Pompeii's Lost Art

599 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Roman civilization and their contribution to the world

Nearly two millenniums ago a massive eruption rocked the Roman city of Pompeii, destroying buildings and coating the town in deep layers of volcanic ash. Fortunately, this same ash served as a tool for preservation and has allowed archaeologists to discover the remains of various types of Pompeii’s art. The values, beliefs, and daily workings of Roman culture have been brought to new light through the paintings, mosaics, statues and other forms of art found in the lost city of Pompeii.
The discovery of Pompeii showed a rich pictorial heritage and provided insight into a previously limited knowledge of Roman aesthetic. Frescoes and paintings found in Pompeii are marked with unique characteristics. For example, “the walls of some rooms are painted with frescoes designed to give viewers the impression that they are looking out upon gardens and distant buildings” (Fiero 163). This art can be categorized into four styles. Style I was a simple and bare style of painting that sought to imitate marble veneering and mainly featured black, yellow, and red coloring. Style II was dominated by t...

Show More
Related

  • Eruption of Mount Vesuvius Pieces of Art

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sebastian Pether’s piece of work called The Eruption of Vesuvius (1835) combines the silver watery reflection of the moon with the hot red molten lava that is flowing down its mountainsides. Though during Pether’s generation he wasn’t the only one to paint the well-known Mount Vesuvius, Joseph Wright of Derby also painted 30 paintings of the volcano. This art piece is currently located at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The piece is oil media on panel that is framed with a beautifully designed border, where it is hanging on a wall in the one of the rooms, with a one-dimension view. The quality of the piece owes itself to the color and lighting, which captures your immediate attention and guides the viewer through the piece.

    Read More

  • Decoding Ancient Structures: Insights into the Roman Empire

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the ages, many scholars and future-scholars have offered an explanation for the meaning of structures from the ancient years, either by their placement or construction. None has fascinated or pushed scholars for reasons than structures and art of the ancient Romans, more specifically those constructed in the years of the Pax Romana and Crisis and Decline of the Roman Empire (27 BC to 284 AD).

    Read More

  • Political Propaganda and Religion in the Late Roman Republic

    2526 Words  | 6 Pages

    Pompey the Great was awarded a triumph in 61 BC for his successful campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean, and following this he began work on a magnificent complex in the Campus Martius outside the city walls of Rome on the east bank of the Tiber River (Kleiner 56). The complex wa...

    Read More

  • “The Allegory of Peace and War”

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bowron, Edgar Peters., Peter Björn. Kerber, and Pompeo Batoni. Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-century Rome. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. 100-50. Print.

    Read More

  • Depiction of Etruscan and Roman Women in History

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • Comparison Essay

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, although Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II and Augustus of Primaporta, do appear very different, come from entirely different geographic regions and were separated by thousands of years, they do have many things in common. When we consider subject, style, and function; perhaps other works of art have more in common than they appear to have.

    Read More

  • Old System: Similarities Between The BC And AD System

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    1 Pompeii: Art: Frescos from Pompeii; to appreciate the intricate details of how the frescos were made, and how long they have stayed since they were made. For example, I want to know if their colors have changed or some aspects of their colors have remained the same over time

    Read More

  • Religious Transition from Roman Londinium to Medieval London

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Orr, David Gerald. ""Roman Domestic Religion: The Archaeology of Roman Popular Art"." .Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press (1980): pp. 88–103. Western New England University Academic Journal. Pdf.

    Read More

  • Imagery In Ancient Roman Art

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    The primary function of monumental portraits in Ancient Rome was to honor political figures of power through repeating social and political themes. The Romans expressed these themes through a form of “realism”. Relics of this era were found depicting the elderly conservative nobility that lived through civil disruptions and war, elaborately individualized through detail of the face expression. Through the features of grimacing heaviness, wrinkles, and effects of old age, the Romans were able to express the reality of their political situation felt by the people whose faces were sculptured into stone. Furthermore, Nodelman discusses the use of sculpture portraits to depict the ideology behind Roman conservative aristocracy. Artists would portray the virtues of gravitas, dignities, and fides, through the use to physical expression and symbolic meaning, rather than through words. A statue of Augustus, for instance, displays the militaristic, powerful, godly perception of the conservative ideology through the use of symbolic detail. The decorative, rich, military outfit on Augustus, represents the power of the military and Augustus’s role as imperator in it. The freely held masculine arm and pointing gesture towards the horizon are Rome’s expanding dreams, clashing with the overall powerful and sturdy stance of the body. The bare feet bring about the impression

    Read More

  • Classical Roman Art Vs. Early Christian Art

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roman art was also deeply influenced by the art of the Hellenistic world, which had spread to southern Italy and Sicily through the Greek colonies there. The Etruscans and Babylonians can also be seen as inspirations. “With the founding of the Republic, the term Roman art was virtually synonymous with the art of the city of Rome, which still bore the stamp of its Etruscan art” (Honour and Fleming,1999). During the last two centuries, notably that of Greece, Roman art shook off its dependence on Etruscan art. In the last two centuries before Christ, a distinctive Roman manner of building, sculpting, and painting emerged. Indeed, because of the extraordinary geographical extent of the Roman Empire and the number of diverse populations encompassed within its boundaries, “the art and architecture of the Romans was always eclectic and is characterized by varying styles attributable to differing regional tastes and the...

