Photos of the Best Roman Statues & Sculpture Art Antiquities

Home  /  Classical Antiquity Photos /  The Romans

Photos of the Very Best Roman Statues & Sculpture Art Antiquities

Photos of the very best Roman Statues & Sculpture from the best archaeological museum collections of Europe, Near East & North Africa.

Romans – The Great Thieves

The Romans grew strong by taking the best from the peoples they conquered. They particularly embraced whole heartedly the Gods and Culture of the Ancient Greeks. Famous for creating the Classical Style of the Classical Period the Ancient Greeks set the benchmark that the Romans built their Art and Culture on.

Greco – Roman Sculptures

Today it is hard to divorce Roman statue and sculptural styles from that of the ancient Greeks. So much so that Ancient Greek art and Roman art are combined and refers to as Greco-Roman.

Many examples of Greek sculptures only exist today as Roman copies of earlier ancient Greek originals. Good examples of this are the many Roman Venus statues that have been excavated from Roman archaeological sites.

Roman Venus Statues ?

The Roman Venus statue known as the Venus of Arles was probably a copy of the Aphrodite of Thespiae by fourth century BC Greek Athenian sculpture Praxiteles.

The Venus statue known as the “Capitoline Type” was a copy of an earlier Greek statue known as the “Aphrodite of Knidos”. The Romans made faithful copies many other Ancient Greek statues.

Roman Ancestor Sculptures

The Romans held their ancestors in great respect leading to a form of Ancestor Worship. Roman villas of the wealthy had a room set aside with death masks and sculpted busts of earlier members of their families. Up until Augustus the style of theses statues was very realistic revealing wrinkles, warts and all defects.

Augustus Statues

Augustus though saw the advantage of appearing as a perfect individual to his public. He was the first to control and idealise his Image by controlling how he was depicted in statues. Augustus saw the power of using art as a propaganda machine and after him all successive Emperors did the same.

The great Monumental Art of Rome

The most important monumental art of the Roman Empire was sculpture. Statues adorned Roman theatres and were to be found at the heart of the inner sanctum of Roman Temples.

The Romans adopted the Greek pantheon of Gods but changed their names. For example, Aphrodite became Venus, Poseidon became Neptune. The Romans made offerings to their Gods regularly. Mosaic panels in their houses depicted scenes from mythology accompanied by bronze and marble statues of the Gods.

The quality of Roman sculpture is incredible, and their creators were great craftsmen.

How the Christians Saved Pagan Statues

In 483 AD Rome banned all pagan religions. This led to a wave of destruction by Roman Christians who sacked Temples destroying their statues. Many Romans still made offering to pagan gods so buried many Roman god statues to save them from destruction.

Venus was a very popular Roman goddess so this might explain the high number of her statues that can be seen in Museums.

When the Western Roman Cities fell they slowly declined and their building became ruins. Rome was so depopulated that the old Roman Capitoline hill, Forum & Colosseum were left to fall down.

How the Popes Saved Roman Statues

As Rome started to regain its wealth under the Papacy, much of the marble was removed from ruins such as the Colosseum and burn to make lime for new building projects. Many Roman statues were excavated and brought to the notice of Popes and Cardinals.

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III typified the thirst that grew for the Roman antiquities being unearthed in Rome. At the time little was known about ancient Rome so each new statue caused a sensation. Bit by bit the Romans were revealed as a cultured sophisticated people. The study of Roman art and culture stared the Renaissance.

Renaissance sculptors studied Roman statues and used the techniques in their own. The Renaissance was a rebirth of Greco-Roman culture in Europe. Many of the photos in these Roman galleries collection come from the great collection Cardinal Alessandro Farnese put together, now housed in the Naples Archaeological Museum.

The Legacy of Roman Sculpture

The waves of the renaissance rolled on and is still alive today. In the Mid 18th century the Enlightenment put Greco-Roman culture at the heart of its movement. Western civilisation is based on the Greco-Roman culture that has been passed down the generations