Antique painting, fresco. Fresco and mosaic compositions Fresco and mosaic compositions of Rome

In ancient Rome, mosaics were widely used to decorate the interiors of public buildings and private houses. The demand for it was very high, so the quality could be different.

The mosaic was made from natural stone...

Or smalt - colored glass.

Unlike Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and other ancient civilizations, in Ancient Rome, as well as in Ancient Greece, the three-dimensional principle of the image was used.

In ancient Roman painting, including mosaics, almost all genres are used.
The most popular were mythological and everyday genres.

Odysseus. Mosaic from the House of Odysseus and Dionysus in Dougga. 3rd century

This mosaic can be attributed both to the everyday genre and to the group portrait.

Philosophers. Mosaic from the Naples Archaeological Museum.

The historical genre is much rarer, but what a quality!


Battle of Ise. Pompeii.

Portraits, especially those of women, are often idealized.

Still life is one of the most popular genres. Seafood is especially loved.

II century. Museum of the Vatican.

Roman artists depicted birds and animals very often.
They are always recognizable and very expressive.
Mosaic from the Naples Archaeological Museum.

Mosaic paintings were often surrounded by a wide ornamental frame.
Mosaic from the British Museum.

Ornamental mosaics proper were also not uncommon. The variety of ornaments is amazing.

The most vivid idea of ​​the nature of ancient Roman painting is given by mosaics and frescoes. Unfortunately, much has been lost or come down to us in fragments. Nevertheless, ancient Roman painting amazes the viewer with the splendor of decorative compositions, the richness of plots, the variety of artistic techniques, the development of aerial perspective, and the detailed image of the human environment. Favorite subjects of painting are associated with mythology, Homeric poems and images of battles and triumphs. The main features of the paintings of that time are the immediacy of perception of the surrounding world and the desire to show a real person, his inner world and physical beauty.
The frescoes found in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, cities that ceased to exist as a result of an earthquake and the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, are still amazing. e. The technique of their performance is magnificent, the richest color palette, virtuosity glazing(applying thin and transparent layers of paint), lightness, sketchiness and swiftness of the drawing, careful thoughtfulness of the compositions. A layer of soil with the finest marble dust was applied to the wall plane six times. The paints were made from carefully ground semi-precious stones and fragments of blue and green glass. All this made it possible to protect the frescoes from cracking and provided their surfaces with the brightest shine. Multi-layer glazing gave the images airiness and transparency. The subsequent polishing and coating of the frescoes with a thin layer of wax with the addition of olive oil protected the paints from fading. Time has clearly proved the justification of such a technique for creating frescoes.
On the Villa of the Mysteries built in the first half of the 2nd c. BC e. in the suburbs Pompey(reconstructed c. 60 BC), magnificent examples of fresco painting have been preserved. Their main treasure is the frieze of the hall of the Mysteries, which depicts figures as tall as human beings. United in groups, 29 participants of the holiday dedicated to the god Bacchus move in a ritual action. Their clear silhouettes effectively stand out against the bright red background of the walls. In addition to mythological characters, participants in the mysteries pass before the viewer. Here is a graceful dancer with a percussion instrument in her hands. She is shown in an intricate dance move, the golden yellow scarf slung over her shoulder, perfectly matching the pinkish golden tone of her body. Nearby is a kneeling girl, crouching at the feet of a seated woman. Although the content of the murals, the meaning of individual figures and the sequence of their movement still conceal many mysteries for researchers, the skill of their execution is indisputable and undeniable.
In fresco paintings, landscape sketches are increasingly common: parks, gardens, harbors, winding river banks. With great skill, the artists managed to convey the world of animals and birds, genre and everyday scenes. Still lifes with fruit are exquisitely beautiful: soft light gently touches the velvety surface of peaches in a glass vase. Reflections of sunlight perfectly convey the fragility and transparency of the glass, and the dark green leaves of a fancifully curved branch contrast with the overall composition.
A characteristic feature of fresco paintings is the desire to destroy the existing barrier between the internal space of an architectural structure and the outside world. A good example confirming this feature of ancient Roman painting is fresco "Spring" from the city of Stabiae near Pompeii. The girl, symbolizing spring, as if floating through the air, moves away from the viewer into the depths of space, breathing coolness and freshness. In her left hand she holds a cornucopia, and with her right she gently touches a flower. Her golden-yellow cape, brown hair and pink tone of her bare shoulders harmonize wonderfully with the bright green background of the flowering meadow. The joy caused by the arrival of spring, the warm spring sun, the fragrance of blossoming nature permeates the entire pictorial composition.
Less famous and Roman mosaics. This art was already known in ancient Greece: the Greeks called mosaics images dedicated to the Muses. As the muses are eternal, so should these compositions be eternal, so they were not written with paint, but were collected from pieces of colored stone, and then from specially welded glass - smalt. They depict wandering actors, inhabitants of the seabed, fighting roosters, a cat with a partridge in its teeth. The art of decorative decoration of palaces and villas of the nobility reached perfection in ancient Rome.
Well known Pompeian copy mosaics "Battle of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius III". It captures the decisive moment of the battle of two armies at Issus (Northern Syria, 333 BC), when King Darius, pursued by Alexander, takes to flight. In the foreground is the war chariot of Darius, who is depicted in a high headdress, with a bow in his left hand. His charioteer whips horses galloping right over the bodies of the wounded and killed. A fearless horseman rushed towards Darius, piercing the body of the enemy with a spear. This is Alexander the Great - his eyes are burning passionately, his thick hair is scattered randomly in the heat of battle, his face is full of energy and determination.
Unfortunately, part of Alexander's figure has been lost. In a mosaic covering an area of ​​15m 2 , made of one and a half million smalt cubes, the artist was able to expressively and emotionally convey the individual features of the main characters and the general atmosphere of the battle.
In the IV-V centuries. the collapse of the Roman Empire occurred. Rome, destroyed and plundered by the barbarians, has lost its former greatness. But the traditions of ancient Roman art were not destined to disappear: in the Middle Ages, in the Renaissance and classicism, they inspired the masters of artistic creativity.

