Personification in Roman Statuary

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the history of Roman portrait statues, their characteristics, and what influenced the development of this art. The paper describes several famous statues and the emphasis on realism and idealism that can be seen in the artwork.

From the Paper:

"During the period of crisis in the Roman Republic when the Greek influence on art became increasingly strong, Roman art began to emerge as an entity in itself. In 146 B.C.E., a sculptural style came into being that is generally known as Greco-Roman, a term which indicates that the two styles cannot be readily separated from each other. Much of the original sculpture of this period was produced by Greek immigrant artists, but the growing Roman fascination with individual traits of personality is apparent in their portrait sculpture, a field in which the Romans made one of their most original contributions and in which they achieved a very typical, uncompromising and often flattering realism. But the idealism of Greek art continued to captivate the Romans, for great numbers of Greek statues stood in the Roman forums and in both public and private buildings."

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