Images & Art

FRAGMENT OF A MIXING BOWL

From Tarentum Mid-4th century B.C. Martin von Wagner Museum Wurzberg Acroderia or ornamental figures adorn the roof above the center and the two ends of the pediment. Mask like faces cover the tile ends along the gutter of the roof. A dentil ornament is above the architrave. The porch ceiling is coffered. This shard of pottery gives a clear indica...

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CHAIR AND SMALL TABLE

Vase painting 475-450 B.C. Torno Collection, Milan In the klismos, the classic chair, the legs swing outward and the back swings upward in a continuous line. Early in the fifth century the leg has no foot. A broad horizontal slat is added to the top of the back which encircles the shoulders. The three legs of the small table curve in the same line...

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CARVED WOODEN TABLE

Found at Luxor 2nd or 3rd century B.C. Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels A Hellenistic three-legged table, one of the four pieces of Greek furniture to survive. It has carved antelope legs, ending with the heads of swans as they come out of acanthus leaves....

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OPUS TESTACEUM

Forum Romanum Rome In opus testaceum the cement is faced with triangular bricks, about one and one-half inches thick. There are other much used facings....

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THE VARVAKEION STATUETTE

Roman copy after Phidias' Athena Parthenos National Museum, Athens This is an inadequate Roman miniature of Phidias's immense and extravagantly rich statue of the goddess Athena. The cost of building the Parthenon, the propylaea and other buildings on the Acropolis was 2,012 talents. The statue of Athena alone cost 700 talents. About fifty feet ta...

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DIONE AND APHRODITE

Parthenon, East Pediment Acropolis, Athens 437-432 B.C. British Museum, London Two of the three so-called Fates. These breathtaking female figures are sometimes identified as Dione and Aphrodite, the goddesses....

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SERVIAN WALL

Rome 390 B.C. Part of the ancient sixth century wall which surrounded Rome at the foot of the Aventine Hill, this section was erected in 390 B.C. The arch, a later addition, is from the second or first century B.C....

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TEMPLE OF MARS ULTOR

Forum of Augustus Rome 2 B.C. Dedicated by Augustus to Mars the Avenger for the death of Caesar's assassins, the Temple of Mars Ultor was a very large temple with Corinthian columns fifty-eight feet high. The marble-faced steps and three large columns survive....

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BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE

Forum Romanum Rome 312-327 The Roman barrel vault reaches its highest expression in the Basilica of Constantine. Begun by Maxentius in 306-310, the building was completed by Constantine in 312-337. Three huge vaults on the north side remain. Each is pierced by six large windows which bring light into the building (though the center bay was closed ...

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BATHS IN THE FORUM

Ostia 2nd century In the baths at Ostia an entire wall is used for windows. The Romans invented an inexpensive way to manufacture glass....

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