as we see in the memorable Venus de Milo (fig. 205) and Nike of Samothrace (fig. 28); and extreme muscularity of male figures in action. The beauty and refinement of the Belvedere Apollo (fig. 189), now in the Vatican collection, stand as a refined continuation of the earlier Greek ideals. On the other hand, the high-relief figures from the altar of Pergamon, showing the battle of the gods and giants, are powerful in physique and facial expression, with deep-set eyes, thick locks of waving hair and theatrical gestures. Later, Michelangelo and Bernini would draw inspiration from the Hellenistic works, known to them from Greek originals and Roman copies.
The Romans always remained to some extent in the sway of the Greeks, but developed their own modes of sculptural expression. The most striking of their early modes, not uninfluenced by Hellenistic models, was during the Republican period (until the second half of the 1st century BCE). In an unforgettable development of the portrait type, Roman sculptors rendered searing details of facial particulars and created works conveying a strong sense of moral character, representing such virtues as wisdom, determination and courage.
Around the time of Augustus, a new kind of idealisation entered Roman art, exemplified by the harmonious and flowing compositional arrangement of the reliefs on the Ara Pacis Augustae (fig. 222). A marble, standing figure of Augustus, the Augustus Prima Porta (fig. 211), is a Romanised version of Greek tradition, with the contrapposto (weight-shift) stance and the idealised, youthful face of the ruler. Less Greek in concept are the details of his armour and the heavy drapery style. Through the rest of the duration of the Roman Empire, there was a continuous artistic struggle, without resolution, between idealism and realism. The background to this battle was formed by the flood of Greek originals and Roman copies of them that filled the gardens, courtyards and fora of the Romans, which ranged in style from the archaic to the Hellenistic.
Aside from any dependence on the Greeks, the Romans developed their own traditions, and were especially inventive in arriving at new stylistic expressions in their public monuments. The vigorous narrative and variety of the reliefs on the Arch of Titus still impress, and it is not surprising that they inspired Renaissance artists. No less remarkable are the intricate reliefs on the Column of Trajan and the Column of Antoninus Pius. With scroll-like compositions, hundreds of figures adorn these columns in reliefs, showing military and – even more prominently – technological feats of the Roman armies. The figures seem large by comparison with their architectural surroundings, and the beginning of the ‘medieval’ relationship of the figure to its spatial circumstances begins here.
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire formed a dramatic backdrop to the change of artistic style, including sculpture itself. By the late Empire of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, at the time of the short-lived barracks emperors and during the experience of a host of troubles, portraiture achieved an extreme expression, sometimes capturing fear or cunning, and corresponding to the mood of the times. The subjective question of the decline in style can be seen by considering the Arch of Constantine (fig. 252): the side-by-side placement of earlier reliefs alongside those of the 4th century is telling in the squat proportions and repetitions of type and stance of the latter. Thus, even before the advent of Christianity, a decline in style and taste was evident. This is no more clear than in the art of portraiture; the noble facial expression and the bodily idealism and harmony of the classical style have disappeared, and one sees instead nude figures with smaller heads and flat, broad chests.
The Christians, whose rise altered the character of Roman life, inherited the sculptural styles of the late Romans. Even some iconographic types were re-utilised; for example, Apollo-like features were given to Christ. Characteristic sculptural materials included an expansion of working in ivory, which remained a widespread medium in the Middle Ages. The Early Christian iconographic innovations were substantial, and a completely new range of subjects appeared in art. In the Eastern half of the fallen Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire would survive and persevere. Its sculptors retained features adapted from the late Roman style, and eventually the Byzantines would help to re-introduce some of the ancient Mediterranean artistic ideas into late medieval and proto-Renaissance Italy.
28. Anonymous, Nike of Samothrace, c. 190 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 328 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Following the conquest of Greece, the Near East, and Egypt by Alexander the Great towards the end of the 4th century BCE, Greek art entered a new cosmopolitan age, when the wealth and exotic tastes of great foreign kingdoms brought new flair to Greek sculpture and architecture. One of the most dynamic examples of this Hellenistic art is the Nike of Samothrace, which was part of a large installation at a sanctuary on the island of Samothrace in the northern Aegean Sea. In its original setting, the Nike was alighting on the prow of a warship, signalling victory. The prow, carved out of stone, served as the base for the dramatic figure. The whole piece was set into a landscape with a running fountain suggesting the waves of the sea. This combination of landscape, art and drama was characteristic of the Hellenistic period. The figure herself calls to mind the earlier Nike of the 5th century BCE (fig. 162), whose movement caused her robes to drape and fold elegantly around her. Here, however, the viewer can almost feel the wind whipping her garment from all sides. The movement of the fabric, pulling simultaneously in both directions around her legs, gives the piece a dynamism not previously seen in sculpture.
29. Anonymous, Stele of the Priest-King Hunting Lions, late 4th millennium BCE. Ancient Near East. Basalt, height: 78 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
30. Anonymous, Female Figurine of Halaf, 6th millennium BCE. Ancient Near East, Syria. Terracotta, 8.2 × 5 × 5.4 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
31. Anonymous, Statuette of a Priest-King, around 3300 BCE. Ancient Near East, Iraq. Limestone, 30.5 × 10.4 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
32. Anonymous, Statuette of a Woman Praying, c. 3300–3100 BCE. Ancient Near East, Susa (Iran). Alabaster, 11 × 45 × 72 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
33. Anonymous, Woman Wearing a Coat, Thinite period, 3100–2700 BCE. Ancient Egyptian. Hippopotamus ivory, height: 13.5 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
34. Anonymous, Statue of King Khâsekhemouy, Dynasty II, 3185–2925 BCE. Ancient Egyptian, Hierakonpolis (Egypt). Limestone, height: 62 cm. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
35. Anonymous, Monkey Statue, Reign of Narmer, Dynasty I, 3185–3125 BCE. Ancient Egyptian. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), height: 52 cm. Ägyptische Museum, Berlin.
36. Anonymous, The Lady of Warka, around 3300–3000 BCE. Ancient Near East, Uruk (Iraq). White marble or alabaster, height: 21.5 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
37. Anonymous, Perforated Plate with a Banqueting Scene, around 2700 BCE. Ancient Near East, Oval temple Khafaladjé, Iraq. Limestone, 32 × 29.5 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
38. Anonymous, Eshunna Couple Praying, around 2700 BCE. Ancient Near East, Square temple of the god of Verdure, Abu, Tell Asmar (Iraq). Gypsum, shell, black limestone and asphalt (adhesive and colour), height: 72 cm and 59 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
39. Anonymous,
