The History of Art And The Curious Lives of Famous Painters
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Search:: Artists Alphabetically Artists by Country Artists by Century Artists by Movement The Roman Painting StyleThe Roman Style Romans painters concentrated on murals and
were masters of trompe-l'oeil effects. Their houses were small and the
rooms tended to be dark and with a single small window. Roman
murals favored rich red backgrounds and often used gold and silver leaf
to give the walls some razzle dazzle. Decoration was lavish and tended
to be somewhat gaudy, usually to show the wealth and status of the
family. According to noted historian, Hendrik van Loon "The Romans, like their Carthaginian rivals, were too busy administering other people and making money to have much love for “useless and unprofitable” adventures of the spirit. They conquered the world and built roads and bridges but they borrowed their art wholesale from the Greeks. They invented certain practical forms of architecture which answered the demands of their day and age. But their statues and their histories and their mosaics and their poems were mere Latin imi- tations of Greek originals. Without that vague and hard-to- define something which the world calls “personality,” there can be no art and the Roman world distrusted that particular sort of personality. The Empire needed efficient soldiers and tradesmen. The business of writing poetry or making pictures was left to foreigners." Roman painting Techniques and Formula Roman artists created their masterpieces using homemade pigments. Pigments were made according to ancient Greek recipes. Artists used many different ingredients to achieve the desired colors, including burnt apple seeds, pulverized semiprecious stones such as lapis lazuli, charcoal, animal and human bones, naturally occurring earth pigments such celadonite and chlorite, pomegranate juice and ground up ibulio beetles. Each artist mixing up his own a batch to use as needed. Egg
tempera is a radiant, semi-translucent paint that dries almost
immediately. The process of setting up the paint was time
consuming and technical. The artist used 1 egg, 1 tsp. raw
olive oil, a few drops if vinegar added to ground pigment.
The process to make just one color took about 30 minutes. Brushes were
made from squirrel hair, hogs bristle and cat whiskers. Classical Roman paintings mainly survived in cities that were buried under the volcanic ash thus preserving the art. Require more facts and information about the painter and the artists of the renaissance era? Poke around every nook and cranny of the known universe for information this subject. Search Here © HistoryofPainters.com If you like this page and wish to share it, you are welcome to link to it, with our thanks. |