Figure 1.--This Roman tombstone was found at in the Turkish town of Amasra, a town in Western Turkey along the Black Sea coast. It dates to about 400 AD. It shows a Roman family, the parents and two children. For information on the tombstone, click on the image. Image courtesy of the Fergusson Image Collection.

Some imagery is available from ancient Rome. There are of course sculptures. Often they do not, however, illustrate clothing. There are also some surviving painting, mostly murals depicting affluent on the walls of surviving villas. Romans living in Egypt also had portraits painted on their mummies. There are also Byzantine ???, but the clothing depictions here are often not detaled. We also notice some grave stones with carvings of interest, although the depections are not very detailed. There are also many modern depictions of Ancient Rome. Here me care has to be taken. While they are often detailed, we are not always sure how accurate they are. We believe that many of the modern images are relatively accurate, in part because there are many surviving written records of Rome which provide us a fairly complete record of Roman clothing.

Sculpture

There are of course sculptures. Often they do not, however, illustrate clothing. Roman sculpture developed significantly after the conquest of Greece was completed in the mid-2nd century BC, especially after 146 BC. Many of the best know Roman sculptures are today either inspired by the Greeks are actual copies of noted Greek works. Many wealthy Romans preferred copies of cklassical Greek works to Roman originals. Roman sculpture did develop. The primary contribution to sculpture was the Roman desire for realism rather than Greek depictions of the ideal. Thus many Roman portrait sculptures are much more true to life than Greek sculpture. Some busts are rather homely depictions. Thus they are especially useful as accurate drepictions of period dress. There are many surviving Roman sculptures, but we know vert little about the sculptors who produced them. There was no concept at the time of art as an expression of an artists estetic sense. Sculptors were artisans serving the needs of their wealthy patrons.

Tombstones

We also notice some grave stones with carvings of interest, although the depections are not very detailed. We note some tombstones with family depictions such as the one seen here (figure 1). We are not sure why the whole family is shown and not just the deceased. The tombstones we have noted are dated to about 400 AD. We do not yet know much about these hreadstones, such as when Romans began producing them. They may be a Christian innovation. One There appear to be quite a number which have survived at many different sites.

Painting

There are also some surviving painting, mostly murals depicting affluent families, depicted on the walls of surviving villas. Romans living in Egypt also had portraits painted on their mummies. A particularly fine example of a Roman boy in Egypt (2th century AD).

Mosaics

There are many beautiful mosacics. This was a specialty of the Byzantines, although many beautiful mosaivs were also produced in the West. The mosaics are, however, commonly not of great value to HBC. The clothing depictions here are often not detaled. Also children are not commonly depicted.

Historical Depictions

There are also many modern historical depictions of Ancient Rome. Here me care has to be taken. While they are often detailed, we are not always sure how accurate they are. We believe that many of the modern images are relatively accurate, in part because there are many surviving written records of Rome which provide us a fairly complete record of Roman clothing. The Renaissance paintings, however, are much more suspect. Renaissance painters often depicted people in contemporary clothing no matter what the historical era.

Sources

Kleiner, Diana E. Roman Sculpture (1994), 489p.