Roman Art and Its Decline: A Study of Ancient Sculpture and Artifacts

Roman Art and Its Degenerations: From Imperial Grandeur to Barbarian Influences

This study examines the distinctive characteristics of Roman art, tracing its origins, its period of splendor under the Empire, and its subsequent degenerations. Through an analysis of sculptures, bronzes, coins, and jewelry exhibited at the Trocadéro, the article highlights the transition from classical realism to the hybrid styles of the Gallo-Roman, Merovingian, and Carolingian periods, revealing how art mirrored the social and political upheavals of the time.

The Roman art contingent at the Trocadéro, though perhaps not as exceptionally valuable as the Greek collection, is nonetheless varied and makes a suitable showing. It provides ample material for observation by professional scholars and discerning amateurs alike, who seek more than the satisfaction of a passing whim from ancient terracottas, marbles, and bronzes. Before reviewing the exhibited objects, however, it is opportune to outline the distinctive characteristics of Roman art, establish its origins, specify the period of its flourishing, and enumerate its principal degenerations.

The Character and Trajectory of Roman Art

Although Roman art is not represented at the Trocadéro by monuments of the same exceptional value and exquisite selection as its elder, Greek art—which Mr. O. Rayet has just rapidly described for us with such delicate and sure taste—it nonetheless makes a respectable appearance. Its varied contingent provides ample material for the observations of professional scholars and even for those of genuine amateurs, who seek in ancient terracottas, marbles, bronzes, cameos, medals, or jewelry something more than the satisfaction of a fleeting fancy or a banal curiosity.

The Spirit and Decline of an Imperial Art

Virgil aptly characterized the social role of the Latin genius in the world—by its nature more inclined to practical realities than to higher aspirations—in a single stroke:

Let others, I believe, hammer out breathing bronzes more softly, and draw living faces from marble... You, Roman, remember to rule the peoples with your empire; these will be your arts: to impose the custom of peace, to spare the conquered, and to crush the proud.¹

Notes

¹ Virgil, *Aeneid*, VI, 848–853. ↑

² Ferdinand de Lasteyrie. ↑

³ Other casts of Roman inscriptions, borrowed from the Musée de Saint-Germain, have been placed in the ground-floor vestibule through the enlightened care of Mr. A. Bertrand. ↑

⁴ See *Mémoires de la Société archéologique de l'Orléanais*, vol. IX. ↑

⁵ We should also point out, in this regard, a bronze standard representing a boar, and a second one showing a free horse, another Gallic symbol, which are in the Spanish section of the anthropological exhibition. These standards are from a very late period and deserve to be studied with care. We bring them to the attention of archaeologists. Having seen them only from a distance, we cannot offer an opinion on their true age. ↑

⁶ *La Verrerie antique: Description de la collection J. Charvet*, by W. Froehner. 30 large folio sheets of text, with numerous wood vignettes, accompanied by 34 separate, hand-colored plates. ↑

⁷ The same museum has also exhibited at the Trocadéro a considerable number of very interesting gold and silver jewels, found in the Danube valley, which have the characteristics proper to those regions, but are foreign to Roman art. Others in gold, of much finer workmanship, belonging to Miss G. Fillon, appear in a display case parallel to that of the treasure of the Museum of Pesth. ↑

⁸ The characters of the inscription are identical to those used on the coins of Geilamir. (Sabatier, pl. XX.) ↑

Roman Art and Its Degenerations: From Imperial Grandeur to Barbarian Influences

The Character and Trajectory of Roman Art

The Spirit and Decline of an Imperial Art

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