"History of Ancient Greece and Rome" - The conquests of Alexander the Great. Greco-Persian Wars. Sparta. Primary sources on the history of early Christianity. Establishment of the dominance system in the Roman Empire. The emergence of Christianity. The social structure of Greece. Hellenism. Greek influence on the cultural life of Rome. Introduction to antiquity. History of antiquity.

"Ancient civilizations of Europe" - The origin of ancient civilization. Alphabetical letter. Moral consciousness. Ancient civilization. Classic slavery. Hellenistic civilization. Politic system of values. Ancient civilizations of Europe. Hellenism is a holistic culture. Culture. The rise of ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Roman civilization.

"Ancient Civilization" - Craftsmen and merchants played an important role in the economic life of the ancient policy. Antiquity. Ancient economic system. So, there was no condition for the emergence of despotism. Ancient civilization was formed in the Mediterranean. The formation of a slave economy. Technological sphere of antiquity.

"Antique polis" - Athenian strategist Pericles. Roman dictators. People's Assembly. Chronology. Octavian August. Gaius Julius Caesar August. Ancient Greece. decline. Ancient Rome. Periodization of the history of Ancient Greece. Roman Empire of the Dominant Period. Areopagus. Cleopatra VII. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. Stages of development of the Byzantine Empire.

"Mycenae and Troy" - Mycenae. Mycenae and Troy. Why did Icarus die? Treasures of the Mycenaean kings. Thread of Ariadne. Speech by troops from ancient Mycenae. Card. City of Mycenae. Trojan War. Labyrinth. Artemis. Clay tablets. Troy. Reconstruction of the royal palace at Mycenae. Hero's name. Dagger from the royal tomb. Big Island.

"Aegean culture" - Crete. Adjoining rooms. Monuments of funerary art. Aegean Cycladic sculpture. Knossos palace. Goddess. Mycenae. Cretan art. The image of the "Parisian". Aegean culture. Masterpieces of Aegean architecture. Ritual fight with a bull. Antique culture. The vases were painted in bright colors. Main entrance.

In total there are 17 presentations in the topic

Picturesque art is represented mainly by frescoes and mosaics of Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum. "Famous Art" called painting by a scientist and writer of the 1st century. n. e. Pliny the Elder. Unfortunately, much has been lost or has come down in fragments. Nevertheless, ancient Roman painting amazes the viewer with the splendor of decorative compositions, the richness of subjects, the variety of artistic techniques, the development of aerial perspective, and the detailed image of the human environment. Favorite subjects of painting are associated with mythology, Homeric poems and images of battles and triumphs. The picturesque works of that time amaze with the immediacy of the perception of the surrounding world, the desire to show a real person, his inner world and physical beauty.

