Art History

NameProfessorArt History Course14 November 2007Augustus of PrimaportaThe statute Augustus of Primaporta depicts the popish emperor Octavian son and inheritor of Julius Caesar and defeater of Mark Antony and Cleopatra Created circa 20 C .E , and found in the domicil of Octavian s wife Livia at Primaporta , this marble statue today stands in the Musei Vaticani in Rome (Janson 2007b 191 . Measuring 6 feet 8 inches in elevation , and perhaps a copy of a bronze from about 20 BCE , the Augustus of Primaporta depicts Octavian as an ageless youth as did totally statues of Octavian until his death in his late seventies (Janson 2007b 191 Based on the bronze Doryphoros ( spear bearer ) by Polykleitos , which depicts a dead harmonious and balanced male athletic body in contrapposto (hips tilted such that one leg seems to be woful while the other stands still ) supported by a tree stump , the Augustus of Primaporta presents Octavian Augustus in a heroic , idealized contrapposto form (Janson 2007a 121 . Smooth-faced Octavian is shown in this statue wearing battle harness , with his arm raised in a movement of phone in to signify his claim to authority (Janson 2007b 192 This orator s gesture had been adapted from a nonher historical statue the first century BCE Aulus Metellus , a bronze statue depicting an orator that today can be seen in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence (Stokstad 197 . Next to his right ankle , a small Cupid (also known as Eros , the son of genus Venus ) can be seen playing with a dolphin This cupid is not merely decorative , but alternatively serves as a strut to strengthen the statue (Janson 2007b 192The statute contains many symbolic references to Octavian Augustus s claims to magnate . His divine claims to power are represented through several(prenominal) visual references .

To begin with , like the Egyptians and Greeks before him , and many Roman emperors after , Augustus statue represents him as being enveloped in an air of theological system (Janson 2007a 121 . The statue s generally matinee idollike appearance is augmented by Octavian s plain feet , which are the mark of a god , and the Cupid , which represents the descent of the Julian family (of which Augustus was part ) from Venus through Aeneas , his Trojan ancestor (Janson 2007b 192 . His earthlike claims to power are displayed through references to his military and diplomatic victories . The dolphin represents his earthly claim to power by evoking the sea at Actium where Octavian Augustus defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra and ended 100 years of genteel war in the Roman Republic (Janson 2007b 192 , Lodge 1 . Augustus breastplate , which depicts an allegory in which either Tiberius or the god Mars accepting Roman standards from a Parthian soldier , recalls his diplomatic victory over the Parthians in 20 BCE , when he was able to negotiate the return of some Roman legionnaire standards that had been captured in 53 and 36 BCE (Janson 2007a 122 . Finally , his orator s jell symbolizes his ability to rule by reason and persuasion , rather than...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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