Portrait of Constantine;

View Description

Download

small (250x250 max)

medium (500x500 max)

large ( > 500x500)

Full Resolution

Loading content ...

you wish to report:

Your comment:

Your Name:

Submit

Cancel

...

Rating
Title	Portrait of Constantine;
File Name	civ metadata CID; Civ Archive 007 correct picture; 98300708.jpg
Copyright Status/Owner	Public Domain; Granted
Publisher Original	Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press
Rights (Patron Usage Instructions)	http://www.lib.byu.edu/genericnote_copyright.html
Course	HIST 201
Lecture Number	16
Professor	Wright, David Curtis, 1960-
Description	After his victory over Maxentius, Constantine became the undisputed emperor. He began to commission official portraits that broke with the tetrarchic tradition and the style of solider emperors. Instead, he chose to resurrect the Augustian image of an eternally, youthful ruler. This image depicts a portion of one his most impressive portraits, a colossal statue that originally consisted of a brick core, a wooden torso covered with bronze, and a head and limbs carved from marble. This image shows the preserved 8 and half foot tall monumental head. The seminude portrait was modeled on Roman images of Jupiter, and Constantine held an orb (possibly surmounted with the cross of Christ) as the symbol of global power, in his extended left hand. The nervous glance characteristic of third century portraits is absent, replaced by enormous eyes set in the broad and simple planes of the face. His godlike status is further emphasized by his eyes being directed at no person or think of this world. Rather than capturing Constantine’s personality, this immense representation instead established an image of idealized, eternal authority, appropriate to Constantine’s exalted position as a divine, absolute ruler. This gigantic portrait was originally placed in the western apse of the Basilica Nova in Rome directly across from main entrance. This massive building (300 feet long, 215 feet wide, and 115 high) was a project begun by his predecessor Maxentius, but completed by Constantine after his rival’s death. The statue dominated the interior of the basilica in a manner similar to statues of Greco-Roman divinities who loomed over mortals entering cellas of pagan temples.
Creator	Unknown Artist
Country	Italy
Geographic Region	Europe
Type	Slide
Platform	Cross-Platform
File Size	1091.584 KB
Genre	Sculpture
Category	Politics
Keywords	Constantine; Roman Empire; Christianity; Constantinople;
Time Period	Late Roman Empire/Early Byzantine
Date Range	306 AD: 337 AD
Date Original	ca. 315-330 AD
Date Digital	2005-03-29
Metadata Entry Date	2009-08-11
Quality	High
Contributors	Brigham Young University
Copyright Expiration Date	2005-09-01
Edition	Electronic reproduction;
Format	JPEG
Owning Institution	Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar/ Pallazzo dei Consertavtori, Rome
Physical Description	102 inches high
Publisher Digital	Brigham Young University
Source	Sarah Howarth, Roman People (Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press, 1995), 14; Fred S. Kleiner and Christin J. Mamiya, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 12th ed., vol 1 (Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005), 296.
Use Time	0:00:00

Find results with:

Searching collections:

Home Civilization Portrait of Constantine;

Portrait of Constantine;

Description

Tags

Comments