How does the sculpture of the Romans reflect their culture?

Answer 1

The themes of Roman statues were often scenes from myths or depictions of gods and reflected Roman religion and mythologies. Statues of emperors reflected the system of rule. Triumphal arches and columns celebrated victories by emperors and had scenes of the victorious battles. They reflected the system of rule by emperors, the role of emperors as military leaders and the importance of military success to the Romans.

Frescoes and mosaics sometimes also depicted scenes of daily lives. There is a famous scene of a woman exercising at the baths which shows one of the exercises they performed and what they wore at the baths (a sort of bikini).

Augustus initiated imperial art, a type of art which acted as Propaganda for rule by an emperor, glorified and mystified the person of the emperor and put him at the centre of the socio-political system.

During the republican period there was a type of art which has been called plebeian art. It showed the economic activities of ordinary Romans and reflected the culture and ethos of the plebeians (the commoners).

These are but a few examples.

Answer 2

With regard to sculpture, statues are monuments. The sculpture of the Republican period was mainly portraiture (i.e., busts) of statesmen, patrician aristocrats, or ancestral figures who were considered important in history. With regard to the gods, the Romans at times commissioned statues from the Etruscans , who produced fine full bodied terracotta statues. Friezes with narrative reliefs were also popular and were used to adorn sarcophagi or walls of important buildings. In patrician art these often had scenes of important feats of the deceased (in tombs) or of family ancestors. In plebeian art, there were scene related to the commoners and their daily working activities.

Stating from Augustus and through the period of rule by emperors, the Romans adopted full bodied statues and adopted the Hellenistic style of the Greek masters and sometimes made copied their statues (probability sculpted by Greek sculptors). Common themes were the gods and scenes from mythology. Statues were also used for imperial propaganda. Statues of the emperor or of themes which illustrated his grandeur became important.

A prime example of the use of statues for propaganda was the statue of Augustus (who was a master of propaganda) of Prima Porta. This statue is part of the shift from republican to imperial art and of the kind of art Augustus promoted for his personal propaganda to legitimise his becoming an absolute ruler. Augustus is depicted both as divine and as an "imperator" (a victorious commander). He is barefoot because gods were depicted barefoot. A cupid riding a dolphin appears to support the statue. Cupid was the son of the goddess Venus. Julius Caesar had claimed that his family descended from Venus. Augustus, as the adoptive son of Caesar, continued this claim. Augustus is wearing the paludamentum, the cloak of military commanders and an armour with a fine relief. This elaborate and expensive armour was not the type which was used in battle. It was ceremonial armour, one which would be worn for the triumphal processions. Therefore, Augustus is an imperator (winner in battle), which gives him added prestige. His arm is raised to salute the troops. Moreover, the relief depicted the retrieved standards that the Roman legions had lost when they had earlier been defeated by the Persians. Losing the standards was considered a great dishonour. Augustus negotiated the return of the standards with the Persians and used this for his personal propaganda. He presented this as a symbolic victory and a boost to Roman pride. He pretended that the Persians had submitted to the Romans.

Romans architectural monuments were the triumphal arches and columns which celebrated victories. In the Republican period they were commissioned by victorious military commanders. During the period of rule by emperors they became the preserve of the emperors. The arches had statues of the victors and of gods and reliefs with battle scenes. The most impressive triumphal column was Trajan's column. It is has a shaft 30 metres (98 ft) high which is covered by a frieze which is 190-metre (625 ft) long and winds around the shaft 23 times. It has 2,500 figure depicting scenes of Trajan' s war in Dacia.

Another prime example of the use of the frieze for propaganda is the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace). It is dedicated to Pax, the goddess of Peace, but depicts Augustus as the man who would bring peace and prosperity to Rome after it was torn by the civil wars. Its exterior is decorated by two tiers of friezes. The upper tier of the north and south faces depicts processions of the imperial family and its entourage. The eastern and western sides hadve allegorical themes of peace and civil rituals. The lower tiers have vegetables, which symbolise the prosperity which peace was to bring.