DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0727
MONUMENTS OF THE ANTONINES. 689
in the outstretched form, and how lacking the whole in warm originality and
artistic fire!
The reign' of the good emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.) must
have been favorable for the multiplication of sculptural works. But the reliefs
on his column on the Piazza Colonna, illustrating his wars against the Marco-
manni and neighboring tribes, are clearly but a coarse imitation of those of
Trajan's Column. The healthy, agreeable realism of the earlier monument
degenerates here into an approach to vulgarity; the relief which is higher is so
thoroughly chronicle-like, that even stalls and the like are represented, while
the spirited battles and marches of the former work give place to insupportably
monotonous ones. One scene alone breaks the tedium, and that not by its
beauty, but its associations. It is where the winged, bearded god, Jupiter
Pluvius, with outstretched hands, pours down rain upon the thirsty Roman sol-
diery, as the story is, in answer to the prayer of a legion of Christian soldiery.
A triumphal arch to Marcus Aurelius was torn down in 1662, by Pope Alexan-
der VII., as it interfered with the horse-races in the Corso; but its reliefs are
preserved in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. They are also, clearly, copies of
the far nobler works on Trajan's arch. Here we see Marcus Aurelius offering
to Jupiter, going in procession to the Capitol, freeing prisoners, and being
received by Roma; but both the composition and execution fall far short of
the picturesque, realistic older works.I28Sa
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol (Fig. 291) is clearly
a portrait of the emperor and of a favorite battle-horse. Thanks to the preva-
lent belief that the horse belonged to the Christian Emperor Constantine,
this bronze work has escaped destruction. Although a fine specimen of late
Roman work, yet, compared with the four splendid steeds now in front of St.
Mark's in Venice, which are probably from the time of Nero, how prosaic this
horse and his harsh muscles, and how clear the prophecy of artistic decline!
During this time of the Antonines, there came into very general use a set
of monuments, affording many attractive scenes, even though for the most part
their execution is very mechanical. These are the sarcophagi, found in su'ch
numbers in Roman and other tombs. They seem, indeed, to have been kept in
store, with a vacant space sometimes left for the addition of the features and
inscription of the deceased who should occupy them. From the end of the re-
public to the time of Trajan, simple portrait-busts in a niche, alongside of each
other, had formed the prevailing type for funeral monuments, possibly originat-
ing in the old wax masks of the ancestors. This simple, straightforward por-
traiture seems a true child of the Roman spirit, as admirably illustrated in that
couple in the Vatican, called Cato and Porcia. When the custom of burial
became common, in the second century A.D., this simple type was given up,
for the most part, but the bust was frequently carved on the face of the sarcoph-
agus, or the whole figure made to recline on its top. These sarcophagi were
in the outstretched form, and how lacking the whole in warm originality and
artistic fire!
The reign' of the good emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.) must
have been favorable for the multiplication of sculptural works. But the reliefs
on his column on the Piazza Colonna, illustrating his wars against the Marco-
manni and neighboring tribes, are clearly but a coarse imitation of those of
Trajan's Column. The healthy, agreeable realism of the earlier monument
degenerates here into an approach to vulgarity; the relief which is higher is so
thoroughly chronicle-like, that even stalls and the like are represented, while
the spirited battles and marches of the former work give place to insupportably
monotonous ones. One scene alone breaks the tedium, and that not by its
beauty, but its associations. It is where the winged, bearded god, Jupiter
Pluvius, with outstretched hands, pours down rain upon the thirsty Roman sol-
diery, as the story is, in answer to the prayer of a legion of Christian soldiery.
A triumphal arch to Marcus Aurelius was torn down in 1662, by Pope Alexan-
der VII., as it interfered with the horse-races in the Corso; but its reliefs are
preserved in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. They are also, clearly, copies of
the far nobler works on Trajan's arch. Here we see Marcus Aurelius offering
to Jupiter, going in procession to the Capitol, freeing prisoners, and being
received by Roma; but both the composition and execution fall far short of
the picturesque, realistic older works.I28Sa
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitol (Fig. 291) is clearly
a portrait of the emperor and of a favorite battle-horse. Thanks to the preva-
lent belief that the horse belonged to the Christian Emperor Constantine,
this bronze work has escaped destruction. Although a fine specimen of late
Roman work, yet, compared with the four splendid steeds now in front of St.
Mark's in Venice, which are probably from the time of Nero, how prosaic this
horse and his harsh muscles, and how clear the prophecy of artistic decline!
During this time of the Antonines, there came into very general use a set
of monuments, affording many attractive scenes, even though for the most part
their execution is very mechanical. These are the sarcophagi, found in su'ch
numbers in Roman and other tombs. They seem, indeed, to have been kept in
store, with a vacant space sometimes left for the addition of the features and
inscription of the deceased who should occupy them. From the end of the re-
public to the time of Trajan, simple portrait-busts in a niche, alongside of each
other, had formed the prevailing type for funeral monuments, possibly originat-
ing in the old wax masks of the ancestors. This simple, straightforward por-
traiture seems a true child of the Roman spirit, as admirably illustrated in that
couple in the Vatican, called Cato and Porcia. When the custom of burial
became common, in the second century A.D., this simple type was given up,
for the most part, but the bust was frequently carved on the face of the sarcoph-
agus, or the whole figure made to recline on its top. These sarcophagi were