The Art of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome's art was influenced by mostly the Greeks whose high point was before the Roman era, and this is why the Ancient Greek's Art influenced them most. The Romans used their mosaics and most of their art to show their love and respect for their gods. Romans had many different art forms some of the more major ones would be: mosaics, arches, murals, portraits, and statues. The more minor forms of Roman art would be poetry, paintings, tombstones, domes and vaults. source


In Ancient Rome they had to make their own materials to make their portraits, murals, or paintings. The Romans would use shaped wood or ivory as writing utensils. The paint brushes would be made of twigs, wood, reeds, or rushes. But how they made to paint was very interesting and special, they were only made of natural substances. source


Mosaics were one of the Roman’s more major field of Art, which were originally part of the ancient Greek’s art. The mosaics were mostly pictures of their gods, figures from books, nature, or everyday life. Most mosaics were on the floor but they were also on walls and ceilings. Mosaics were made with small pieces of tile, glass, or stone and glued together with mortar. source


Murals were very well liked by the Romans, we often see that murals would be painted on the wall of their Emperor’s palace. This alone must indicate that having murals was a sign of wealth to the Romans. Other very popular aspects of Roman art were statues and portraits. Statues were often made to portray a life-like view of gods, goddesses, emperors, or important figures. Many of the statues only show the chest and head and these are called portraits. These portraits were so popular that any citizen that could afford it would get one of themselves. source(Wheeler)


A huge part of the Roman art was their architecture they built the most amazing buildings. Examples of this are the Pantheon and the Coliseum, even today when people look at the Pantheon they do not know how in the world they built it. But one of their most notable architectural creations was the Roman arch. It can be seen all over the ancient Roman Empire. Many times the Romans would use the arch to signify freedom or conquering. The arch was a universal design it was used decoratively, in bridges, and buildings. source (Ramage, Wheeler)


The Roman art was at its biggest from 750 B.C. to 450 A.D. and has stood sound through the years, and although the History of Rome can just be read or studied what they left behind, their buildings, bridges, paintings, statues, portraits, and murals can seen and looked at. What the Romans created effect the generations to come, when you see an arch in a house that derived from the Romans. source (Ramage)



Book Sources:


Ramage, Nancy H. Roman Art. Prentice Hall; New York: 2008


Wheeler, Mortimer. Roman Art and Architecture. Thames & Hudson; New York: 1985