Classical Civilisations - Roman Britain

770 Words4 Pages
'To what extent did a distinctive art style emerge during the Roman occupation of Britain?' Following the final arrival of the Romans in Britain, AD43, a distinctive art style emerged, now known as Romano-British, which is a combination of Celtic and Classical art. Celtic art usually avoids direct representation of the human form, e.g. bulging eyes and a drooping mouth along with no use of straight lines, but shapes and wavy lines; where as Classical art is a lot more focused on detail and attempts to create an accurate image of that in question. In this essay I will discuss whether or not this art style is easily recognised and distinct to other art pieces. The first piece of Romano-British art I will be discussing is a 57cm high sculpture of a female head from Towchester, Northamptonshire. This piece of art has mostly Celtic features, such as the large bulging eyes with pupils which are drilled in the centre; the sculpture also has a drooping mouth and low cheeks which also show a Celtic approach. The fact that this sculpture is 57cm high (with no neck attached) makes it a lot larger than life which is a typical Celtic art style. On the other hand, the hair has been separated into strands and there is a jewelled band across it which illustrates a hint of the classical style in this piece. Therefore, these characteristics do show that a distinctive art style emerged in Britain, because there is a clear mix of both art styles, which wouldn't have been mixed in another period of time. The unusual male Gorgon, from the Pediment of the classical style temple of Sulis Minerva, located at Bath, is one of the best known Romano-British sculptures. The Gorgon is thought to represent the female Gorgon Medusa, a Greek myth who had snakes for hair and turned observers into stone, therefore this shield portrait has classical roots. Along with this, the Gorgons

More about Classical Civilisations - Roman Britain

Open Document