¶ … Bust of Antinous

The piece of Roman art being discussed is the bust of Antinous Mondragone, which is now in the Louvre in Paris, and it came from the Mondragone villa, located in Frascati, Italy. The artist is unknown, but it is thought to have been sculpted around 130 AD. This beautiful sculpture represents much of Roman art at the time, and it represents a larger cultural context, as well.

The arts were becoming popular during this time in the Roman Republic, and sculpture was becoming increasingly popular after the Romans captured Syracuse during the Second Punic Wars and brought back much of the island's sculpture to display in Rome. Roman sculpture often copied classic Greek statutes, because the artists and people admired Greek art. The sculptures were often of Roman rulers, indicating how important they were to the culture, and how they were held up by the people as heroes. They also show how closely culture and the socio-political attitudes were at the time, because the leaders were immortalized for the people to remember forever, indicating their political power and prestige, as well. These works of art contributed to society in general because they were often displayed publicly so the people could admire them, and people decorated their homes and buildings with them, adding to an overall cultural appreciation of the arts and sculpture.

In earlier cultures, there was little "spare" time to create beautiful works of art simply for their enjoyment, so these delicate and detailed works of art indicate there was more leisure time -- time to enjoy art for art's sake, and time for members of society to create it. People were interested in creating beautiful places to live and work, instead of simply surviving. In addition, the fact that so much Roman sculpture, like this piece, have survived to this day illustrates how important these artworks were to the people and the Roman culture. They preserved them to last forever.