Commodus was an emperor who was not known to be very strong in political background or intellectual levels. Instead of focusing on ruling the empire his attention was turned toward luxury and items for enjoyment. Commodus’s passion for luxurious items led him to fund some of the best artist of his time. Commodus claimed to be Hercules reincarnation along with the incarnation of Jupiter. And with his belief of being the reincarnation of Hercules he had an artist create a marble statue of him posing as Hercules.
The emperor Caracalla is depicted in his portraits as a “fierce” and “courageous” ruler working to secure the Roman Empire. For this piece the sculptor create the piece out of marble using techniques of different lighting shades to show more emphasis on expression. The book describes him as a “no nonsense ruler of iron fisted determination…and glare of fierce intensity.”
The Hercules statue shows Commodus’s vanity and self-perception as full of himself. And the portrait or Caracalla shows his bold strength and power trip perspective. These rulers want to show their strength and to create fear in the viewer. Both statues are shown to have power, control, and “fierceness.” I feel that these rulers were really into themselves and felt that they were above all others and they should be viewed as so.
You have some interesting ideas. How do you think that Commodus conveys "fierceness?" Is it through the lion's skin and reference to Hercules?
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I definitely agree with you when you say that Caracalla seems fierce, his eyes tell it all. Both statues in my opinion are very strong and I'd have to say that both emperors seem full of themselves. You have interesting ideas that I didn't think of before!
ReplyDeleteEven it is short, I really enjoyed your blog. I agree with your idea that Commodus wanted to hide his lack of ability so he used lion skin things for looking powerful. Actually I like Caracalla sculpture more than Commodus one. Because Caracalla sculpture looks impressive by using details, lights and shades. Anyway I guess two of ruler wanted to show their power through the sculptures.
ReplyDeleteI like how the lion is over Commodus's head. I feel could could mean that he is a lion and is strong and powerful. With out seeing the lions hands folded i would have though the lion was eating him. I got the impression that if you can kill a lion you were considered very strong.
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