AT Villa of the Mysteries in the suburbs Pompey the famous frescoes have been preserved. On the walls in the natural growth of a person are 29 participants in the holiday dedicated to the god Bacchus. They are united in groups, their clear silhouettes effectively stand out against the red background of the walls. In addition to mythological characters, participants in the mysteries pass before the viewer. Here is a graceful dancer with a percussion instrument in her hands. She is shown in an intricate dance move, the golden yellow scarf slung over her shoulder, perfectly matching the pinkish golden tone of her body. Nearby is a kneeling girl, crouching at the feet of a seated woman.

In fresco paintings, landscape sketches are increasingly common: parks, gardens, harbors, winding river banks. With great skill, the artists manage to convey the world of animals and birds, genre and everyday scenes.

Still lifes with fruit are exquisitely beautiful: soft light gently touches the velvety surface of peaches in a glass vase. Reflections of sunlight perfectly convey the subtlety and transparency of the glass, and the dark green leaves of a fancifully curved branch contrast with the overall composition.

A characteristic feature of fresco paintings is the desire to destroy the existing barrier between the internal space of an architectural structure and the outside world. A clear example confirming this feature of Roman painting is

Spring. Fresco from the city of Stabiae near Pompeii. 1st century

is fresco "Spring" from the city of Stabiae, near Pompeii. The girl, symbolizing spring, moves away from the viewer into the depths of space, breathing coolness and freshness. In her left hand she holds a cornucopia, and with her right she gently touches a flower rising from the ground. Her golden-yellow cape, brown hair and pink tone of her bare shoulders harmonize wonderfully with the bright green background of the flowering meadow. The joy associated with the arrival of spring, with the warm spring sun, the fragrance of blooming nature, the feeling of lightness of the girl’s movements, as if floating through the air, permeate the entire pictorial composition.

No less famous are the Roman mosaics. The art of mosaic was known in ancient Greece: the Greeks called mosaics paintings dedicated to the Muses. As the muses are eternal, so these paintings should be eternal, and therefore they were not painted with paint, but were collected from pieces of colored stone, and then from pieces of specially welded glass - smalt. The art of decorative decoration of palaces and villas of the nobility reached perfection in ancient Rome. Mosaics in Rome, Pompeii, Stabia and Herculaneum are especially well preserved. They depict wandering actors, the seabed, fighting roosters, cats with a partridge in their teeth.

The battle of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius III. Mosaic. About 100 BC. e. Copy. National Archaeological Museum, Naples

well known copy mosaic painting "Battle of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius III". It captures the decisive moment of the battle of two armies at Issus (Northern Syria, 333 BC), when the Persian king Darius, pursued by Alexander, takes to flight. In the foreground is the war chariot of Darius III, who is depicted in a high headdress, with a bow in his left hand. His charioteer whips horses galloping right over the bodies of the wounded and killed. A fearless horseman rushes towards Darius, piercing the body of the enemy with a spear. This is Alexander the Great - his eyes are burning passionately, his thick hair is scattered randomly in the heat of battle, his face is full of energy and determination.

Unfortunately, part of Alexander's figure has been lost. In a mosaic covering an area of ​​15 m 2 , made of one and a half million smalt cubes, the artist was able to expressively and emotionally convey the individual features of the main characters and the general atmosphere of a military battle.

antique fresco

The term "fresco" comes from the Italian expression "a fresco" - writing on damp, still fresh limestone soil with paints (pigments) diluted with water or paint.

Of course, the concept of fresco painting existed even before the era of antiquity. For example, during the period of the Aegean culture (which was the 2nd millennium BC), fresco painting was already widely used. But still, each era usually brings something of its own to art. So it is with antique frescoes.

In ancient Greece, lime plaster was used in several layers with a surface smoothed to a shine to finish the exterior and interior walls of structures. From the Greeks, the Romans adopted the custom of painting walls on plaster, and later there was a wall painting on freshly laid mortar, which was called in udo (“on damp”). To prevent the appearance of cracks, a small amount of water was introduced into the solutions, and the layers were compacted during application. The strength of the coating was achieved by adding milk, crushed bricks, pumice and, in rare cases, hemp, straw.

