Roman Painting

•The only large body of ancient painting•Has only come to light in modern times•Almost all are wall paintings and span only about 200 years•Since there are no Greek examples left, it is hard to know what are Greek copies and what are truly Roman in nature

Innovations in Roman Painting…

•Fresco paintings used to liven up windowless CUBICULA (bedrooms)•Paintings of mythological scenes, landscapes, and city plazas•Mosaics as floor decoration- stone kept feet cool in summer•ENCAUSTIC technique (from Egypt)- portraits of the dead•Murals painted with some knowledge of LINEAR PERSPECTIVE•Spatial relationships in landscape paintings appear somewhat consistent•ORTHOGONALS recede to multiple VANISHING POINTS in distance•ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE used – far distance, cool pastel colors•Figures FORESHORTENED (seen at oblique angle, recede into space) •What we know, we learned from Pompeii…

atmospheric

linear

1st Pompeian Style- Characterized by painted squares/rectangles meant to resemble marble facing

2nd Pompeian Style- Large mythological scenes and/or landscapes dominating the wall surface. Painted decoration of the 1st style appears beneath in horizontal bands (1st style- faux marble)

Dionysiac Mystery Frieze, VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES

Pompeii. Wall painting. c. 60-50 BCE.

2nd Pompeian style

Boscoreale Frescoes, HOUSE OF PUBLIUS FANNIUS SYNISTOR, 50-40 BCE.•From an aristocratic villa outside Pompeii•2nd Style Pompeian art with 1st Style masonry panels at the bottom•Wall paintings open up spaces to reveal painted versions of great vistas•Great architectural views feature colonnaded atria, distant landscapes, and architectural visions•Cooler colors are used to show architecture receding into background•Central THOLOS in center of columned atrium, fronted by pediment•Maze-like. No solid grasp of perspective yet

3rd Pompeian Style- Characterized by small scenes set in a field of color and framed by delicate columns of tracery

A PAINTER AT WORKFrom the House of the Surgeon, Pompeii. 1st century BCE-1st century CE.Fresco, 17-7/8" × 17-3/8”

4th Pompeian Style- Combined elements of other three styles

-painted marble at the base (1st style)-large scenes of 2nd style

-delicate small scenes of 3rd style

all intricately interwoven

WALL PAINTING IN THE "IXION ROOM," HOUSE OF THE

VETTIIPompeii. Rebuilt 62-79 CE.

•Illusionistic architectural scenes and window effects•Sought to push back the wall surfaces•“4th style”•Prevailed about the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD•This example has faux marble, panel pictures that are meant to look like they are set into the wall•Gives off an unreal quality, similar to theater backdrops•Greek mythology scenes1st (“marble” rectangles)2nd (mythological scenes and/or landscapes)3rd (small scenes in field of color, delicately framed)

STILL LIFE WITH PEACHES, fresco fromHerculaneum. Detail of a wall painting. 50 CE.

Approx. 1'2" × 1'-1/2” •Arrangement of peaches, stem, and half-filled pitcher of water•Concentration on the different textures of the surfaces, roundness of the peaches and pitcher•Reflective surface of glass is emphasized•Composition emphasizes curves•Delight in showing how light plays on a given surface•Shows interest in creating spatial depth as represented on the water pitcher

…and here are a few more Roman paintings thrown in for fun…

The Laestrygonians Hurling Rocks at the Fleet of Odysseus, Rome, late 1st century BCE

•Very atmospheric, less concerned with spatial depth•More poetic than structurally correct

PORTRAIT OF A MARRIED COUPLEWall painting from Pompeii. Mid 1st century CE. Height 25-1/2”

•Very detailed garden scene- any form of depth has been ignored•All details are very close to the viewer -very limited spatial depth

GARDEN VISTA, VILLA OF LIVIA AT PRIMAPORTANear Rome. Late 1st century BCE.

detail

Hercules and Telephus, Herculaneum, 70 CE

•Very disjointed looking- forms, brushwork vary between figures•One figure looks static and immobile, while the other is more fluid

Portrait of a Boy, lower Egypt, 2nd century CE

•According to texts, there were many examples of portraits in Rome related to ancestor worship, but none have survived•More were found in the Egyptian part of the empire (Egyptians added portraits with mummies)•Done on a wood panel with encaustic (freshness of color)• Very lifelike and solid•Emphasis on eyes

Consecration of the Tabernacle and its Priests, synagogue at Dura-Europos, 3rd century CE

•3rd century brought spread of eastern religions – much different than Christianity (such as Islam) - gave birth to a new style of art that fused Greco-Roman with Eastern•Dura-Europos: Roman town- Jews were effected by the melting pot of art- depicted biblical scenes on the walls of synagogues (even though this was rarely ever done)•No action or story, but an assembly of figures- more symbolic than narrative, echoes of Roman painting- cast shadows, classical architecture-serves as a link to Medieval

FIN