The first post in this series discussed the achievements of the Roman Empire in the 1st-2nd centuries. The second post covered changes in the late 2nd to 4th c. AD. The third was on philosophy and religion in the late Empire. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/WM0bNf3P1pM.

5. Art in the early 4th c.: Arch of Constantine

Given the direction philosophy and politics were taking, it’s not surprising that art during the late Empire began to resemble that of Ancient Egypt, whose pharaohs were gods as well as rulers. The Arch of Constantine (312-315) is a perfect example.

Constantine was the emperor who converted to Christianity in 312. (See end of Part 2.) This arch – erected in honor of Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius – was one of the most elaborate triumphal arches ever built by the Romans.  Overall it’s 65 feet high, 82 feet wide, and 23 feet deep (20 x 25 x 7 m). You can get a sense of the scale by looking at the human figures in the photo below.

The arch is covered with a profusion of relief sculpture … and not just any sculpture. Emperors had sometimes recycled sculptures of their predecessors by carving a new likeness for a figure’s head and changing the inscription. The Arch of Constantine is the first example not just of recycling, but of wholesale cannibalization of earlier monuments. The reused pieces are the most prominent parts of the Arch. In the photo below, the large medallions are from a monument of Emperor Hadrian (ruled 117-138).

In the photo above, the friezes sculpted in Constantine’s own time are the much smaller reliefs just below the medallions.

A couple reasons have been suggested for the cannibalization. First: perhaps the arch was created in haste, without time for sculptors to do new work. Second: perhaps skilled sculptors were no longer available in Rome. Third: perhaps Constantine wanted to show himself as the successor of the “Good Emperors” and the one who would restore Roman glory. The third seems most likely, since Constantine didn’t take reliefs indiscriminately, but only from monuments to Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius (all 2nd c. AD). The cannibalization was probably due to a combination of these factors, with the third playing a very important part.

The friezes that were carved in Constantine’s time have a radically different style from the earlier reliefs, although many of the separate elements had appeared earlier.

1. The full-frontal pose is used only for emperors and statues of emperors. Constantine is dead center in the frieze below; his head has been knocked off by vandals.

2. Groups of men are shown by placing one row of heads above the front row, rather than having a mass of figures grow smaller as they recede into the distance. All the heads of these figures are in three-quarter view or profile. They’re not shown in full frontal, because that’s only for emperors.

3. The anatomy is crude. The artist has no interest in showing muscles, bones, joints. Standing or in motion, the figure’s body parts don’t quite fit together. The proportions are wrong, too, with heads often too large for the bodies.

4. Architectural details are flattened out against the background, so there is no sense of depth. In the frieze above, the humans tower over ridiculously puny city walls. In the frieze below, the buildings shown can be identified as those in the Roman Forum, but they’ve all been reduced to fit exactly the height of the frieze. The buildings function as a frame, not a three-dimensional setting.

None of these stylistic changes is new. They had appeared piecemeal in earlier monuments to emperors. But this is the first time they’re all together, and used so consistently.

Question: what’s gained by discarding all the techniques laboriously developed by the Greeks for showing man as a living, moving being, and space as three-dimensional?

Answer: This style makes the emperor the center and focus of action. If he’s in a scene, everyone looks to him, literally and metaphorically, for orders or assistance. There’s no suggestion space – never mind of action – beyond Constantine’s reach. The emperor controls everyone and everything.

6.  Final developments in the Empire

In 330, Constantine moved the capital of the Empire to Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Most of the supporters of the Empire were in the East. In 395, after the death of Theodosius, the Empire was split between into eastern and western sections.

The eastern part of the Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, flourished for a few decades under Justinian (ruled 527 to 565). He reconquered Italy and northern Africa, which had been lost to barbarians years earlier. After his death, the Byzantine Empire’s territory gradually shrank as Muslim territories expanded. The last outposts of Byzantium, Constantinople and Trebizond, fell in 1453 and 1461.

In the west, the decline of the Empire was much more rapid. During the 5th c. and later, the Empire’s borders were no longer adequately protected. It was invaded by tribes whose names became synonymous with barbarians: Vandals, Goths, and Huns (ruled by Attila 434-453). But it was not as much of a change as one might think. By this time many barbarians had entered the Empire as mercenary soldiers. Over several centuries, distinctions between Romans and barbarians had started to blur.

As we noted in Part 2, by the early 4th century, being a citizen of the Empire was no longer a great benefit in terms of goods available. With respect to taxes and having a say in local government, being within the Empire was increasingly becoming a burden. For those living on the borders, the Empire was not necessarily a protection, and its soldiers might even be a threat. Why would you march far away to fight and die for the Empire? Defending your own town or farm was far more urgent.

Because of the barbarian invasions, urban centers shrank within protective walls. Farmers and others who were not living within walls began to look for protection not to the Empire’s soldiers but to powerful local landowners. This was the road to the feudal system of the Middle Ages.

As urban centers became smaller and less prosperous, centers of learning died out. Learning shifted to monasteries and a special class, the clergy. Illiteracy became widespread: why learn to read if you’re a subsistence farmer?

7.  Art in the Late Empire

After Constantine, there were no important emperors in the West to erect monuments glorifying themselves. But the techniques used in the Arch of Constantine didn’t die out: they were adapted for use from depictions of divine Roman emperors to depictions of the Christian divinity, and in that guise lasted through the Middle Ages.

If you want to show the supernatural, the techniques used to show the real world are unnecessary – even inappropriate. Linear and aerial perspective were not widely and consistently used again until the 15th c. Foreshortening was pretty much lost. Overlapping was often used, but to save space rather than to suggest depth. No attention was paid to anatomy and human proportions. Such portraits as were done were cookie-cutter images with names added to identify them.

Despite all this, the Greek artistic tradition didn’t completely disappear. Medieval artists imitated its poses and drapery for centuries, but without understanding of what’s going on beneath the surface.

***

Next week we continue with the sixth in the Sculpture Synopsis series: Medieval art.

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