate forum. 12

13 The City of Pompeii Located at the base of Mt. Vesuvius were the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. For some 1500 years the mountain had been quiet than at approximately 1pm, August 24, 79 A.D., the mountain began to erupt. Its eruption caught the 20, 000 residents of Pompeii by surprise. They had never witnessed an event like that which was taking place. It was so foreign in fact there isn t even a word in Latin for volcano. Because of the sudden explosion and subsequent burial of the city under approximately 20 feet of volcanic ash, the city of Pompeii is one of the best preserved in Roman history. The city was a thriving example of Roman life. It was rediscovered and excavations began in the 18 th century. The streets are laid out with grid-like regularity, lead plumbing supplied water, several temples and even an amphitheater and forum were built in the city. Because of the great state of preservation, a better understanding of the layout of Roman residences during the Republic period was gained. The first open space one encountered upon entering the house was the atrium, an area that was at least partly open to the sky. Often this opening was used to collect water into a large trough used to wash clothes, as pictured below. atrium of a residence in Pompeii. opening in the roof of the 13

14 Above: water catchment for laundry, Pompeii. The second open space in a typical Roman house around which the rooms were grouped was the Peristyle (illustrated below). Because the victims of the volcano were buried under volcanic ash, their bodies created a mold as they deteriorated. In these areas the archaeologists were able to pour plaster to create a copy of the position the person was in when he/she died as shown below. 14

15 Plaster cast of a pregnant female 15

16 Plaster cast of a dog from Pompeii Plaster cast of a Pompeian slave A photo tour of Pompeii 16

17 Amphitheater of Pompeii Street of Pompeii 17

18 in the background. The center of the city of Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius Roman Fresco and Mosaics The excavation of Pompeii yielded a wealth of well-preserved artifacts, among which were their frescoes. Because of the nature of the preservation, the scenes were in amazing condition and gave great insight into not only this art form but also the daily lives of the people of Pompeii. Unlike other ancient cultures, the Romans frequently painted landscapes. In many of these landscapes they included mythological subject matter such as fauns as well as goats, shepherds and temples. These scenes are called sacral-idyllic. While the Romans never completely developed truly consistent mathematical perspective, they did successfully show depth in their painting using atmospheric or aerial perspective in which colors intensity and details decrease in the distance. 18

19 Top: This fresco showing landscape and wild animals is a good example of the understanding of aerial perspective. Pompeii Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale: detail of Second-style cityscape mural, ca B.C.E. This fresco demonstrates Roman unsuccessful attempts at linear perspective (notice the inconsistency in eyelevel and angles). 19

20 In addition to using fresco as decoration, Romans also used mosaic as a means of decorating their floors and walls. This is a tradition that remains popular in Italy even today and is supported by various schools that are centuries old, still teaching the art of mosaic. Below are several from a variety of locations in the Roman Empire. Below: Mosaic from the Colosseum. 20

21 Above: floor mosaic from Pompeii 21

22 Art of the Roman Empire Adopted Nephew of Julius Caesar, the young Gaius Octavius came to power at age 18 after Caesar's assassination and a civil war which resulted in the deaths of both Mark Anthony and Cleopatra and many others, and the eventual elevation of Octavius as the first Roman emperor in 27 BC. The name "Augustus" (meaning exalted, sacred) is a title which was granted to him by the Senate and thereafter he was called Augustus Caesar. The word Augustus had only previously been applied to holy objects, so it gave him an aura of divinity. Eventually he was declared a god himself. The name Pontifex Maximus or High Priest was also applied to him, making him not only the political leader but also a high religious leader as well. He is enshrined in our memory for the passage in the New Testament having to do with Joseph having to register in Bethlehem, and as the name of our eighth month. 22

23 Augustus of Primaporta ca. 20 B.C.E., Musei Vaticani, Rome, Italy This statue of Augustus was found in 1863 in a villa belonging to Augustus's wife, Livia. It is marble and is probably a copy of a bronze statue. It has traces of gilding and paint, and stands over six feet high (2 meters 8 cm.) On the breastplate is depicted an event, the return of the Roman standards captured by the Parthians, of which Augustus was especially proud. Augustus is shown in the pose of an orator addressing his troops, walking and carrying a staff. This should remind you of an earlier Greek work which it closely resembles, the Doryphorus or Spearbearer by Polykleitos from the 5th century BC. This resemblance is no accident. That statue was one of the most famous in the ancient Mediterranean world. Even the hair resembles the Greek original (see Figure in the Greek section). Augustus was known to favor the style of the Greeks. The heavy musculature of the original is emphasized here by the shape of the torso armor, with its bottom part (largely hidden by the toga draped over his arm) following the shape of the iliac crest. It follows the original also in the tension and relaxation of the body parts as they move in the act of walking and 23

