Greek and Etruscan sculpture in the ancient world

Ancient Art

Art in the Ancient World

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (early fourth century BC)

As Paul Johnson (2003) notes, this ancient example of Greek classicalism "epitomizes a canon of male beauty embodied in mathematical proportions" (p. 63). Showing the perfection of contraposto, Doryphoros (or the spear-carrier) is a balanced representation of the body's muscles. Polykleitos, a contemporary of Phidias, had his own school of young artists, which carried on into the third century BC. Polykleitos' works are treated on in his own treatise, called "The Canon," which gave explicit attention to symmetry, clarity, and wholeness, and helped steer the direction of Grecian art and sculpture. The Spear-carrier is one of the best examples of Polykleitos' teaching -- however, this example is a copy of his original, and is held in Naples -- a fitting representation of the art of Greek sculpting. It also serves as a good example of the relationship that existed between art and culture: the Spear-Carrier serves as a model of Grecian beauty -- the athletic warrior type who also exhibits grace and dignity. This genre of art went on to influence centuries of Greek culture to come, culminating in the artworks of the time of Pericles -- which were a celebration of the Greek victories over Persia.

Hellenistic Period: Epigonos of Pergamon, The Dying Gaul (c. 225 BC)

This unique work of Greek art is singular for the fact that it is a kind of sympathetic gesture to what the Greeks would have considered a barbarian -- the warrior Gaul. Coming out of the end of the Hellenistic period -- that period of Alexander the Great (the Macedonian who subjugated nearly the entire known world before his young death but granted some of Greece a breadth of freedom to govern itself) -- and the beginning of the Roman invasion, The Dying Gaul displays all the sensitivity, tragedy, and pathos that Greek culture now emphasized. Its days of glory and idealism were over (they had flourished under the reign of Pericles, when the artist Phidias was at the height of his power developing the statue of Athena for the Parthenon). As Johnson says, "The earlier artists celebrated the ideal joys of man, the later ones his real tragedy" (p. 67).

Roman Republic: The Aqueducts (Pont du Gard -- 1st century BC)

The Roman Republic combined artistic beauty with engineering ability to create one of the most stunning artifacts of the ancient world: the Roman Aqueducts. The Pont du Gard, for example, is a three-tiered arched-structure that reaches 150 feet in height and carried water over a distance of 30 miles. The aqueducts were more than utilities: they were ornamental, graceful expressions of Roman pride and ingenuity.

The first aqueduct appeared in Rome in 312 BC during the reign of the censor Appius Claudius Caecus; called the Aqua Appia, it was about 16.5 km in length and carried water from the Apennine Mountains into the city, which was in need of a water supply (Dembskey). Over the next five hundred years, Rome would develop eleven aqueducts within the city. Many of the aqueducts were constructed underground to keep the water from becoming polluted or to keep the system from being destroyed by enemy attacks. Using only gravity to move the water, the aqueducts were a tremendous feat of engineering that helped keep the city in fresh supply of clean water.

Much of the information scholars now have of the Roman water supply comes from the extensive research done by Julius Frontinus, the water commissioner of the first century AD. As commissioner, it was his job to check on all the aqueducts of the city and to keep them functioning. Often he would have to clear away illegal pipes that had been hooked up to the aqueducts to divert water to other destinations. After all, as Roger Hansen (n.d.) observes, "Most of Rome's dwellings were ill-supplied with heat, light, and water. The sanitary arrangements, if judged by modern standards, were inadequate. The typical Roman must have lived almost entirely outside of his tenement house, in the streets, shops, latrines, baths, and arenas of the city. The domicile must have served principally as a place to sleep and store possessions." Since the water supply was public -- not private -- Roman citizens were likely to spend much of the day in public.

According to E.J. Dembskey (2009), the Aqua Appia was likely constructed mainly to increase the "commercial importance of the Forum Boarium. The Forum was the open space in the city where the markets were and where later the gladiatorial contests were held. Dembskey observes that "while the northern Forum Boarium had the spring of Lupercal, the southern end had no such supply…Cults such as, Portunus, Fortuna, Hercules, Diana, Mater Matuta Ceres and Liber played a quintessential role in the marketplace of the Boarium, and therefore, it seems likely that the aqueduct was instituted to meet the increasing need for water that could not be supplied by existing cisterns." Such a hypothesis is confirmed in the writings of Frontinus, whose work on the subject was broad. The fact that water helped in the religious activities of the Romans is another reason why getting water into the city was so important.

Roman Empire: The Fresco of Christ Teaching the Apostles (circa 300 AD)

What was the purpose of the fresco? A wall painting in the catacombs of Domitilla, Rome, the fresco had the purpose of all art -- to entertain and to enlighten. The fresco's style is "borrowed by the artist from contemporary pagan Roman art," (Cunningham, 2009, p. 140) and features Christ in a Roman toga, clean-shaven, with an energetic expression that would have surely encouraged the faithful as they celebrated their Mass in the underground dwellings of the dead, where the bones of saints and martyrs were buried. Its content is similar to that of the High Renaissance painter Leonardo, whose Last Supper also sets up a similar scene, with Christ in the middle of His Apostles, teaching them the rite of the Mass. Here, Christ wears a stern expression that states the seriousness of what they are about -- a fact which surely would not have been lost on the early Christians, who understood the danger they faced -- evidenced by the very fact that their Masses were held in hidden graveyards.

The culture that produced this piece was evidently Christian and Roman: the togas identify the characters as the latter, and the identities identify them as the former. For a Roman Christian audience, the image would have provoked a sense of awe and unity: their God was like them -- dressed in the Roman tradition -- and of fierce and eloquent demeanor. The colors would have seemed vibrant at one time and full of life -- and therefore would have been a great attraction and teaching tool for the Christians. This kind of artwork obviously had a great influence on the Roman culture, for Rome officially ceased all persecutions of Christianity under the rule of Constantine, and Christian art went on to reach glorious heights, for example, in Byzantium, where Constantine set up his throne.

Reference List

Cunningham, L. (2009). Culture and Values: a Survey of the Humanities. Boston:

Cengage Learning.

Dembskey, E.J. (2009). Aqua Appia. The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. Retrieved from http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/romappia/

Hansen, R.D. (n.d.). "Water and Wastewater Systems in Imperial Rome." Retrieved

from WaterHistory.org.

Johnson, P. (2003). Art: A New History. New York, NY: HarperCollins.