Applying plaster in several layers made it possible to slow down the process of its drying, and, consequently, to increase the time of work on a damp surface. Animal glue, pure lime and its mixtures with casein, egg white, and glue were used as a binder.

The tradition of using picturesque wall "tricks" is rooted in ancient Greece and Rome. A trouble-free tool when it is necessary to visually expand the boundaries of a room is a fresco, which allows you to create the desired interior without breaking walls and without demolishing the roof. The frescoes depicted make-believe but realistic-looking hyper-realistic views of landscapes. They were perceived more than naturally, which misled anyone contemplating them. It seemed that the distant distances drawn were nothing more than a continuation of the room. And it does not end with a wall, but rushes into virtual spaces. If not one, but several walls of the interior were landscape - there was a feeling of immense spaciousness.

Mosaic in antiquity

Mosaic is an arts and crafts and monumental art of different genres, the works of which involve the formation of an image by arranging, setting and fixing on the surface (usually on a plane) multi-colored stones, smalt, ceramic tiles and other materials.

The first antique mosaics made of raw pebbles were found in Corinth and dated to the end. 5th c. BC e. These are contour images of people, animals, mythological creatures, decorated with geometric and floral ornaments, usually made in white on black, stylistically similar to red-figure vase painting.

The heyday of ancient mosaics falls on the Hellenistic era, when the technique of splitting stones appeared and colored glass became available, which made it possible to achieve picturesque realism of images and use an almost unlimited color gamut.

In ancient Rome, floors and walls of villas, palaces and baths were laid out with mosaics. Roman mosaics were made from small cubes of very dense glass - smalt, but it was not uncommon to use small stones and pebbles.

In ancient times, mosaics were ubiquitous. This was due to the fact that the type of this decorative art was relatively inexpensive. At that time, mosaic was the most durable type of flooring for walls, paths, facades, because there was an abundance of small stone, pebbles, crushed stone from crumbling rocks, that is, there was an abundance of material for mosaics compared to other finishing materials. Ceramics had just begun to develop at this time, and making tiles from huge monolithic stones was very laborious and expensive. This type of finish, like the wood of the Apennines and Greece, was not very reliable and hardy. The technology of erecting megalithic structures has already become a thing of the past. That is, the mosaic at that time became the most convenient and common way of finishing.

After a while, the picturesque possibilities of the barbaricum technique (pebbles) have practically exhausted themselves. Mosaic artists switched to using crushed minerals. This led to the invention of new techniques.

The technique of inlaid mosaic from fragmented pieces of stone was named opus tesselatum (opus tesselatum) after the initial element - a cubic stone - tessera. At first, tesserae appeared in the mosaic quite randomly and mainly in pebble pavings, then, as the technology and technique of working with tessellated mosaics were mastered and its pictorial merits were realized, fragments or separate sections of the mosaic began to be assembled from tesserae.

Over time, artists stop using rounded pebble stones in their mosaics, improving and complicating the drawing itself. The seams between the elements of the mosaic become smaller and the surface of the pattern, the pattern is polished. The technique of opus tesselatum (opus tesselatum) is the mosaic that we are used to seeing and perceiving as classics of Roman mosaic. To make the mosaic more vivid and picturesque, the use of colored smalts helped. The discovery of glass technologies enriched mosaic artists with new possibilities for using color and light reflections.

The development of new technologies has led to the creation of a new technique - opus vermiculatum (opus vermiculatum). This technique is close to tessellated mosaic and is undoubtedly a derivative of it. The set principle common to both techniques was retained, but the set was made from elements that were almost an order of magnitude smaller, and the possibilities for transferring pictorial effects are incomparable with any other type of mosaic art. The labor intensity of the "vermiculatum" technique inevitably imposes certain restrictions on the size of the work, however, this technique was used to create artistic mosaics-pictures, mosaics-illustrations, which became masterpieces of the monumental and decorative art of Ancient Rome.

The most memorable works that were made in this technique can be considered such works of mosaic art as "Doves on a bowl" from Hadrian's Villa in Tibur, "Hunting Scene" in Piazza della Vittoria in Panorma (Palermo) in Sicily, "Tiger Rider" (end of the 2nd century BC), "Inhabitants of the Deep" from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, two mosaics by Dioscurus of Samos from the villa of Cicero in Pompeii - "Breakfast of Women" and "Musicians".

