Roman Empire

There is a lot of archeological and historical material from this era. The empire prospered economically, and in good times a larger number of people decorate available surfaces just to please the eye. As the Romans to a large extent regarded themselves as a continuation of the Greek culture, a lot of the art was very similar to Greek art.

  A

A close-up of a simple Roman still-life, with a glass vase/pitcher, and some fruit that looks like peaches, but probably are something else, as they are greenish in colour. They are delicately shaded to show the roundness of form, and also highlighted. A piece is cut out from one fruit, showing what is inside it. The glass is depicted in the same way as in much later centuries: the highlights are painted on top of the background, and so are some darks. Here and there, we see cast shadows, with clear penumbras that are lighter and warmer than the shadows. This still-life isn’t primitive, it shows that the painter had good observation skills, and good enough skills to paint this fresco in one go.

 B

Roman still-life B, also a close-up (due to size-restrictions on this blog) shows an elaborate green glass bowl overflowing with fruit, and the charming addition of a bird interested in what’s offered. Some of the fruit is clearly clusters of grapes. I find it really interesting that the fruit seen through the bowl is painted so skillfully and believably. An effort has been made to make the bowl look round, with reflections on both sides, and a highlight at the front. Obviously, the glassblowers had high level skills in making glass-objects, and the painters in depicting them as frescoes.

  C

Still-life C is from Pompeii, that treasure of knowledge of life in Roman cities. (If you ever are in the vicinity -- go there! It is the antique site that has made the greatest impact on my senses, and my understanding of antiquity.)
 
Lo! A glass blowl, filled with fruit. I think we can draw the conclusion that elaborate glass was to be treasured and showed off. Pomegranates, with one cut open. Juicy grapes. The artist is really showing his skill-level in the blue-green glass that looks so life-like, while the amphora is clearly an object made of fired clay. It is hard to judge from a photo, but it seems like the use of colour was rather advanced. The glass bowl has a purplish-red streak along its edge, just the kind of colour-reflection the grapes would cause. The shadow-planes are not merely blackened versions of the other colours, but colours in themselves. Look at the little amphora, how the shadow is coolly greenish, while the part in light is yellowy and orangey! This fresco must have been spectacular when freshly painted. Pliny the Elder (quoted in post 1 of this series) was right.

To be continued, with the Middle Ages.