Intro to Fine Art
Assignment 3

Question 1.

In order to fully understand Roman art, we must understand that “Roman culture was modeled on that of the Greeks.” (Lewis 228) More specifically our textbook states that “while the romans absorb their artistic ideals from the Greeks, they were more realistic than idealistic, more active than philosophical, more pragmatic than creative.” (Lewis 228) One example of the more realistic art contributions made by the Romans is “a tradition of realistic portraits.” (Lewis 228-229) The Roman sculpture of Cato and Porzia exemplifies this realistic portrait sculpture. The portrait is very realistic and descriptive of all of their features despite their somewhat unattractive nature. By contrast, the Greek’s would have preferred a much more idealized sculpture of the couple. Another aspect of art introduced by the Romans can be seen in their architecture. The Romans used many of the Greek techniques but also “borrowed the idea of the arch from the East and exploited its possibilities to construct public buildings of great size, feats of ancient engineering.” (Lewis 230) The Roman Coliseum could not have been built using traditional Greek architecture due to the weight of the structure. In addition to the use of the arch in Roman architecture, “The Romans developed the architectural feature of the dome.” (Lewis 233) The Roman Temple the Pantheon is a great example of the Romans use of the dome in architecture. The Roman use small stones to make an image, called a Mosaic, are another lasting influence on art. Mosaics are very resilient and one Mosaic called “Unswept Dining Room Floor” which represents a floor as it might have looked after a Roman banquet is still intact from the second century. The Romans built on their Greek influences and made their own significant contributions to Western art.

Question 2.

In comparing