DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0731
RELIEFS OF CONSTANTINE'S TIME.
693
cuted sarcophagus in the Capitol, which, besides, lets us into the philosophical
ideas of the Neo-Platonists, but is unintelligible without explanatory comment
(Fig. 293). On it we see, in mytho-allegorical form, the history of man. On
the front, not represented in the cut, are the four elements, Vulcan, Ocean,
/Eolus, and Terra, and among them Amor and Psyche. Then follows (Fig. 293)
Prometheus forming man, a stiff little image on his lap, into whom Athena puts
the soul in the form of a butterfly. Her olive and owl accompany her, and the
little living mortal stands at her feet. Above, we see two of the Fates, and
beyond Athena the unhappy death-scene. Here the mortal lies dead ; at his
head sits Nemesis, recording his deeds ; the genius of the grave leans over him,
and the sombre shade stands in colossal size behind. The little butterfly-
winged soul is led by Hermes to Hades; and beyond, curiously filling up the
space, is the freeing of Prometheus by Heracles on Caucasos. These two fig-
ures clearly go back to a common original, probably a picture which also sug-
gested the small group of a similar subject discovered in Pergamon (Fug. 240).
Fig. 294. Relief from the Arch of Constantine. The Emperor addresses the People.
Recurring to the historical monuments, we find that, in Rome, the decline
after Commodus was very rapid. The oft-repeated portrait of Caracalla, the
finest sample of which is in the Berlin Museum (Selections, Plate XX.), seems
the last important production in this dark era ; and in looking at its brutal
features, rendered with fierce realism and power, we seem to feel that before
its terrible gaze the last breath of gentleness and poetic life must have fled
from Roman workshops.
The triumphal arch on the Forum, built to Septimius Severus and his sons,
Caracalla and Geta, in honor of victories won over the Parthians, 201 B.C.,
shows great weakness of composition. Four large pictures, over which strag-
gle feeble forms, seem set into the building; and under them a narrow strip,
showing offerings and the like.
If we cast a glimpse at those parts of Constantino's arch, executed in his
age, 312 A.D., we feel indeed, that the hand had lost its cunning (Fig. 284).
The mighty current of artistic production is reduced to a mere muddy rivulet.
Comparing the one scene (Fig. 294), where Constantine addresses the people,
693
cuted sarcophagus in the Capitol, which, besides, lets us into the philosophical
ideas of the Neo-Platonists, but is unintelligible without explanatory comment
(Fig. 293). On it we see, in mytho-allegorical form, the history of man. On
the front, not represented in the cut, are the four elements, Vulcan, Ocean,
/Eolus, and Terra, and among them Amor and Psyche. Then follows (Fig. 293)
Prometheus forming man, a stiff little image on his lap, into whom Athena puts
the soul in the form of a butterfly. Her olive and owl accompany her, and the
little living mortal stands at her feet. Above, we see two of the Fates, and
beyond Athena the unhappy death-scene. Here the mortal lies dead ; at his
head sits Nemesis, recording his deeds ; the genius of the grave leans over him,
and the sombre shade stands in colossal size behind. The little butterfly-
winged soul is led by Hermes to Hades; and beyond, curiously filling up the
space, is the freeing of Prometheus by Heracles on Caucasos. These two fig-
ures clearly go back to a common original, probably a picture which also sug-
gested the small group of a similar subject discovered in Pergamon (Fug. 240).
Fig. 294. Relief from the Arch of Constantine. The Emperor addresses the People.
Recurring to the historical monuments, we find that, in Rome, the decline
after Commodus was very rapid. The oft-repeated portrait of Caracalla, the
finest sample of which is in the Berlin Museum (Selections, Plate XX.), seems
the last important production in this dark era ; and in looking at its brutal
features, rendered with fierce realism and power, we seem to feel that before
its terrible gaze the last breath of gentleness and poetic life must have fled
from Roman workshops.
The triumphal arch on the Forum, built to Septimius Severus and his sons,
Caracalla and Geta, in honor of victories won over the Parthians, 201 B.C.,
shows great weakness of composition. Four large pictures, over which strag-
gle feeble forms, seem set into the building; and under them a narrow strip,
showing offerings and the like.
If we cast a glimpse at those parts of Constantino's arch, executed in his
age, 312 A.D., we feel indeed, that the hand had lost its cunning (Fig. 284).
The mighty current of artistic production is reduced to a mere muddy rivulet.
Comparing the one scene (Fig. 294), where Constantine addresses the people,