The Evolution Of Portraiture

Evolution of Portraiture (1st century-5th)

Some of the most beautiful portraits trace back to the Roman Empire. The Roman pieces of portraitures that have been discovered are mostly sculptures, but they aren't just basic sculptures they're massive and insanely impressive to be made over 2000 years ago. The Romans sculpted and painted what was actually there which was a new thing following the Greeks who would portray themselves as only youthful and attractive. For example the piece Head of an Old Man created by Osimo in the mid-first century depicts exactly what it’s title. The sculpture captures every wrinkle and crease in the man's skin it's not exactly the most attractive face but what’s insane in the attention to detail Osimo put into
With the example of the Portrait of Constantine , the first Christian emperor created in 330 CE, there’s a noticeable style change. His eyes are big and cartoon like unlike before in the Bust of Caracalla, also a Roman emperor created in 217 CE. With the sculpture of Caracalla He looks lifelike and like he is really staring at you. The same style as constantine carries on to the earliest depictions of Christ. In the catacombs of Rome Christ was seen everywhere, he was definitely associated with death, but the images are so stylized, it's to the point where you can recognize it’s a human but it doesn't compare to the lifelike early Roman Sculptures. The same style that Constantine was depicted in can be seen in the piece Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ all the characters are big eyed, big head, detailed hair but everything else is just a little bit more simplistic. These carry into the Mosaics every early christian church had, they all feature the same kind of eye as constantine, they are composed out of several little pieces of glass, may have been easier to just continue with that style using those