Relief of a Falling Warrior, 101 CE–200 CE. Ancient Roman. Gift of Alfred E. Hamill.
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From celebratory statues to intricate mosaic panels, art was created for a wide variety of functions and contexts during the centuries that the Roman Empire reigned. Explore a few highlights from the Art Institute’s collection of ancient Roman art here.
These decorative bronze objects take the form of busts of silenoi, or mature satyrs, bestial creatures who were Dionysos’s companions (Dionysos, the Greek god of wine, theater, and revelry, became known to the Romans as Bacchus). Part human and part horse, silenoi were untamed woodland spirits who engaged in various hedonistic pursuits, namely dancing, cavorting, and overindulging in wine. These busts originally decorated a type of couch on which elite, well-to-do Romans reclined at lavish banquets, reinforcing the message of merriment in the name of Dionysos.
Attachments Depicting Busts of Silenoi (Myth and Scandal)
Jeff Nigro: These two little figures represent Silenoi. The word Silenus might refer to an individual figure who is named Silenus or figures who closely resemble him.
Narrator: Silenus, a part human part horse creature, was part of entourage of Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry. Research Associate, Jeff Nigro. -
Jeff Nigro: And a Silenus figure is usually represented as you see here, as mature male figures with elaborate curly beards. And their crowned here with leaves and berries, which are indicative of ivy, ivy is sacred to Dionysus. According to what the ancient writers thought, ivy berries are hallucinogenic. I’ve never tried it so I couldn’t tell you if that’s true.
Narrator: If you look closely, you’ll see that each of the figures is carrying something on their shoulder.
Jeff Nigro: One of the figures is draped in a goatskin. Goats were sacred to Dionysus as are many wild animals. But the goatskin also relates to the object which is slung over the shoulder of the other Silenus figure, which is a wineskin. In antiquity, before they were put into ceramic jars, wines were stored in animal hides. This was especially good for transporting wine from one place to another.
Narrator: Though they hang by themselves today, originally they would have been featured as decoration on a dining couch, a popular form of furniture for the Greeks. And, while it may seem strange to us, there was good reason to decorate this type of furniture with these bearded wine lovers.
Jeff: The type of couch these objects decorated was used for reclining during the symposium, a type of raucous drinking party popular amongst ancient Greek men. So the depiction of someone like Silenus would have been immediately understood as sort of, you sit here, you’re here to party.
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This statue of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, sexuality, and fertility, was inspired by a famed, earlier sculpture known today as the Aphrodite of Knidos. Carved in the mid-fourth century BCE by the sculptor Praxiteles, the original statue, which served as a devotional image in a temple or shrine, was acclaimed for its innovative representation of the goddess in full nudity. In the Roman world, the statuary type was popularly displayed in civic, domestic, and funerary contexts, but it held particular resonance in the private garden. Here the goddess’s voluptuous form and associations with fertility were equated with the growth of vegetation and the pleasure of the garden.
Statue of the Aphrodite of Knidos (Myth and Scandal)
Katharine Raff: Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of Love and in the Roman world she is known as Venus.
Narrator: Curator, Katie Katharine Raff.
Katie: So this particular sculpture of Aphrodite is a type known as Aphrodite of Knidos. The original version was created in the 4th century BC by the famed Greek sculptor Praxiteles, and what we are looking at here is a Roman version created in the 2nd century AD, so about 600 years later. What’s interesting about this particular Aphrodite type is that it’s the first sculpture to have shown any goddess in the Greek world fully nude.
Narrator: The story goes that Praxiteles had made two statues of Aphrodite: one where she is clothed and modest and another, like the one you see here, fully nude. The city of Cos was the first buyer and chose the more modest statue, leaving the city of Knidos to buy the naked one.
Katie: And this actually brought great acclaim to Knidos. So many many people would come far and wide to see this famed nude statue of the goddess.
Narrator: The statue was so popular that some visitors to the temple where the statue was kept got a little carried away.
Katie: Literary sources tell us that people were outright in love with her. That in one instance a man had himself locked in the shrine and left a stain on her showing his (pause) interest in the piece.
Narrator: Though pieces of the statue are missing we do have a sense of what it would have looked like.
Katie: Her right hand, which is now missing, was actually covering her genitalia. But it’s not just covering it, it’s also sort of directing the viewer to it as the source of the power over sexuality and fertility. So it’s kind of concealing and revealing at the same time, it’s sort of an interesting gesture.
Katie: The original statue, of course like many statues from the ancient Greek world, no longer survives today. But we know that it was so popular that it was widely reproduced into the Hellenistic world and into the Roman world
Narrator: In some versions of the reproductions, Romans would actually personify themselves, sort of like a proto-photoshop
Katie: You know in the Roman world we find portraits where there will be a female portrait head, so of an actual Roman woman, on a body type of Aphrodite. You’ll find sometimes these weird, what to us looks like a disconnect where there might be a head of an older woman with this very youthful body. To the Romans they didn’t really see a distinction there, the sort of attributes and qualities of the goddess were imparted upon that woman. She was not to be seen as ”I am saying I am Aphrodite”, it was her personal qualities were like those of the goddess.