24 in the turning of the body, but an outstanding difference is the raised arm. The statue is of a Hellenizing type and its excellence of technique indicates that it was probably carved by Greek sculptors. The statue is cleverly braced by a figure of Cupid against the leg. The family of Julius Caesar claimed descent from Ascanius, the son of Aeneas who fled Troy and who was the mortal son of Venus. Cupid was also Venus's son, so, in a way, a distant cousin, but clearly an emblem of his divine heritage. Below is a detail of the sculpture showing the breastplate. 24

25 Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome: 13-9 B.C.E. To commemorate the period of peace which was the result of Augustus's reign, he built the Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Augustan Peace on the banks of the Tiber (above). The structure is a rectangular enclosure covered with decorations in low and high relief. Here we see the entrance with pilasters at the entrance and the corners. This structure was buried in the mud of the river until it was excavated by the Italian government under Mussolini. To excavate it, the mud was frozen and cut away so the pieces could be raised. Today it is under a canopy. Architecture of Rome Roman architecture, much like that of the Greeks, followed a prescribed order. Therefore, it had specific proportions such as the Golden Mean which the Greeks devised to create a harmonious balanced form. The architect Vitruvius wrote his treatise on architecture called De Architectura, known today as The Ten Books of Architecture. This is the only surviving major written work on architecture from ancient antiquity. 25

26 The Flavian Period The Flavian Dynasty was the period from 69-96A.D. in which a father Vespasian (ruled 69-79A.D. died of natural causes), his son Titus (ruled A.D. died of natural causes), and the other son Domitian (ruled A.D. assassinated) Above: Head of Vespasian, Greek Marble, Flavian Period, Rome, Museo Nazionale, Rome. Head of Vespasian A marked contrast to the portraits of the Augustus and other Julio- Claudian emperors, Vespasian rejected the Hellenizing influence and in his portraits returned to the more literal style of the Republic. This is perhaps in reaction to the excesses of some of the more insane members of the previous dynasty, Caligula and Nero. 26

27 Flavian Ampitheatre (Colosseum), AD Begun by Vespasian and finished by his son Titus, with minor modifications made by Domitian. The Flavian Ampitheatre (Colosseum) 27

28 Colosseum showing the concentric arches Reconstruction of the Colosseum as it would have looked new. This amphitheatre was constructed in travertine stone in an ellipse 1790 feet around and covered about 6 acres. The site was that of a lake in the gardens near Nero's palace, to the southeast of the Forum Romanum. Nearby was a colossal statue of Nero which gave the Amphitheatre its name. The exterior walls rose 157 feet high and were divided into four stories, each of the lower three set with an arcade of arches framed by engaged columns: Tuscan Doric on the ground story, Ionic on the second, and Corinthian on the third. The fourth story was plain except for rectangular windows and Corinthian pilasters. Originally, statuary was placed in all the upper arches. The interior dimensions of the Ampitheatre are 620 feet by 513 feet; the arena itself is 287 feet by 180 feet. Above the wall around the arena rose two tiers of marble seats. The lowest was for distinguished private citizens, senators and the like. The second tier was for the middle class. Then another vertical zone separated a flat area reserved for slaves. Finally, at the highest level was an enclosed gallery for women and the poor. On the top of this gallery were sailors who were in charge of manipulating the huge awning (velarium) that was strung up to protect the audience from the sun. 28

29 Leading into the arena were 80 barrel vaults which could admit as many as 45,000 people in a short time. 76 entrances corresponded to ticket numbers; two were reserved for the emperor, one for the entrance of the gladiators, and one for the removal of corpses. Above: a reconstructed segment of the floor of the arena. 29

30 Interior view showing the underground passageways and cells called the Hypogeum which literally means underground. The first event in the Colosseum was a mock naval battle. The entire floor of the arena was flooded (remember that this had been a lake bed) enough to float battleships. But more commonly the floor was covered with sand (arena in Latin) to soak up blood. Beneath the floor were animal cages and cells for prisoners which could be introduced into the arena through trap doors. Sometimes the arena would be landscaped to look like a natural wilderness. In order to commemorate major events the Romans erected massive public monuments called triumphal arches. An example of one such triumphal arch is the Arch of Titus, shown below. This monument commemorates the looting of the Temple of Jerusalem, which historians have determined helped finance the building of the Colosseum. In relief sculpture, shown below, scenes depict Romans with the spoils from the Temple of Solomon. Several succeeding emperors followed the example of the Arch of Titus and even expanded upon it to create even larger monuments. 30

