Roman Republican art
In the Republican period at least three artistic moments can be distinguished: the first as a continuation of archaic culture, where production in the city did not manifest any stylistic characteristic of its own; a second linked to the conquest of Greece and the arrival of huge spoils of works of art; and a third phase starting during the reign of Sulla, when specifically Roman artworks began to appear.
Some references on the coins and on contemporary finds of Tarquinia, Chiusi, Perugia, and Volterra allow us to make hypotheses on the appearance of these statues.
In the second century BC, for example, the Senate arranged for the demolition of a newly constructed stone theater "as a useless and harmful thing to our customs".
[1] A unique example of sculpture of superior production and craftsmanship is the Capitoline Brutus, the object of numerous dating hypotheses ranging from the 4th to the 1st century BC.
Iam nimis multos audio Corinthi et Athenarum ornamenta laudantes mirantesque et antefixa fictilia deorum Romanorum ridentes.
Ego hos malo propitios deos et ita spero futuros, si in suis manere sedibus patiemur.
The capture of Syracuse in 212 BC was decisive, following which Marcus Claudius Marcellus brought back a huge number of Greek works of art to Rome.
Even then there were those who reproached Marcellus "for having filled with idleness and chatter and for having led to urban discussion of art and artists [...] those people accustomed to fighting and cultivating the fields, avoiding any softness and frivolity.".
[4] Subsequently, after the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, Rome would cement itself as a powerful force in the Mediterranean leading to opportunities to import Greek art that were continuous and frequent.
They themselves, as Cicero testifies in the Verrine, had a certain modesty in publicly confessing their appreciation for art, knowing that society viewed it negatively.
The controversy on the subject focused on contrasting positions of the Scipionic Circle, open to Hellenic cultural suggestions, and the conservatism of Cato and his followers.
Naturally, after the huge influx of foreign art in Rome, coming from different schools and referring to very different periods, a certain amount of time was needed to assimilate and begin to understand these artistic legacies.
It has been hypothesized that Fabius' decoration was of a narrative and historical nature, and that Republican painting with scenes from the Samnite Wars in the Esquiline Necropolis could be derived from these works.
After Sulla rose to power in 92 BC, Rome saw the most remarkable innovations in architecture, wall painting, and in the formation of realistic portraiture.
During the reign of Sulla, the traditional wooden structures with Etruscan terracotta cladding or stuccoed tuff gave way to buildings built of travertine or other limestone.
Wax masks would be cast from the family member while they were still living, which made for hyper-realistic visual representations of the individual literally lifted from their face.
These masks served as a sort of family track record, and could get the descendants positions and perks,[6] similar to a child of two alumni attending their alma mater.
Republican Rome embraced imperfection in portraiture because, though there were different levels of power each class of society had, everybody had little insecurities, this type of untouched physical representation fostered a sense of community by implying that while there were existing inequalities, that did not change the fact that they were Romans.
This period is defined by a Roman painting style called Pompeian, named such due to the studies of the conspicuous finds of Pompeii.
