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Severan art is art production by theRoman Empire under theSeveran dynasty, usually taken as running from 193 to 235, through the emperorsSeptimius Severus,Caracalla,Heliogabalus andAlexander Severus. Official Roman art of the military anarchy which followed, ending in 253 withGallienus, has no character of its own and so can be seen as a continuation of Severan art, and so that art can be seen as running for the whole first half of the 3rd century.[citation needed]
In this period began the process that ended in the rupture between Roman art and that ofLate Antiquity, the watershed between classical art and that ofByzantium andthe Middle Ages.[citation needed] Some of Severan art's products saw the emergence of obvious elements fromplebeian art andprovincial art, whilst in other areas traditionallyHellenistic elements were kept alive longer, such as in portraiture, which flourished in this period with masterpieces of great psychological depth.[citation needed]
The most important works in Severan art were theArch of Septimus Severus in the Roman Forum (erected for the Parthian triumph of 203); the Forum, the basilica and theArch of Leptis Magna, the birthplace of the emperor (completed by 216); and theArcus Argentariorum in Rome, erected in honor of the emperor by the bankers of theForum Boarium in 204.
TheRoman portrait in the third century was one of the most significant art forms of the period. The artists, now free from the constraints linked to the Hellenistic tradition, implemented expressive characteristics intophysiognomic portraits in marble and bronze.[citation needed] From this new style of portrait one could infer the socio-economic situation, and the difficulties of life faced by farmers soldiers.[citation needed]
The imperial portraits are fundamental, from which the main artistic currents of the time can be outlined. The chronology of the most important works is:
Also important are some portraits of empresses, including that of the influentialJulia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus and patron of Syrian artists in Rome, and that ofSallustia Orbiana, wife ofSeverus Alexander.
Typical of the time is the "engraving" process, with small superficial chisel strokes that draw the short hair and the hair of the beard, which was neither fashionable nor shaved, but kept short with scissors. These technical devices were frequent in Rome, though less often seen in the eastern provinces.[citation needed]
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Monumental sarcophagi are also very representative of the artistic methods in use during the period. In Rome, there are various specimens imported from Asia Minor, while works of Roman manufacture were exported to the western provinces. One of the best known works of this period is theLudovisi Battle sarcophagus, where the figure of the young commander on horseback was recognized asHostilian.[citation needed] Typical is the production of sarcophagi with lion hunting scenes, datable between 220 and 270, added to the recent stoic concept of life as a militia.[citation needed] Other types are instead linked to theCult of Dionysus adorned with symbolism that alludes to regeneration after death, just crushed grapes or wine.[citation needed]
Indicative of the moral thinking of individuals of the time are sarcophagi where the deceased are depicted as philosophers or muses. From these representations, born in a context strongly anchored to paganism, evolved the typologies ofcrypto-Christian sarcophagi of the end of the third century.[citation needed] Figures representing Christ and the apostles were depicted.
In Rome, in the wake of the fire of 191, Septimius Severus instituted a new phase of construction: theTemple of Peace, theHorrea Piperiana, and thePorticus Octaviae were rebuilt; a wing was added to the imperial palace on thePalatine Hill, with a new monumental facade towards theVia Appia; and theSeptizodium, the arch of Septimius Severus and theBaths of Caracalla were raised. It is likely that theTemple of Serapis was rebuilt by the Severans.