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32 Above: Relief sculpture showing the looting of the temple of Solomon. 32

33 Above: The arch of Constantine, a good example of one-upsmanship of Roman Emperors in the triumphal arch. This was the last great triumphal arch built in Rome. A large public building usually located as part of or near a forum was the basilica. This building was used to house law court, business offices and administrative bureaus. An example of such a structure is the Basilica of Constantine and Maxintius (also known as Basilica Nova, or New Basilica pictured below, note the scale when compared to the person in the foreground!). The construction of this structure began in 306 under the brief rule of Maxentius then rededicated to Constantine. It is the largest hall of the ancient world, with dimensions of 330 X 250 and a ceiling 125 high. This structure was built as part of the Roman Forum or Forum Magnum, as it was sometimes called. This massive structure made use of barrel vaulting; a vault is a self-supporting structure which requires no additional interior support. It makes use of a keystone to lock the form together. This kind of arch would be built over a wooden centering from the sides up until the keystone was dropped into place. This creates a stable form which was used for doorways, bridges, and aqueducts. A barrel vault (is an extended arch. The groin vault is an intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles to one another, providing another stable form of vaulting. The technological means to create such great vaults was made possible by their mastery of bricks and concrete. 33

34 Basilica Nova 34

35 Keystone Barrel vault of Basilica Nova 35

36 groin vault The Forum of Trajan After the assassination of Dometian, Nerva became his successor. Nerva, who became an old, childless emperor, adopted a popular, successful army general who was born in Spain as his successor. This made Trajan the first non-italian born emperor. Trajan became a successful ruler, governing from A.D During his reign, he launched several conquests which not only brought greater wealth into the empire, but also expanded the empire to its largest point in history. In addition to military campaigns, Trajan also launched a building campaign. This helped generate a sense of pride among the citizens of Rome. Trajan s forum was the forum built during Trajan s reign and was the last and largest of the great Roman forums. Below is a link to a computer recreation of the interior of the Basilica of Trajan s Forum. Trajan's Forum in computer simulation by the Urban Simulation Team of UCLA and the Getty Education Institute The design for the Forum of Trajan was no doubt inspired by the layout of Egyptian pylon temples. Before entering the forum a person would pass through the pylon, or gate (a common feature in Egyptian temples), and then enter a colonnaded courtyard. After passing through the courtyard the visitor would encounter the Basilica Ulpia, which was a large enclosed structure which was lighted by an elevated level containing many windows called a clerestory (something the Ancient Egyptians had employed to light interiors centuries earlier). After passing through the basilica one would encounter a massive marble column called Trajan s Column, which celebrated the Roman s victory over the Dacians. This was an important victory because it not only allowed the Romans 36

37 to expand their territory, but also gain control over the rich mine in the Dacian region. Trajan s Forum also included elegant public baths and a large public market. The baths of the Romans typically included pools with three temperatures of water. They were called the caldarium, or hot water bath, the tepidarium or warm water bath, and the frigidarium or cold water bath. Below is an artist s rendering of a segment of Trajan s forum. Below is a view of Trajan s column with a detail of the relief sculpture showing the events of the Dacian wars. 37

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39 Above: The ruin of Trajan s forum as it appears today. The Pantheon The Pantheon (literally meaning all the gods) was a temple dedicated to the seven planetary deities: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune and Uranus. The original temple had been built in the time of Augustus and the front bears an inscription from his time, but that temple burnt and was replaced by Hadrian with an entirely new form. The form is made of a massive rotunda (round form) with a massive 141 high concrete dome (a dome in simply an arch rotated on a central axis). To allow light into the structure a 27 circular opening called the oculus is centered in the ceiling. The weight of 39

40 this massive concrete structure is made possible through the use of coffers, which are recesses in the ceiling that alleviates some of the weight. The ceiling is entirely freestanding without interior support. Below left is an exterior view of the rotunda and right is an interior view of the dome. 40

41 Above: 40 tall solid granite columns, transported from Egypt, that are used to support the portico. Other Items of interest Above: Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius c. 165, Capitoline Hill, Rome 41