    Read More

  • Pompeii

    7451 Words  | 15 Pages

    Pompeii is possibly the best-documented catastrophe in Antiquity. Because of it, we know now how the Pompeians lived because they left behind an extensive legacy of art, including monuments, sculptures and paintings. Pompeii lay on a plateau of ancient lava near the Bay of Naples in western Italy in a region called Campania, less than 1.6 kilometers from the foot of Mount Vesuvius. With the coast to the west and the Apennine Mountains to the East, Campania is a fertile plain, traversed by two major rivers and rich soil. However, in the early days, it was not a remarkable city. Scholars have not been able to identify Pompeii’s original inhabitants. The first people to settle in this region were probably prehistoric hunters and fishers. By at least the eight century B.C., a group of Italic people known as the Oscans occupied the region; they most likely established Pompeii, although the exact date of its origin is unknown. “The root of the word Pompeii would appear to be the Oscan word for the number five, pompe, which suggests that either the community consisted of five hamlets or, perhaps, was settled by a family group (gens Pompeia)”(Kraus 7). In the course of the eight century B.C., Greek and Etruscan colonization stimulated the development of Pompeii as a city around the area of the Forum. A point for important trade routes, it became a place for trading towards the inland. Up until the middle of the 5th century B.C., the city was dominated politically by the Etruscans.

    Read More

  • Fragment of a Roman Fresco

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Fragment of a Fresco is dated to 50-25 B.C., generally categorizing it into the Second Period of Roman paintings and placing its creation during the time of transition of Rome from a Republic to an Empire. This particular fresco was discovered in Pompeii, which is considered one of the leading sites of such pieces of art. While many Roman frescos throughout all four styles depict scenes of historical importance in both military and cultural aspects, this particular piece, Fragment of a Fresco, provides more of an architectural and interior design quality than that of other pieces from this time period.

    Read More

  • Roman and Islamic Art and Architecture

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Romans have adopted many features from the Greek style of art and architecture during the third and second centuries B.C. During that time period the Romans discovered that they have taking a liking to Greek statues, which they placed in many different places. The Roman sculptors then decided to also start making statues alongside the Greeks. The statues that the Romans created were realistic looking with, sometime, unpleasant details of the body. The Greeks made statues with, what they thought of, ideal appearances in the statues figure. Sculpture was possibly considered the highest form of art by the Romans, but figure painting was very high considered as well. Very little of Roman painting has survived the tests of time.

    Read More

  • Analyzing the Column of Trajan

    1405 Words  | 3 Pages

    The city of Rome delivers rich culture, influential architecture, and beautiful scenery that collectively demonstrate a course of great history and a prominent civilization. There are various structures from Imperial Rome that are highly recognized and mentioned within artistic research. Some examples include the Pantheon, Basilica Ulpia, Flavian Amphitheater, Arch of Titus, and Column of Trajan. Also referred to as Trajan’s Column, the iconic sculpture retains a prestigious appearance as it’s shown with characteristics of empowering height and intricate detail (Fig. 1). When analyzing such a remarkable piece of artwork one should consider the different elements that pertain to the subject matter and historical context. With that in mind, this paper presents the argument that the column is not only a portrayal of the Dacian Wars but also a funerary monument, paradigm of military inspiration, and tribute to Trajan’s reign.

    Read More

  • Roman Art Essay

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roman art was also deeply influenced by the art of the Hellenistic world, which had spread to southern Italy and Sicily through the Greek colonies there. The Etruscans and Babylonians can also be seen as inspirations. “With the founding of the Republic, the term Roman art was virtually synonymous with the art of the city of Rome, which still bore the stamp of its Etruscan art” (Honour and Fleming,1999). During the last two centuries, notably that of Greece, Roman art shook off its dependence on Etruscan art. In the last two centuries before Christ, a distinctive Roman manner of building, sculpting, and painting emerged. Indeed, because of the extraordinary geographical extent of the Roman Empire and the number of diverse populations encompassed within its boundaries, “the art and architecture of the Romans was always eclectic and is characterized by varying styles attributable to differing regional tastes and the div...

    Read More

More about Pompeii's Lost Art

Open Document