The technique of opus vermiculatum (opus vermiculatum) is more painstaking and expensive than opus tesselatum (opus tesselatum), so the size of the work, as a rule, was no more than one or two square meters. But still, some of the mosaic artists managed to create works that exceed these dimensions. At least two such mosaics were found, these are the "Battle of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius" from the house of the Faun in Pompeii, (5.12 * 2.71 m.) And the "Nile landscape" in the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Palestrina ( 5.85 * 4.31 m.), end of II - beginning of I century BC.

Approximately in the III century BC. another paving technique was born - opus sectile (opus sectile. This most prestigious and expensive mosaic set adorned the most majestic premises, both church and secular. This technique is a mosaic set of thin plates of natural stone carved in a special form (later they were carried out and from other materials), the main advantage of which was the manifestation of the internal structure of the material and a significant expansion of the color palette. "Opus sectile" is a distant progenitor of what we today call the Florentine mosaic.

Antique mosaic. classical greece

Pebble flooring was also common in Greece of the archaic era (8-6 centuries BC): pebble floors have been preserved in the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta and the temple of Athena Pronoia in Delphi (7-6 centuries BC) , however, it was just paving without ornamentation.

The earliest Greek mosaic with a pattern was found in Corinth and belongs to the classical era - the end of the 5th century. BC e.

The question of the connection between Phrygian mosaics and Greek mosaics is debatable, however, scientists tend to conclude that the development of Greek mosaic art was independent.

A mosaic panel from Corinth depicts a wheel framed by three rows of borders: from triangles, a meander and a wave - ornamental motifs that have become a kind of graphic symbols of Greek culture. In the corners of the square in which the images are inscribed are the figures of a centaur chasing a leopard and a donkey.

The figures are depicted on the panel contour in profile, without any attempts to give them volume, in two colors (white on black).

The coloristic principle “white on black” was formed under the influence of the art of vase painting, in which, just at that time, red-figure painting was replacing black-figure painting. The iconography of many plot scenes is also borrowed from the vase painting.

Greek mosaics 5th c. also preserved in Olynthus, in the Peloponnese, in Attica, Euboea.

If in the archaic era pebble decoration was distributed mainly in temple architecture, then in the era of the late classics, mosaics are found mainly in private interiors. This speaks of the desire of wealthy citizens for elegance and comfort in their homes.

And at this time (8th century BC) in Greece - the era of Homer, the legendary Aed poet, who is credited with the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey. 776 BC e. - the date of the first Olympic Games, begin the history of Greece and antiquity in general.

The solution was found centuries later - in 334 BC. e. the city surrendered to the troops of Alexander, he entered the temple and cut the knot with one movement of the sword.

Although the images are still sketchy, the material is not worth anything, and in itself is simple: even colored pebbles are rarely used, not to mention marble, other rare stones, colored glass and gold, which will appear centuries later, but the mosaic is already then affirmed in its the role of an elite way of decorating, which has not been surpassed so far.

It is found only in a few houses, and in the house itself only the most important rooms in terms of presentation and positioning of the owner of the house in society - androns are decorated with mosaics.

Usually, mosaic panels were arranged according to the following scheme: as a carpet on the floor of the hallway adjacent to the andron, then - a small panel-rug in the doorway, and, finally, a panel in the center of the room.

Since the panel had to have an equal view for all the guests located around, it usually had a centric composition.

Among the pictorial motifs used are stylized plant images of palmette, acanthus leaves, ivy curls, lotus flowers, and an angel's trumpet.

Of the figures - images of a lion, griffin, cheetah, eagle, human figures.

Some motifs of Greek mosaic panels are borrowed from the textile art of the East.

Andron (men's room) - part of the ancient Greek house, intended for men who gathered for symposiums, for conversations and dinners. They were the most beautiful rooms in the house: they were decorated with mosaics, frescoes and statues.

Fayum portraits

These are the best surviving examples of ancient painting. They depict the faces of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt in the Hellenistic and Roman periods in the 1st-3rd centuries AD.

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, the reign of the pharaohs ended. The funerary portrait, a unique art form of its time, flourished in Hellenistic Egypt. Stylistically related to the traditions of Greco-Roman painting, but created for typical Egyptian needs, replacing mummy funerary masks, Fayum portraits are strikingly realistic depictions of men and women of all ages.