art

For my project I looked into ancient roman art and the type of art work the ancient roman people did and enjoyed. One of the most popular artwork at the time would have been a mosaic. A tip of artwork where they would place small colored tiles to make one larger piece of artwork. It would usually be artwork of nature, people, or animals. Mostly nature the Latin artwork would have lots of detail because of all the small colored pieces that they put into them.

The treatment of animals generally in the Empire was a direct reflection of ancient Roman culture and traditions. The Romans were especially fascinated with wild animals. They liked looking at them, marveling at their strangeness, watching them perform tricks - and watching them being hunted and killed. Wolves, bears, wild boar, deer and goats were native to Rome and other animals were introduced following conquests abroad. Elephants, leopards, lions, ostriches and parrots were imported in the 1st Century B.C. followed by the hippopotamus, rhinoceros, camel and giraffe.Most mosaics were laid on the floor.


 
They form one of the most well-preserved and widespread types of Roman art, found throughout the Roman Empire from Britain and Spain in the west to Jordan and northern Mesopotamia in the east. They were used in public buildings such as Roman baths and marketplaces and, in late antiquity, in places of worship such as synagogues and churches. The majority of mosaics, however, decorated private buildings, both large city houses and villas in the countryside or by the sea. Mosaics were a costly and time-consuming addition to a property, although they would thereafter require little maintenance and could be expected to last a lifetime. Because of the heavy initial investment, considerable care and attention was paid to creating designs that were attractive and appropriate, both to the owner and to the setting.