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Roman artists were masters at adapting Greek imagery for entirely new functions and contexts. This image of a wounded Greek warrior was created around 447–438 BCE in Athens, where it first appeared as part of a mythical battle scene of Greek soldiers and the legendary Amazon female warriors. This scene decorated the shield of the monumental gold-and-ivory cult statue of the goddess Athena located in the Parthenon. Roughly five to six centuries later, the same figure was adapted from its original religious setting for use on this Roman architectural relief, which likely adorned a major public building or a lavish home.
Relief of a Falling Warrior
NARRATOR: During the Roman Empire, the educated citizens were great admirers of classical Greek art, so much so that they often copied or closely imitated great works of Greek art. This Roman-era marble relief of a wounded warrior is modeled after a renowned Greek work made five to six centuries earlier in the 5th century B.C. At that time, a similar image was featured as part of a monumental status of the Greek goddess Athena which stood at the Parthenon, the major temple overlooking Athens. Athena held a shield decorated with multiple images, including a relief of a fallen warrior. It was probably meant to honor the Athenian soldiers who gave their lives repelling Persian invaders in 480 B.C. Our warrior was carved centuries later during the Roman Empire’s ascendency in Athens, and resembles the relief on Athena’s shield. He sinks to the ground, his left hand clutching his shield while his right arm reaches toward the wound in his back. His stoic expression and muscular form embody Greco-Roman ideals of bravery, virtue, and physical prowess. In the Roman world, such sculptures reflected Roman collectors’ cultural sophistication and refined knowledge of the Greek past. Carved in Athens, the relief was no doubt intended for the villa of a wealthy Roman collector, perhaps even the emperor, Hadrian, who reigned during the 2nd century A.D., but the ship carrying it to Italy sank in the harbor of Athens’s port, where it lay underwater until it was recovered in the 1920s. In 1928, it was purchased for the Art Institute by Alfred Hamill, a Chicago banker who chaired the museum’s committee on Egyptian and classical art.
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This intricate cameo, expertly carved from a piece of sardonyx, a type of banded hardstone, combines a portrait of Emperor Claudius (reigned 41–54 CE) with the idealized, partially nude body of the supreme deity Jupiter (the Greek’s Zeus). Here the emperor holds the god’s scepter and thunderbolt, while an eagle, Jupiter’s companion animal, stands at his feet. Created for circulation among members of the imperial court, the cameo boldly equated Claudius’s power over the Roman Empire to that of Jupiter over the entire cosmos.
Previous Roman emperors were clean-shaven, but Hadrian (reigned 117–38 CE) wore a beard, perhaps to signify his admiration of all things Greek. Earlier Greek intellectuals, particularly those of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, had worn long, full beards; Hadrian’s neatly trimmed facial hair reflects a more fashionable style worn by Greek men of his day. In this portrait, which originally belonged to a full-length statue or bust, the sculptor created a striking textural contrast between the emperor’s closely cropped facial hair and the thick, luxurious curls of his coiffure, which are undercut to sharply stand out from his forehead.
Portrait Head of Emperor Hadrian
NARRATOR: This marble head is a portrait of the Roman emperor Hadrian who ruled from 117 to 138 A.D. More portraits of Hadrian than of any other emperor have been found in the lands once ruled by Rome. Curator Karen Manchester.
KAREN MANCHESTER: He was an extremely popular emperor. And he was particularly fond of Greek culture. He happened to have great admiration for the Greeks and, in particular, their philosophy. And as a consequence, he grew a beard which one can see represented faintly on the cheeks of this particular portrait. And this was something that Roman emperors before him had not done. But he adapted the wearing of a beard from Greek philosophers. This particular sculpture is also especially lovely because of the representation of the hair. One can see this great mass of curls over his forehead and deeply drilled. There’s a lot of interplay of light and shadow.
NARRATOR: The sculptor used a drill, again, on the eyes to create more realistic pupils.
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Roman portraits were created in a variety of media, but painted works rarely survive due to their delicate materials. One noteworthy exception is a group of naturalistic portraits produced in Roman-ruled Egypt for use in mummification. Typically painted on thin wooden boards using pigments mixed with beeswax, such portraits were placed over the deceased’s face and secured with linen wrappings. Here the subject’s large, heavy lidded eyes, narrow chin, and full lips express his individuality, while his thick, curly hair and neatly trimmed beard indicate the adoption of current Roman fashions. Additional details in gold, symbolizing divinity and eternity, reflect the tremendous expense lavished on this man’s likeness. Read more about Roman mummy portraits on the blog.
