I would like to upgrade my funerary window relief along the Appian Way while I am vacationing away at my villa at Praeneste. The life-size funerary window relief made of stone currently possesses the aspects of Republican portrait style and I would like to upgrade it by giving it a more modern Augustan appearance. The sculptures in their current state possess many of the qualities that were common in the Republican era of portrait art. A major indication that this work of art is of the Republican style is the sign of age in the face of the man of the left of the sculptures. An aged face was very common during the time period and many portraits from this time period possess this quality of age. It was believed that that this quality gave insight …show more content…
Contrasting to Republican realism is the appearance of the woman on the right. Female portraits possess a more idealized form during the Republican era. Notably, the most important part of a female portrait is her hair. The woman in this relief possesses a very similar style to that of the female in the Relief of the Maeli, in Rome, from the Republican period from 1st century BC. Lastly, a common pose during the Republican Period was the togatus pose, as illustrated by the man on the left of the relief. All of these qualities were common in Republican period portraits and furthermore, all of these qualities additionally have a deeper meaning to them than just to be appealing to the eye. The qualities of my funerary window relief that are common during the Republican period are meant to have a deeper meaning to them besides being visually alluring. These qualities are meant to give insight into the person’s character while they were alive, especially the core Republican virtues of gravitas, dignitas, and fides. First, starting with the old age on the man’s face, this is an indication to the type of person he was when he was alive or how he wants to be perceived after the fact. Additionally, the wrinkles on his face are supposed to tell us that this was …show more content…
All of these changes to the sculptures are to go along with the changes of ideals in this time period where art is going back to the idealized form, where we want to communicate the potential to do great things because we are young and capable. Making the man’s face look younger is to go along with the new trend in Augustan portraits. Gone are the days of age being valued for your experience, the new trend is the youthful appearance because this indicates the potential to do great. I want to be remembered as a man who had the potential to do great things and then went out and accomplished them. This is a similar reason for changing the hairstyle of the man to match the emperor. I don’t want people to remember me for a man with a receding hairline, but a man with a healthy head of hair who was also attractive. If this hairstyle was good enough for our emperor Augustus, than it is certainly good enough for me. Going into the changes for the woman, I would like to add a nodus to her hairstyle to match that of Livia. Livia is an extremely important woman in today’s society and I would like her to be remembered in the same light as her, people will be able to recognize this hairstyle for years to come. The final change of adding a veil to the woman’s head is to signify her marital status. We were very much in love and I would like