While the mentioning of Roman sculptures typically conjures up some grand image of a towering god or glorious goddess in the midst of a garden of marble pillars, these sculptures were much more to the Romans than pure aesthetics. In fact, the flawless ancient statues we imagine typically originate from Greece, as the Romans took a more realistic approach to their artwork and fashioned their gods and goddesses after real life figures with wrinkles and warts. They believed that the accurate portrayals of humans would contribute to their immortality after death. Nonetheless, the Romans took pride in their masterpieces and often fancied the bronze statues they made as opposed to their marble counterparts we often see in both Greek and Roman statues today. Many of these bronze statues, however, were destroyed by later generations who used the melted bronze for their own profit.
Bas-relief is the most common medium used in the Roman sculptures that still exist. Many of the reliefs depicted the advanced technology that Romans during their time, including ballistae and waterwheel-driven saws. In addition to gods, acclaimed war heroes, and the technology of their day, another celebrated subject of sculptures are seen not on statues, but rather on the coffins of their departed ones. The Romans glorified immortality, and made these sarcophagi into much more than coffins by embellishing them with scenes based on Greek and Roman mythology, war, and their everyday life. The art adorning the outside of the sarcophagi of these figures played a tremendous part in the religious art form of the time. Their strong desire to commemorate important figures and events shines through in these sculptures and plays a role in uncovering the colorful history of ancient Rome.
- Freddy Tsao, Andy Kang, David Lee, Michael Amini
I like how you explained the techniques in crafting sculptures with detail. It is interesting that the Romans would humanize their own gods by putting mortal imperfections such as wrinkle and warts.
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