42 Above: Commodus as Hercules Web site from Berkeley for works of Constantine and Diocletian To supply the growing population water needs, the Romans constructed massive aqueducts (Latin meaning to lead water). These structures made use of the arch and were an engineering marvel crossing rivers and tunneling through mountains. Pictured above: Pont-du-Gard aqueduct, ca. 19 B.C.E C.E. Below: Pont-du-Gard aquaduct: 42

43 detail of topmost course showing (originally) covered and lead-lined water channel, ca. 19 B.C.E C.E. Art of the Ancient Italian Peninsula, Part 3 Art of the Early Christians The Catacombs Catacombs were tunnels underground in the volcanic rock called tufa and were used in the 2nd and 3rd centuries by both pagan Romans and Christian Romans, as well as by Jewish Romans. The first tombs were above ground niches cut in the rock on important roads leading out of Rome, since burials were prohibited in the old walled city. Underground networks of tunnels were dug by professional guilds, who also carved architectural details in some places. Semicircular niches above some graves marked burials of saints and martyrs. (according to Terullian, many martyrs were murdered by mobs). Tunnels were narrow and had as many as six tombs one above the other. Bodies were wrapped in cloth, not embalmed, and the opening sealed up with clay or stone plaques cemented in place with Tufa cement. 43

44 Above: Adam and Eve Fresco (left), Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter Burial was important to Jewish and Christian Romans because they believed in the resurrection of the body, because Christ was buried and was resurrected, and because Christ raised Lazarus from his tomb. People buried there were artisans, merchants, and middle class people. Catacombs were visited on Sundays by Christians (See St. Jerome) They were pitch black, cold, and probably smelled bad. In spite of this, they were decorated with paintings in the Roman style, although they were more quick and sketchy than the sophisticated paintings associated with the Emperor and wealthy Romans. Some of the subjects included the last supper an the visit of the three Magi. These paintings are not the masterpieces of Roman style, but they are done in the same techniques employed by Romans, notably illusionism with its use of light and shade to mode form and shape space. 44

45 Above: Christ as the Good Shepherd Fresco from the San Callisto Catacombs The iconography of Christian Roman art naturally came from existing sources as well as new subject matter. The image of Christ was, of course, central to the new religion, but until the church became established by the Emperor Constantine in the Edict of Milan, there was no prescribed way to depict him and artists used several already existing forms, including the shepherd holding a lamb around his shoulders (the Good Shepherd). Remember one of the archaic Greek Kouros statues depicted a man holding a calf in the same way, so this motif is already an old one, and because of the reference in the scripture it was perfectly logical to adopt it to the new religion. Christ was typically depicted as a youth without a beard. Another way Roman artists adopted Christ, in the same manner as Sol Invictus or Helios, the bearer of the sun. He also appeared as a teacher. 45

46 Orans Figure A common pose in early Christian painting was the Orans Figure, a figures with arms uplifted in prayer. Inscription in catacombs 46

47 Special symbols were important, such as the Chi Rho symbol, which is an overlapping combination of the Greek letters Chi (X) and Rho (P)as seen above in the sarcophagus showing the passion of Christ from the 4 th century.the early church, after its recognition, buried some people in the catacombs, but the practice declined until the 9th century when they were abandoned. Some of them were lost and not discovered until centuries later, the latest in the 1950s and some still not completely explored. In the Middle Ages, many graves were looted by pilgrims anxious to take relics back home. Catacombs were also dug in Alexandria where decorations are in the Egyptian style. In the fourth century several important events occurred, which were important for the new religion. In 313 the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, recognizing Christianity as a legitimate religion no longer subject to persecution. Constantine's mother was Christian and many soldiers in the imperial armies were also, and it was probably politically critical that Constantine have their support in his attempts to gain absolute control over the Empire. In 324 he became absolute ruler of the entire empire from east to west, and then in 325 held a council of bishops called the Council of Nicea in which Christianity became the official religion (this was not officially proclaimed until the emperor Theodosius). In 330 he established a "New Rome" on the strategic site of the old Greek town of Byzantium and immediately began building churches. Just before his death in 337 Constantine was baptized. In Rome, Constantine approved churches as early as 319 setting the stage for the construction of the first great churches in Rome. Today it is said you can attend mass in Rome in a different church every day of the year and still not visit all of them! One of these was the enormous church built on the site where Romans believed St. Peter was buried. This was on the west side of the Tiber River, opposite the city and outside the city walls against the slope of the Vatican Hill, one of the famed seven hills. Here Constantine erected a building which combined several existing architectural types and established the form of the church which is still used today. This was the greatest of the Imperial churches. 47

