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an essay
Rating: PG
Quality: (Quality: Unrated)
Social status: it is something that is displays and not hidden. There are many very telling ways through which person’s status. In Roman times art is a way to display one’s social status and identity. In his book, Christian art and Roman triumph, Jas Elsner talks about how art is used as a way to promote and construct identity. Private citizens in Rome used objects of art as a way to describe their relationship to society as well as their identity.
One kind of art used by Roman citizens to represent identity was meant for display after death. The marble funerary relief on pg 37 of the book, which depicts a man next to a Charioteer, and a small statue of his wife, is a representation what the person who paid for the relief whats his identity to be. The Chariot racer is depicted as a champion by having woman holding a palm leaf on the relief, which was the traditional prize for the winner of chariot races) Elsner 37). Pictures of the Circus Maximus are also used to convey where the depicted race was held. Both the charioteer and the circus Maximus are pop themes in the Roman world(Elsner 37). The patron uses them to convey a display a certain public identity. By depicting the Charioteer as the winner of a race, he is portraying himself as someone who has succeeded despite the odds because life, like a chariot race, is full of very difficult obstacles that must be overcome in order to get ahead. The obelisk is a clue ( Elsner 37) that the chariot race was won in the great Circus Maximus in Rome. The patron is adding prestige to his victory in life because for athletes, that was the place to gain recognition and where only the best could compete. It is a metaphor of life being one big competition that is fought on the stadium of life, where he is the winner. The stature of his wife is a way to represent himself as a widower, who still holds the memory of his wife dear, and who remembers her as being with him during part of his “race” in the stadium of life. His relationship to society is that of a man who stands above others.
Another example was a funerary altar on page 40, which was an altar that depicts a man in military uniform. Firstly, from the military uniform, it was obvious that the man was a soldier. He not only has a uniform, but it was a dress uniform. By wearing his uniform, he was connecting his identity with his being a military man. He could have had the sculpture put him in civilian clothes, but for him it was probably important ant for him to display his pride, and identification with the Roman military. Being in the military during Roman times, just like in the present, means being part of an organization, where the whole takes precedence over the individual, and this can mean the difference between success and victory, life and death. Individual identity is rather suppressed for the good of the whole. One way it was suppressed was by having everyone wear the same thing, because by having everyone wear a uniform, people will more easily see themselves as a part of an organization rather than an individual entity. The subject wore the uniform because he identifies with the Roman military, which is a very big institution in its heyday. So, he is a soldier, in a society, where military might was important. Also, the funerary altar shows the soldier doing a religious ceremony. Here, the subject wanted to portray himself as a religious man, who is devoted to the gods. So, his religious devotion is another part of his identity. Elsner remarks, “ Thus his life is summed up visually by two of the great institutions of the Roman world- its army and its religious system.”(Elsner 40) What the author meant, is that the subject showed his devotion to both the military and religion, and by putting both things in his altar, he showed, or at least give the impression that they were the most important things in his life. When a person makes a something for after their death, that is to be seen by others, they want to not only give a good impression of themselves, but they also want to represent who they were as people. In the case of the soldier, he wanted to represent himself not only as an exemplary soldier of the Roman Empire, but also as a devoted man of the gods. His relationship public identity is intertwined with being a soldier, who protects the Empire and its values, a duty, which he, more likely than not took seriously. The goal of the subject is to make the altar in a way, so that others would perceive him as the type of man he wants to be perceived as, which is as a man of piety and duty. He is hoping that when his descendants see this altar that they will see a good, moral man without any human flaws and whose example they should emulate.
The affluent in the Roman Empire used ordinary object art as a way of showing of their identity. In an ivory leaf, on page 38, there is a picture of a rich patron viewing games, which he donated money to. Here, he is at the top balcony, which in ancient times, is the seat reserved for the wealthy. Also, he is sculpted to be physically bigger then the people seating next to him, while the ordinary people are sculpted to be very small. These two things were done to show his higher status in the social hierarchy of Rome. His place in this hierarchy is very important to his identity because one’s place in this hierarchy determines where one lives, how one dresses, how one is educated, as well as other factors. The subject is showing his relationship to the ordinary people because he pays for the games that they enjoy. This relationship gives him some power. Moreover, he uses the very familiar setting of the games to show his higher position. Also, it shows off his affluence because it takes a lot of money to be a patron of the games. Another way the man’s status is shown, the clothes on the subject. His is wearing a fancy toga, which indicates his wealth. He is representing himself as the quintessential Roman aristocrat, and wants future generations to remember him as a man, who is, not only generous enough to contribute to a very important facet of Roman history, but also as a rich and powerful person, who has the ability to contribute to the existence of the games.
On page 41 there is a casket, which is used to carry toiletries for women. On the casket in one of the panels, there is a picture of a woman going with her servants to the local public bath This is a construction of the status of woman such as the one in the picture. First of all, these women, who are affluent could afford to go to the baths, have servants, and keep up their appearance because they not only had the money, but they had the leisure time, which their peasant sisters did not have. Also the fact that these women had to paramount worry about their appearance is an indicator of their relationship to overall society. The over importance of appearance underscores the fact that women, especially rich women, were considered just accessories for their husbands, and were just there as decoration. In the picture, women are shown as caring for appearance, and are defined in terms of being a wife. The casket could have shown the rich woman reading something intellectual, but since intellect in a woman is not valued, that activity is not depicted. By depicting a woman going to the bath with her toiletries, it is being shown that it is more valued for a woman to worry about her appearance and cleanliness. By depicting this act, the woman wants to represent herself as a proper woman of the affluent class, who takes good care of her person, and knows her “proper” place within Roman society. On top of the casket, there is a picture of the subject with her husband; this underscores her identity, which is mostly based on her being a wife
Whether rich or poor, people in Roman times depend on common symbols of the various steps in the social hierarchy and common Roman cultural items to show not only their social status, but also how an individual relates to society. In funerary art, people try to represent themselves according to how they want to be remembered, and in household object art, people depict an ideal that they want people to believe they have achieved. So, in essence, art does not truly imitate life.
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