History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman....

Terracotta mural decoration was largely employed by the Romans for the interior and exterior of their buildings, in the form of slabs, ornamented with reliefs, which were placed round the impluvium or on the walls. Sometimes they seem to have formed a sort of hanging “curtain” round the lower edge of the cornice, as the open-work patterns along the edges seem to imply, a method of decoration which we have already met with at Civita Lavinia (Vol. I. p. 101), where also the hanging slabs are bordered with patterns in outline or open-work. But, as also at Civita Lavinia, these slabs seem to have been frequently used as antepagmenta,[2562] being pierced with holes, which imply that they were nailed against the walls. In the Casa dei Cecilii at Tusculum there is evidence that they were used as wall-friezes,[2563] and those found at Pompeii (where they are very rare) also have holes for fastening to walls. It may be to the first-named variety that Festus refers when he speaks of antefixa of fictile work which are affixed to the walls underneath the gutters.[2564] There is also a reference to them in Cicero, who, in writing to Atticus, says, “I entrust to you the bas-reliefs (typos) which I shall insert in the cornice of my little atrium.”[2565]

The slabs are usually about 18 inches long by 9 or more high, and 1 to 2 inches thick; they have nearly all been found at Rome, but specimens are also known from Civita Lavinia, Cervetri, Nemi, Pompeii, and Atri in Picenum.[2566] The British Museum possesses a very fine series, numbering, with fragments, one hundred and sixty, nearly all of which were collected by Mr. Charles Towneley at Rome[2567]; and there is an equally fine collection in the Louvre, which came from Signor Campana, who devoted a large work to the illustration of them.[2568] Other good examples, some of which were found in the Baths of Caracalla, are in the various collections at Rome.[2569]

The reliefs were evidently cast in moulds, as many subjects are repeated over and over again, or at least with only slight differences; moreover, the relief is low, with sharp and definite outlines, such as a mould would produce. Among the British Museum examples a group of Eros, a Satyr, and a Maenad is repeated in three cases (D 520-522), with no variations except in the colouring; another of Dionysos and Satyr three times (D 528-530), with only one small variation. It is evident that in the latter, as in some other cases, the relief had been retouched before baking. Reliefs entirely modelled are of much rarer occurrence, but exhibit considerable artistic feeling and freedom, as in an instance in the British Museum (D 651), which represents the sleeping Endymion; the hair is so fine and deeply cut that it could not possibly have been produced from a mould. The moulds may have been made of various materials—wood, stone, metal, or gypsum, as well as terracotta. Circular holes are left in the slabs for the plugs—usually of lead—by which they were attached to the woodwork or masonry. The clay varies in quality and appearance, being often coarser than that of Greek reliefs, and mixed with coarse sand in order to make it stronger and more durable; in tone it varies from a pale buff to dark reddish-brown. Traces of colouring are often found on the slabs,[2570] and the background in some cases (as B.M. D 577, 623) was coloured a bright blue; the figures, or more often details such as hair, etc., were usually painted red, yellow, purple, or white.

These colours are not fired, as in the earlier terracotta reliefs, but painted in tempera, and their use is entirely conventional. The slabs are ornamented above and below with bands or cornices in the form of egg-and-tongue mouldings, or a system of palmettes and intersecting arches; these are sometimes in low relief on a band, sometimes partly in outline or open-work.

The figures are mostly in low relief, being usually grouped with large flat surfaces between, in the manner of Hellenistic art; in some cases the design is composed in such a way that the whole surface (except the principal figures) is occupied by patterns of scroll-work or foliage, more or less conventional. The compositions are either in the form of narrow friezes, usually with rows of busts or figures of Cupids, or square metope-like groups with two or three figures on a large scale. For the narrower slabs the busts were preferred, owing to the scope they gave for high relief, which better suited the distance from the eye; but this rule is not invariable. The style is, in general, bold and vigorous, and, though essentially architectural, not devoid of dignity and beauty; but it is somewhat conventional, and at times even archaistic.[2571] Those found at Pompeii are usually of remarkably good style, especially the Nereid frieze,[2572] with its rich colouring. These are earlier than the earthquake of A.D. 63, and probably belong to the Augustan period, to which also the majority may be assigned. On one or two names of potters are found, such as Annia Arescusa(na) and M. Antonius Epaphras in the British Museum.[2573]

The subjects on these reliefs cover a very wide field, almost as wide as those on the painted vases, and quite as wide as those on the Roman lamps. In many cases they are doubtless copies of well-known works of art, and may even go back to prototypes of the fifth century, as in the case of a figure of a girl in the British Museum (D 648), or one of Eros, conceived as a full-grown youth, in the Campana collection.[2574] Others, again, present points of comparison with the Hellenistic reliefs, as is the case with that representing the visit of Dionysos to a mortal (B.M. D 531). Lastly, we find in the reliefs, as also on the Arretine vases (below, p. 492), a series of types closely related to the New Attic reliefs, in which it was sought to revive an older style[2575]; among the types borrowed from these originals are Maenads in frenzy or dancing in various attitudes,[2576] and the figures of the four Seasons.[2577] Among those which reflect the character of their time rather than the spirit of Greek art, we have representations of Egyptian landscapes, or Egyptian deities and emblems; scenes from the circus or gladiatorial arena; and quasi-historical subjects, such as triumphs over barbarian enemies. Of mythological subjects, the most popular are Dionysiac scenes or groups; next to these, Apollo, Aphrodite, Eros, and Victory. Heroic legend is represented by the labours of Theseus, Herakles, Perseus, and Jason, and occasional scenes from the Iliad and Odyssey.