Constantine I (306–37 CE) had a transformative effect on the later Roman world. He proclaimed the religious toleration of Christianity; reunited the empire under his sole rule after defeating his co-emperor Licinius (reigned 308–24 CE); and moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul), which he renamed Constantinople in his honor. This coin, minted soon after Constantine became sole emperor, depicts him with a youthful, clean-shaven face and a hairstyle of thick locks arranged over his forehead. These features deliberately evoked the appearance of earlier, celebrated emperors, including Augustus (reigned 27 BCE–14 CE) and Trajan (reigned 98–117 CE), visually tying his reign to his esteemed predecessors’.
The identity of the woman depicted in this portrait is not known, but her distinguished appearance suggests that she held a prominent position in Roman society. Her elaborate hairstyle, featuring a multi-tiered bun of braids at the back of the head, would have required the assistance of a skilled hairdresser, while her richly textured clothing and intricate headband—carved to suggest that it was studded with gemstones—further attest to her wealth and status. As with many Roman sculptures, this portrait was likely painted in antiquity, giving the subject a more lifelike appearance. Learn more about this bust with this interactive feature.
Portrait Bust of a Woman, and Portrait Bust of a Woman
NARRATOR: Katherine Raff, Rice Foundation Curatorial Fellow in the Art Institute’s department of ancient and Byzantine Art.
KATHERINE RAFF: In the Roman world sculpture was found in public places. It was found in private places. It populated the Roman world in a way that there’s really no modern equivalent.
NARRATOR: A master sculptor carved this marble portrait of a woman at some point between 138 and 161 A.D. a time of peace and prosperity.
KATHERINE RAFF: We don’t know who she is. But she likely came from a family of great status. Her tunic is actually so thinly carved that light shines through the marble so whoever carved this was an incredibly skilled sculptor. And the family who commissioned this must have been quite wealthy.
NARRATOR: Her unique hairstyle of wavy locks and a braid coiled into a bun on the crown of the head was popularized by the Empress Faustina the Elder and her daughter Faustina the Younger.
KATHERINE RAFF: And we know that they wore this hairstyle from portraits of these two imperial ladies as well as on coins. Often imperial women would be depicted on coins and that’s often how we can actually date these hairstyles.
NARRATOR: Her headband includes rectangular shapes but suggest semiprecious stones. And this particular type of headband seems to have been worn by priestesses of the state sponsored Roman religion who would have been associated with carrying out the devotional rites associated with venerating the imperial family both in life and in death.
NARRATOR: Roman sculpture was typically painted often with bright colors. In this case, the sculpture might have been painted to match the subject’s hair, eye and skin tones. Sometimes, however, the skin was left alone letting the natural beauty of the marble shine through.
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The Romans frequently incorporated colorful gemstones into their jewelry. This refined gold necklace with a short, delicately woven chain features a single emerald pendant—a rarity in Roman jewelry. At the back is an ornamental fastening in the form of a gold wire rosette with a central garnet stud. Fastenings such as this were a Roman innovation, and they required a fashionable, upswept hairstyle—a clear sign of the wearer’s social standing—in order to be fully appreciated.
This tall, narrow vessel is a particularly elegant example of an alabastron, a type of bottle widely used in the ancient Mediterranean world to hold precious oils and perfumes. While most alabastra have rounded, bulbous bottoms, this example is noteworthy because it tapers to an elongated point, requiring it to be placed in a stand for use. Created using the free-blown technique of glass production, its opaque, deep-blue color and white veining mimic the appearance of costly stone.
Roman houses were frequently adorned with wall paintings and floor mosaics representing foodstuffs and items associated with preparing and serving food. Such imagery was intended to convey messages to visitors about the owner’s wealth and hospitality as well as the quantity and variety of goods available in the house. The bound rooster in this panel, notable for its naturalistic representation and subtle use of color, might have represented the abundance of livestock that was available on the host’s estate, which could be consumed at a meal or sold for a profit. Learn more about this mosaic panel and others like it in this interactive feature.
This relief plaque, which depicts female attendants kneeling around a candelabrum or incense burner, is a type of architectural decoration that was employed primarily in Rome and central Italy in the early Roman Empire. Created in terracotta using molds, these plaques were produced in multiples to form decorative friezes that adorned the walls of public buildings, private residences, temples, and tombs. The plaques depicted subjects ranging from mythological imagery to scenes of daily life, and typically were painted, making them easier to see when viewed from below. This particular plaque preserves microscopic traces of yellow and red pigment, suggesting that it too was once painted.
Following an ancient practice, most Roman homes had domestic shrines, called lararia, which included bronze statuettes of the household gods (the Lares) and other deities venerated by members of the family. This statuette of an unidentified goddess or personified virtue seated on an elaborate throne likely belonged to such a shrine. Scientific analysis suggests that the figure and the throne—although both ancient—were not created as a pair but were found in the same burial site. Presumably, the throne originally belonged to another seated figure displayed in the same setting.