Art

Ancient Roman Art Through out history many different cultures have used art to portray different ideas and represent different things. Ancient Roman art consisted of many different mediums; everything from wood to bronze to marble. Unlike the ancient Greeks the Romans built their sculptures more realistically rather than idealistically. Most of the Ancient Roman sculptures were simply used to decorate public and private buildings and homes. They often honored Rome’s present ruler, celebrated Rome’s most recent military victories, and endorsed their government. (Statue.com) The majority of Ancient Roman sculptures were decorated using terra cotta, a technique they learned from the Etruscans. The Romans also used the lost-wax process to create magnificent bronze sculptures. The bronze sculptures were considered more precious than marble sculptures. As they became more popular the Romans started to construct life size and larger than life bronze sculptures. Unfortunately the collection of Ancient Rome’s bronze sculptures today are very sparse because the later generations melted these beautiful works of art to use the metal for other purposes. Marble on the other hand was very hard to reuse since it was stone. Surprisingly it was very easily sculpted because the marble didn’t harden fully until it was exposed to air. The marble sculptures unlike the bronze sculptures stayed preserved and are now here for us to study and learn more about. The wear and tear that some of them may have gone through, such as the loss of a finger, just adds more value and authenticity to the piece of art. (Mandel. Ancient Roman Sculpture) Since Rome’s downfall their sculptures have continued to impact our artistic ideas and have given us a lasting example of true beauty. (Strong 11) Works Cited Internet Sources Book Source
 * "Roman Statues and Ancient Roman Sculpture."      __  Statue.com  __  . 2008. 3 Dec 2008 <  http://www.statue.com/roman-statues.html  >
 * Mandel, Sarah. "Ancient Roman Art."      __  Essortment  __       . 2002. 4 Dec 2008 <  http://www.essortment.com/lifestyle/romansculpture_sapn.htm  >.
 * Yahoo, "Bronze Sculpture of Roman Soldier ."      __  Flickr  __  . 2008. 4 Dec 2008 <  http://flickr.com/photos/44124324682@N01/1246412  >.
 * "Roman Goddess."      __  RSS  __  . 2008. 4 Dec 2008 <  http://www.thestatueart.com/index.php?cPath=34  >.
 * Strong, Donald .      __  Roman Art  __  .   London   ,   England   : Penguin Group, 1976.