Lastly, there are a certain number which are purely decorative, with a single figure of Eros or Victory (treated in archaistic fashion), or an ideal head surrounded by elaborate and graceful scrolls or acanthus foliage; others, again, have conventional groups of two priestesses or canephori, with a candelabrum or a foliated pattern between (Plate LXII.), a mask between two Cupids, and so on. Even the figures in some cases tail off into conventional patterns.[2578]

To mention a few of the more interesting subjects in detail, it may suffice to quote examples from the two best-known collections—those of the British Museum and Louvre. Beginning with the Olympian deities, we have the infant Zeus in the cave on Mount Ida, protected by the Curetes, who dance above him, wielding swords and shields (Plate LXI.); in one instance he is in his nurse’s arms.[2579] On a narrow frieze the busts of Zeus, Ares, Hera, and Athena are represented[2580]; Apollo receives a libation from Victory,[2581] or a warrior consults his oracle, indicated by a bird in a cage[2582]; Aphrodite is seen riding on a sea-horse or on a goose.[2583] Eros or Cupid appears in various attitudes and combinations of figures: flying, embracing Psyche, or being embraced by a Satyr; accompanying Aphrodite, Triton, and the Nereids; a pair on either side of a mask of Triton or Medusa; or a group of three struggling under the weight of a heavy garland of fruit and flowers.[2584] Busts or masks of Demeter,[2585] Zeus Ammon, and Triton are also found; a group of Aphrodite and Peitho; and the three Eleusinian deities, Demeter, Persephone, and Iacchos.[2586]

The Dionysiac scenes are very frequent, though often of little interest, and mere groups without definite action. The best known is the reception of Dionysos in the house of a mortal,[2587] a subject formerly interpreted as his reception by Ikarios at Athens (cf. p. 139); this type is remarkable for its rich and elaborate composition, probably derived from a Hellenistic original. A very effective composition is that of a dancing Satyr and Maenad swinging the infant Dionysos in a λίκνον (vannus) or winnowing-van, which serves as his cradle (Plate LXII.).[2588] Among other scenes may be mentioned Dionysos giving drink to a panther; two Satyrs standing on tiptoe to peep into a laver; Satyrs gathering or pressing grapes (of which many replicas exist), or working an oil-press; Ampelos (the personified vine) between two Satyrs[2589]; Bacchic processions, sacrifices, or ceremonies[2590]; and friezes of Bacchic masks and masks of Pan.[2591]

Among other deities Victory is by far the most common. She is usually represented slaying a bull for sacrifice, a subject of which there are two principal varieties, according as she turns to right or left. The motive is a well-known one, and found in fifth- and fourth-century art, from the balustrade of the Nike temple at Athens onwards.[2592] She is also depicted flying with a wreath, or as a conventional archaistic figure between tendrils and scrolls.[2593] Of the figures of the Seasons we have already spoken; they are characterised by the attributes they carry, as a kid for Spring, corn for Summer, fruit for Autumn, and a hare and boar for Winter. Masks of Medusa, Sirens, and Sphinxes (both male and female) are found in compositions of a decorative character.

Of heroic legends, the rape of the Leukippidae by Castor and Pollux is repeated more than once[2594]; Herakles is seen contending with the Nemean lion, the hydra, and the Cretan bull, and with Apollo for the Delphic tripod[2595]; Theseus raises the rock which discloses his father’s weapons (Plate LXI.), contends with the Marathonian bull, or overcomes a Centaur; Jason builds the Argo, superintended by Athena, and, assisted by Medeia, obtains the golden fleece; Perseus rescues Andromeda, and brings the Medusa’s head to Athena; Aktaeon is slain by his hounds.[2596] The Homeric scenes include Paris carrying off Helen from Sparta (or, as some interpret it, Pelops with Hippodameia); Nestor healing the wounded Machaon with a potion[2597]; Priam bringing offerings to Achilles; Penelope mourning for the absent Odysseus; Odysseus recognised by Eurykleia; and Orestes on the Delphic omphalos.[2598] There are also numerous semi-mythical scenes, such as combats between Amazons and Gryphons, between Amazons and Greeks, or between Arimaspi and Gryphons.[2599]

With the exception of the Roman subjects from the circus and arena, the remaining subjects are purely decorative, and of little interest; the former, some of which have reference to the conquest of Dacia, admit of the dating of the reliefs in the reign of Trajan. Others depict gladiators contending with lions; chariots racing in the circus, which is indicated by the obelisks and other adornments of the spina; or colonnades adorned with statues of boxers and victorious athletes.[2600] Some of the Egyptian subjects are interesting for their local colouring, with their representations of the Nile, on which pygmies ply a boat, among hippopotami, crocodiles, and lotos-flowers, and ibises[2601]; but these compositions are more curious than artistically effective.