Roman Architecture Style

874 Words4 Pages
Introduction The Romans were quite creative and innovative in almost every aspect, but especially in their art. Taking artistic elements of other cultures and introducing their own flair brought new expression, purpose and enjoyment into their lives. Two great artistic fields the Romans further developed were painting and sculpting. Painting Although ancient paintings have rarely withstood the test of time, we are fortunate enough to have unearthed superbly preserved Roman frescos that are around 2000 years old. We owe thanks for this amazing conservation to the great misfortune of the many Romans living in Pompeii during 79 BC. These poor people along with their entire city were buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted.…show more content…
Two were inspired by the talent of the Greeks and arose during the Roman Republic while the other two gained their popularity during the Roman Empire. Mau’s first style, the Incrustation Style, emerged as a way for the average Roman to incorporate beautiful marble into their own homes. Given that the marble used to build up their cities was quite unaffordable, citizens got creative and hired artists to come paint faux marble on their walls. This gave off an image of wealth and success. Following this is what Mau deemed the Architectural Style. This particular style strove to beguile observers through the use of architectural features in combination with numerous vanishing points to trick the eye. The marbling technique of the Incrustation Style was still in use but no longer served as the main focal point. Now, the walls was covered with large beautiful scenes of nature, social events, and elegant architecture took its place. These elements were joined together to create a window that led into a serene world, lying just beyond the wall (Ambler,…show more content…
This style took the architectural aspects of the Architectural style and transformed them into whimsical elements with unreal proportions. Conversely, the large scenes of the past were no longer employed and large panels of monochrome colors took their place. These panels were decorated with delicate details and in the center of the wall a small scene was painted, usually depicting the countryside. The final style distinguished by Mau, the Intricate Style, was a combination of all three of its predecessors. The monochrome painted blocks of the third style were kept along with their centralized pictures. However, the settings of these scenes were portrayed with more variety and were painted quite a bit bigger. The realistic elements produced during the time of the Architectural Style were also reincorporated as well as the panels of faux marble from the Incrustation Style. This yielded a very eclectic concoction of art that adorned the Romans walls (Ambler,
Open Document