Roman Artifacts & ArtWell I came across this website while searching for a specific piece of Roman art and was quite suprised at all of the photos they had. Many of the artifacts I have never seen before and they are really cool. There is one of a lime plaster cast of a Roman mans face and is painted in very realistic style. I am not sure if it is 100% authentic because it looks so well preserved but if it is real I think it is an amazing find. If anything it will be interesting just to look around and check out the pictures. Here is the link:
Roman Artifacts & Art
If the insert link doesn't work above then below is the actual web address:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mharrsc...centuryce/
There's some very nice stuff on there. The idea that they were not skilled artists just doesn't hold up, does it? Beautiful. Thank you!
The plaster mask looks amazingly like Charles Laughton playing Nero in "Sign of the Cross." I wonder if DeMille's makeup people might have seen this? They built Laughton a fake "Roman" nose. The Fayum funerary portraits have long been known for their extreme realism. The artists were probably Greek.
Fabulous images - thank you for the link.
I had read before about how the Romans & Greeks painted their sculptures and they had artists who were completely dedicated to the art of painting statues and making them look as lifelike and realistic as possible. I've seen some Fresco's depicting settings with busts in the background and they are coloured in but it doesn't give you an exact sense of how it would have looked in person. I think that lime plastered painted face is finally a glimpse into what I would expect their colored statues would look like. I think it looks amazing and to know it is from that actual era, to know it was seen by Romans and depicts a person who lived in the Empire to me makes it all the more special and fascinating to look at. That is of course if it is 100% authentic. Hopefully somebody on here will know the backstory if there is one.