Images & Art

SHOP FRONTS

Market of Trajan Rome c. 100-112 On the second level, facing the forum, is an arcade of shops....

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PERISTYLE

Palace of Diocletian Split c. 300 The peristyle is a ceremonial courtyard in front of the main residential entrance. The arches lead directly to the entrance-way. This is in the form of a triumphal arch capped with a temple pediment. The entire design enhances the lofty and solemn powers of the imperial throne....

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PONT DU GARD

Nîmes Late 1st century B.C. The familiar aqueduct provided water throughout the Empire. The three-tiered Pont du Gard transported water in its upper channel or specus for more than twenty-five miles. In building the 160-foot high aqueduct, no mortar was used in the masonry....

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CENTRAL PASSAGEWAY

Great Hypostyle Hall Temple of Amon, Karnak Dynasty XIX, 1318-1237 B.C. The central aisle of the great hypostyle hall at Karnak. It is lined on each side with six enormous columns seventy-eight feet high with lotus-blossom capitals. The passageway continues directly along the east-west axis....

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PYLON OF RAMESSES II

Temple of Amon, Luxor Dynasty XIX, c. 1250 B.C. One of the original two obelisks in front of the pylon (the second was taken in the nineteenth century to the Place de la Concorde, Paris). Colossal statues of Ramesses II flank the entrance. The reliefs and hieroglyphics have mostly worn away....

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COLOSSI OF MEMNON

Western Thebes Dynasty XVIII, c. 1360 B.C. Egyptian sculpture is as monumental as its architecture. These two sculptures, each carved out of a single block of stone, are about seventy feet high. They represent Amenhotep III and were placed at the entrance to his mortuary temple. Notice the small figure of his wife on the left-hand statue; his mot...

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CELLA FRIEZE

Temple of Apollo Sosianus Rome c. 20 B.C. An elaborately carved scene and leaf pattern from the interior cella wall....

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TOMB OF THE BAKER EURYSACES

Rome 40-30 B.C. For this baker's tomb, the cylinders are typical bread ovens and the frieze depicts stages in bread making. Plebeian art was typical at the close of the Republic and at the beginning of the Empire....

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THRONE WITH TURNED LEGS

From a wall painting in a Villa at Boscoreale Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Roman furniture is largely based on Greek models. In many instances, it is hard to tell if a piece is Roman or Hellenistic. But there are variations and some original forms. In this throne of a woman playing the kithara, the form is predominantly Greek, though the m...

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COUCH

Courtship of Venus and Mars House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto Pompeii c. 30 Venus sits on a covered klismos with curved legs, her feet on a footstool. The high couch dominates the picture. Mattress and pillow are covered. The pillow is supported by a scrolled headpiece....

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