48 The old St. Peter's was torn down and replaced by Pope Julius II in the Renaissance. Above is a drawing from about Note how it follows the sequential plan of earlier complexes such as the Forum of Trajan. First one encountered a stairway leading up to a triumphal arch as a gateway leading into a large open court called the atrium. Facing the entrance like a front porch was a colonnade called the narthex through which one entered the church itself. The church building was built like a basilica with an apse (a semicircular bulge at the east end of the church), but now the basilica was entered through its western end, and upon entering one faced the long direction of the main hall, or nave, which led forward with columns on either side and flanking side aisles, to another triumphal arch over the apse. At St. Peter's the nave was 300 feet long and the church could hold 4000 people. At the focal point of the church, where the statue of the emperor has stood in the Basilica of Maxentius, was now the altar. Perpendicular to the main direction of the nave and flanking the altar on both sides, were two halls called transepts. The altar was placed at the junction of the transepts and nave called the crossing. Notice the overall form created is that of the Latin cross. Early Christian basilicas were not built with vaults like the basilica of Maxentius but like the Basilica of Trajan with timber roofs. Outside they were starkly simple. This reconstruction of the 18th century is more elaborate than the original church would have been, but columns across the front and the typical barn-like central hall way with simple lean-to roofs over the aisles are like they would have been. In contrast to the plain exteriors, the interiors could be elaborate, with mosaics, inlaid stone, frescoes, side arches held up by columns stolen from pagan temples. On the nave walls above the side arcades were clerestory windows which illuminated the interior. 48

49 Exterior View of Santa Costanza, ca 350 A.D., Rome Above: Interior view of Santa Costanza. Notice the elaborate decoration as compared to the exterior. The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, ca A.D., located in Ravenna, Italy houses an outstanding collection of Christian Mosaics. Notice the austere exterior compared to the lavishly decorated interior. 49

50 As you will notice in the lavishly decorative mosaics, the early Christian mosaicists took their inspiration from Roman illusionism. Notice the attention to form attained through shading the figure. Above: Interior of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Mosaic showing the Martyrdom of St. Lawerence. Below is a close up of the bottom segment of the Martyrdom scene. 50

51 Below: Sant Appillonare in Class Interior. Interior, detail of apse mosaic: St. Apollinaris in landscape, consecrated 549 A.D. 51

52 Early Christian Sculpture Some of the best examples of early Christian sculpture were created on sarcophagi. Thus, the size of the figures were smaller, therefore, monumental sculpture became increasingly rare. Even though Christianity became the official religion in Rome, pagan art continued to be produced in various forms including sculpture on sarcophagi, fresco and to some extent, sculpture. Below is a sarcophagus decorated with Scenes from the Passion of Christ (probably from the Catacomb of Domitilla), mid-4th century A.D Above is the densely decorated "Good Shepherd" Sarcophagus: sculpted relief showing three shepherds and grape harvest, late 4th century A.D This is an example of how some early Christian work begins to use size of the subject matter to imply importance. 52

53 Manuscripts and Painting/Illumination Romans eventually replace the papyrus scroll, used for centuries by the Egyptians with the codex. Codex is a Latin term meaning a block of wood, which refers to the wooden cover used for the book. Codices were much easier to use than scrolls because they could be viewed a page at a time rather than having to be unrolled. The early codices were not made of paper, but rather, vellum (calf skin) or parchment (sheep skin). These skins were specially prepared and much thinner than leather. They were also much more durable than parchment. The oldest known painted or illuminated manuscript is a piece called Vatican Vergil. It was created in Rome sometime around 400 A.D. This manuscript is pagan in content, representing a scene from Virgil s Georgics. The page below is one from Vatican Vergil showing the Aeneid of the flight from Troy. The Earliest known painted manuscript showing Biblical scenes is called Vienna Genesis. It still shows the influences of the scroll in its use of a continuous narrative often showing two or more scenes within a single frame. This piece is from the early sixth century. The scene below is from Vienna Genesis and shows the story of Jacob. Gradually, some of the early Christian works the figure style became flattened and generalized into pattern rather than attempting to show illusionism. The attempts to show complex scenes led to reverse perspective, where figures in the background were either the same size or larger than those in the foreground. 53

54 Reign of Several Notable Roman Emperors Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antonius Pius Marcus Aurelius Commodus Septimius Severus Caracalla Alexander Severus Diocletian Constantine I 54