Learning Rome's Art

Roman history can be traced through its complex artistic tradition at art and architecture. Each piece reveals important information about the context of people, places, and ideas surrounding it. All images are from the Creative Commons, and information is from Steven Tuck's "A History of Roman Art" (first edition).

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Pentheus Room, House of the Vettii, Pompeii, late first century A.D., fourth style

Fourth style developed at the end of the emperor Nero’s life, as he had the walls of his Roman palace, the Domus Aurea, decorated with it. Fourth style combines aspects of the previous styles: the faux marble of first style, the illusion of second style, and the ornamentation and emphasis on central photos of third style. First-style panels took up the bottom portion of the walls, while mythological scenes were depicted in framed areas on the upper sections. The centralized images tended to relate to each other and have an underlying narrative. Fourth style was extremely diverse and varied based on location. The Pentheus Room from the House of the Vettii in Pompeii was a triclinium: a dining room with three kline (reclining couches for dining). The central image on the main wall depicts the story of Pentheus, who was killed by his mother when she and her friends were in a drunken frenzy. The other wall images relate to the theme of dysfunctional mother/son relationships, which would have demonstrated the complexity of knowledge of the homeowners and given the diners something to talk about in the room. 

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Red Room, Villa at Boscotrecase, third ‘closed’ style

As third style developed, the lines and sacro-idyllic images became more defined. Instead of having the central image float in the middle of the wall panel, it was often framed by ornamental lines. The image appears similarly to framed art we would find in a gallery, as it is distinctly separated from the rest of the wall by frame and background color. In this red room from the Villa at Boscotrecase, this later version of third style is used. 

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Black Room, Villa at Boscotrecase, third style

Third style was a reaction against the extravagance of second style, which was criticized by Augustus as amoral. In third style, the wall was treated not as an architectural or realistic space, but as a flat surface. It was decorated with thin, ornamental lines and patterns, and is sometimes called “candelabra style” for its designs. Walls were often broken up into panels, and the center panel usually held a sacro-idyllic picture. These were landscapes that included sacred or idealized scenes, such as temples or urns. As opposed to the vibrant second-style colors, these scenes lacked bright colors and were relatively simple. In this room at the Villa at Boscotrecase, the ornamental, lines and candelabra are meant to represent columns and a temple, though their proportions are unrealistic. The red and black painting refers back to the faux-marble of first style.

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Room of the Mysteries, Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, 1st century B.C., second style

Second-style wall paintings were popular in Rome during the reign of Augustus and spread to Pompeii. In second style, realistic scenes are painted to create seemingly three-dimensional spaces within the wall. This style was meant to create the illusion of elaborate architectural settings by arranging the blocks to look like colonnades, temples, theatrical stages, and other distinct architecture.These scenes are often elaborate and preserve the first style’s attachment to fine marble, but without the actual three-dimensional plaster attachments. First-style imitation marble can be seen below and above the main painting. This wall painting at the Villa of Mysteries just outside Pompeii shows female rituals leading to marriage that are related to the god Dionysus. The architectural elements of the painting (such as the floor the women are standing on and a wall they are in front of) create the feeling of a liminal space between our wall and theirs. The painting uses megalography; the painting shows full-sized humans (normally people would be painted smaller than life-sized). 

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House of the Samnite, Herculaneum, marble, 2nd century B.C., marble, first style

The wall at the House of the Samnite in Herculaneum is a Pompeian first-style wall painting. First-style is marked by its use of incrustation and is sometimes called the masonry style because of the marble appearance. In this style, thin blocks were molded in plaster, painted, and attached to a wall. They were painted to mimic the expensive marble that would indicate wealth and status. The blocks’ arrangement of larger to smaller going up the wall also mimics the style of Samnite buildings in the area. 

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Ara Pacis Augustae, dedication in 9 B. C., marble

The Ara Pacis Augustae, or the Alter of Augustan Peace, was built by the emperor Augustus as part of his funerary complex. In this context, Pax, or peace, meant the militaristic pacification of one’s enemies - Augustus was demonstrating how he had achieved peace by conquering all of his enemies. This alter was placed near his tomb to be used for an annual sacrifice of a white cow to the goddess Pax. The art on the sides of the alter shows a procession of the imperial family, and another shows a goddess with several babies. Augustus had no children as heirs, and so by depicting babies and his extended family members on his alter, was demonstrating that there were legitimate people able to inherit the empire. 

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Augustus of Prima Porta, early 1st century A.D., marble

This statue of the Roman emperor Augustus was found in the house at Prima Porta, where Augustus’ widow lived after his death. The statue depicts Augustus posthumously and after his godly ascension, which is depicted by his barefoot status - barefoot statues always depicted gods in Rome. His stance is in contraposto, which means that his weight is balanced unevenly on his legs, and one hip is lower than the other. This was a style developed by Greek sculptors and which Roman artists admired and adopted. Augustus’ cuirass - or breastplate - reminds us of his many military victories. Its scene depicts him as a Roman soldier winning back the Roman standard from the Parthia, surrounded by Roman gods. The baby Cupid at his feet is a child of Venus, meant to remind us that Augustus is Caesar’s adopted son, and Caesar was godly due to claiming Venus as an ancestor. The Cupid rides a dolphin, a symbol of Augustus’ many naval military victories, such as his victory over Caesar’s murderers at the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C. 

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Nile Mosaic, from Palestrina, Praeneste, 2nd century B.C.

The Nile Mosaic, located in the floor of a building near the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste, is considered one of the most impressive mosaics recovered from Roman history. The mosaic is composed of tiny tesserae, which are teeth-shaped stones. The mosaic uses atmospheric perspective, a technique in which the items closest to the viewer are sharper and brighter, and the images at the back of the mosaic have fuzzier edges and duller color. This technique creates an effect of distance and depth. The mosaic depicts the Romans’ perception of Egyptian life on the Nile River and shows several Nile scenes. The closest images are of temples and civilian life, while the back images show wild animals and native Africans. Many of the animals present in the scene are made up, and inscriptions under their images are nonsense words. The clear exaggeration and inaccuracy in the mosaic shows the Romans’ limited knowledge of and fascination with Egypt and Egyptian life. 

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The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, at Praeneste, 2nd century B.C.

The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia (Fortuna the first-born), was built during Rome’s concrete revolution. When the Romans began to use concrete in earnest, they were able to form their architecture around the natural surroundings instead of being subject to nature. This sanctuary was built around a natural mountain spring, which fed into a well between the two barrel vaults. When visitors came, they had to walk up one of the vaults for 10-15 minutes in total darkness before coming out into the bright light, where the first thing they saw was the sanctuary’s oracle at the sacred well. This sensory deprivation, followed by intense light directed at a specific view, added to the mystical experience of the sanctuary. While much of the architecture here, and in other Roman locations, is Greek-inspired, the use of concrete and other materials to manipulate the experience and emotion someone had in a space was considered to be distinctly Roman.