Breasted, James Henry: Survey of the ancient world (Boston [u.a.], 1919)

344

Survey of the Ancient World

692. Roman
sculpture

693. Roman
painting

694. Decline
of literature;
Plutarch's
Lives

The relief sculpture adorning all these monuments is the
greatest of Roman art. The reliefs still covering Trajan s
column are a wonderful picture book of his campaigns (§§ 670-
671). Of statue sculpture, however, the vast majority of the

works produced in this period
were copies of the master-
pieces of the great Greek
sculptors. The portrait sculp-
tors produced portraits of
the leading Romans, which
are among the finest of
such works ever wrought
(Fig. 120).

In painting, the wall deco-
rators were almost the only
surviving practicers of th'e
art. They merely copied the
works of the great Greek
masters of the Hellenistic
Age. Portrait painting, how-
ever, flourished, and the
hack portrait artist at the
street corner, who painted
your picture quickly for
you on a tablet of wood,
was almost as common as
our own portrait photog-
rapher.1

There was now a larger educated public at Rome than ever
before, and the splendid libraries maintained by the State were
open to all. Authors and literary men were also liberally
supported by the emperors. Nevertheless, even under these
favorable circumstances not a single genius of great creative

1 See examples of Roman sculpture and painting in Ancient Times, Figs.
197, 251, and Plate VIII, p. 654, and read footnote, ibid. p. 631.

Fig. 120. Portrait of an
Unknown Roman

This terra-cotta head is one of the
finest portraits ever made (§ 692).
It represents one of the masterful
Roman lords of the world, and
shows clearly in the features those
qualities of power and leadership
which so long maintained Roman
supremacy