Unlike master works of the Hellenistic era in ancient Greece, this statue
fragment reduces emotional freedom and seeks formal and conceptual stability to
communicate a carefully crafted impression about the dictator soon after his
rival, Maxentius, died. It presents him as calm, in control, with a deliberate
focus on the future of his nation-state and in turn concern for its citizens. The
work favors idealism with respectable realism, but the progression towards the
iconic, abstract style that would define western visual expression for the next
several decades is quite evident. His facial features, surfaces, volumes and
masses are simplified, though individual qualities are duplicated.
It’s difficult for me to say if there is any religious content to the statue itself; Constantine is regarded as the first truly Christian emperor but of course his relationship to and timing regarding the young religion was complicated, often times based on political convenience. When it was fully assembled, the statue’s intended location was the apse of the Basilica Nova, which would have simply dominated the entirety of the volume the building encompassed. In addition, Constantine’s majestic appearance would have been amplified because it was draped in bronze. Considering these factors (scale, appearance, location), it’s not unreasonable to assume worship of this representation of Constantine during periods of his absence was a goal of this work’s creation.
Byzantine culture always had a tension between whether or not its parishioners worshiped the scriptures or the images representing them; in this case, idealization and scale create an undeniable break in the accessibility between the man, who it can be argued is rendered as something more than man, and the common person. His sheer size would make anyone feel diminished in the same manner as the spaces spanned by Christian cathedrals. This is more than a portrait.
It’s difficult for me to say if there is any religious content to the statue itself; Constantine is regarded as the first truly Christian emperor but of course his relationship to and timing regarding the young religion was complicated, often times based on political convenience. When it was fully assembled, the statue’s intended location was the apse of the Basilica Nova, which would have simply dominated the entirety of the volume the building encompassed. In addition, Constantine’s majestic appearance would have been amplified because it was draped in bronze. Considering these factors (scale, appearance, location), it’s not unreasonable to assume worship of this representation of Constantine during periods of his absence was a goal of this work’s creation.
Byzantine culture always had a tension between whether or not its parishioners worshiped the scriptures or the images representing them; in this case, idealization and scale create an undeniable break in the accessibility between the man, who it can be argued is rendered as something more than man, and the common person. His sheer size would make anyone feel diminished in the same manner as the spaces spanned by Christian cathedrals. This is more than a portrait.
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