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Severan art is art production by the Roman Empire under the Severan dynasty, usually taken as running from 193 to 235, through the emperors Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus. Official Roman art of the military anarchy which followed, ending in 253 with Gallienus, has no character of its own and so can be seen as a continuation of Severan art, and so that art can be seen as running for the whole first half of the 3rd century.[citation needed]
In this period began the process that ended in the rupture between Roman art and that of Late Antiquity, the watershed between classical art and that of Byzantium and the Middle Ages.[citation needed] Some of Severan art's products saw the emergence of obvious elements from plebeian art and provincial art, whilst in other areas traditionally Hellenistic elements were kept alive longer, such as in portraiture, which flourished in this period with masterpieces of great psychological depth.[citation needed]
Historical context
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Sculpture
Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome, relief of the Siege and capture of CtesiphonReliefs of the Arcus Argentariorum, Rome
The most important works in Severan art were the Arch of Septimus Severus in the Roman Forum (erected for the Parthian triumph of 203); the Forum, the basilica and the Arch of Leptis Magna, the birthplace of the emperor (completed by 216); and the Arcus Argentariorum in Rome, erected in honor of the emperor by the bankers of the Forum Boarium in 204.
Leptis Magna
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Rome
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Portraits
The Roman portrait in the third century was one of the most significant art forms of the period. The artists, now free from the constraints linked to the Hellenistic tradition, implemented expressive characteristics into physiognomic portraits in marble and bronze.[citation needed] From this new style of portrait one could infer the socio-economic situation, and the difficulties of life faced by farmers soldiers.[citation needed]
The imperial portraits are fundamental, from which the main artistic currents of the time can be outlined. The chronology of the most important works is:
Also important are some portraits of empresses, including that of the influential Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and patron of Syrian artists in Rome, and that of Sallustia Orbiana, wife of Severus Alexander.
Typical of the time is the "engraving" process, with small superficial chisel strokes that draw the short hair and the hair of the beard, which was neither fashionable nor shaved, but kept short with scissors. These technical devices were frequent in Rome, though less often seen in the eastern provinces.[citation needed]
Monumental sarcophagi are also very representative of the artistic methods in use during the period. In Rome, there are various specimens imported from Asia Minor, while works of Roman manufacture were exported to the western provinces. One of the best known works of this period is the Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus, where the figure of the young commander on horseback was recognized as Hostilian.[citation needed] Typical is the production of sarcophagi with lion hunting scenes, datable between 220 and 270, added to the recent stoic concept of life as a militia.[citation needed] Other types are instead linked to the Cult of Dionysus adorned with symbolism that alludes to regeneration after death, just crushed grapes or wine.[citation needed]
Indicative of the moral thinking of individuals of the time are sarcophagi where the deceased are depicted as philosophers or muses. From these representations, born in a context strongly anchored to paganism, evolved the typologies of crypto-Christian sarcophagi of the end of the third century.[citation needed] Figures representing Christ and the apostles were depicted.
Reliefs
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There are few remaining paintings from the period, and dates can only hypothesized. The best studied examples are the Fayum mummy portraits, dated from the late 1st century BC or the early 1st century AD onwards. It is not clear when their production ended, but recent research suggests the middle of the 3rd century.
Notes
Bibliography
(in Italian)Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli & Mario Torelli, L'arte dell'antichità classica, Etruria-Roma, Utet, Torino 1976.
(in Italian) Pierluigi De Vecchi & Elda Cerchiari, I tempi dell'arte, volume 1, Bompiani, Milano 1999
The Severan dynasty was an Ancient Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus, who rose to power after the Year of the Five Emperors as the victor of the civil war of 193–197, and his wife, Julia Domna. After the short reigns and assassinations of their two sons, Caracalla and Geta, who succeeded their father in the government of the empire, Julia Domna's relatives themselves assumed power by raising Elagabalus and then Severus Alexander to the imperial office.
The 3rd century was the period from AD 201 to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.
Year 235 (CCXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Quintianus. The denomination 235 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The 230s decade ran from January 1, 230, to December 31, 239.
The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascension of Diocletian and his implementation of reforms in 284.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known by his nickname Caracalla, was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Proclaimed co-ruler by his father in 198, he reigned jointly with his brother Geta, co-emperor from 209, after their father's death in 211. His brother was murdered by the Praetorian Guard later that year under orders from Caracalla, who then reigned afterwards as sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Caracalla found administration to be mundane, leaving those responsibilities to his mother. Caracalla's reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.
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Gordian II was Roman emperor with his father Gordian I in 238 AD, the Year of the Six Emperors. Seeking to overthrow Maximinus Thrax, he died in battle outside Carthage. Since he died before his father, Gordian II had the shortest reign of any Roman emperor, at 22 days.
Publius Septimius Geta was Roman emperor with his father Septimius Severus and older brother Caracalla from 209, when he was named Augustus like his brother, who had held the title from 198. Severus died in 211, and although he intended for his sons to rule together, they proved incapable of sharing power, culminating with the murder of Geta in December of that year.
Legio II Parthica was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 197 by the emperor Septimius Severus, for his campaign against the Parthian Empire, hence the cognomenParthica. The legion was still active in the beginning of the 5th century. The legion's symbol was a centaur.
Julia Avita Mamaea or Julia Mamaea was a Christian Syrian noble woman and member of the Severan dynasty. She was the mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus and remained one of his chief advisors throughout his reign. She was killed in 235 by rebel soldiers alongside her son.
Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus was Roman emperor with Balbinus for 99 days in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary texts he is referred to by his cognomen "Maximus" rather than by his second nomen Pupienus.
Herodian or Herodianus of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch", was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not considered entirely reliable, although his less biased account of Elagabalus may be more useful than that of Cassius Dio. Herodian himself may have been a Syrian, though he appears to have lived for a considerable period of time in Rome, possibly without holding any public office. From his extant work, it seems that he was still living at an advanced age during the reign of Gordianus III, who ascended the throne in 238. Beyond this, nothing is known of his life.
The Arch of Septimius Severus at the northwestern end of the Roman Forum is a white marble triumphal arch dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the two campaigns against the Parthians of 194-195 and 197–199. After the death of Septimius Severus, his sons Caracalla and Geta were initially joint emperors. Caracalla had Geta assassinated in 212; in the practice now known as damnatio memoriae, Geta's memorials were destroyed and all images or mentions of him were removed from public buildings and monuments. Accordingly, Geta's image and inscriptions referring to him were removed from the arch.
The Severan Tondo or Berlin Tondo from c. 200 AD is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting from Classical Antiquity, depicting the first two generations of the imperial Severan dynasty, whose members ruled the Roman Empire in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. It depicts the Roman emperor Septimius Severus with his wife, the augusta Julia Domna, and their two sons and co-augusti Caracalla and Geta. The face of one of the two brothers has been deliberately erased, very likely as part of damnatio memoriae.
Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus was an officer of the Roman Imperial government in the first half of the 3rd century. Most likely of Oriental-Greek origins, he was a Roman citizen, probably of equestrian rank.
The Battle at the Harzhorn took place in the early 3rd century between Germanic and Roman troops near the Harzhorn hill between the towns of Kalefeld and Bad Gandersheim, in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany.
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The Arch of Septimius Severus is a triumphal arch in the ruined Roman city of Leptis Magna, in present-day Libya. It was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, who was born in the city. The arch was in ruins but was pieced back together by archaeologists after its discovery in 1928.
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