Roman artisans in Greek Influence
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After the conquest of Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean by Rome, Roman artisans began incorporating the different styles of art from other nations into their artwork, as well as making improvements on techniques and materials used. At this time many sculptors used bronze, for example, instead of marble, and while some kept the grace of the Greeks, others used the reality of the Romans in their replication of lifelike art (Beardsley 92: Boardman 1985 205). Because large statues are more apt to be damaged in catastrophes, however, few bronze statues from this period survive. Most of the studies in bronze that have been done have been on bronze statuettes or figurines, which seemed to have survived in tact more often (Boardman 1985). Whether statue or other type of artwork, however, Snowden (1987) points out that Greek and Roman artists did not stereotype in their artwork at all and were faithful in portraying each subject accurately with a keen eye towards the different body types and facial expressions (3). This paper will describe and discuss a small bronze sculpture, artfully rendered during this later time period and representing someone of African descent. The sculpture to be discussed is a bronze statuette of a young Ethiopian boy who is singing. It was discovered in 1763 in a chest with other Roman artifacts at Chalon-sur-Saone and is currently on display at the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris (Beardsley 97; Boardman 1985). Although it was di
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Evaluation
It is difficult to discern from this statuette if the African boy represented was slave, servant, entertainer, or street performer, or indeed, all four. Whatever the case may be, it is assured that he could have been any of those, and even been all of them. As Rashad (2001) points out, the Romans did not have the same "friendly" relationship with Ethiopians as the Greeks did. They were, in fact, rather romancentric and tended to stereotype and view all conquered peoples as inferior and naturally subordinate to Rome. They did not, however, discriminate between those conquered peoples (1). Rashad (2001) conjectures that this difference between the Greek and Roman attitude is based on the fact that Ethiopians were an integral part of the Greek consciousness and mythology from the beginning (1). The Romans, however, had little contact with Africans before their experience with Hannibal of Carthage, which left them so bitter that they not only burned the seven hundred year old library in Carthage, but salted the fields as well (Rashad 1). Other than that, however, Africans were merely another conquered, if interesting, people (Rashad 1). In addition, it can also be said that "the African in
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Paris Beardsley, Greek Roman, Roman Empire, Rome Roman, Roman Scythian, Severus African, Egypt Africa, Ethiopians Greeks, Hannibal Carthage, Senate Rashad, rashad 1, greek roman, bronze statuette, boardman 1985, roman society, ethiopian boy, beardsley 98, statuette ethiopian boy, african descent, street performer, roman empire, greek roman artists, slave servant entertainer, bronze statuette ethiopian, rashad 1 africans,
Approximate Word count = 1277
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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