God, goddesses, and rulers alike all have a different way they want to be represented. It’s the creator’s artistic freedom to depict their statues how they believe their audience sees these higher powers. When considering the bust of Commodus as Hercules and the portrait head of Caracalla we are able to see two different representations of these higher powers.
When initially looking at the bust of Commodus as Hercules I saw a lot of vanity. Commodus was known to be particularly proud of his physique. The way they show his muscular form holding the apples and weapon depicts this. The weapon is what I can only conclude is what he used to kill the lion that he wears as a headdress. Commodus was incredibly vein he thought of himself as a reincarnation of Hercules. I’m guessing that’s a servant kneeling down to Hercules, which also shows how vain this statue is. It shows that people would bow to Hercules. Hercules’s face also brings interest to me because it’s the same face most Godley statues have, and it makes him seem so peaceful and detached from what’s going on in the world around him.
The portrait head of Caracalla has fewer aspects to evaluate than the bust of Commodus. It is simply his head. No bust to see his muscles, no added aspects that would depict him in anyway. It’s simply his face, and a stern one at that. By just representing his head we experience more emotion in his facial features. His stern glance off into the sky depicts a sort of power and determination. The line and detail in this statue is incredible and definitely represents a strong figure. Caracalla is the emperor remembered as unpleasant mostly because of the massacres and persecutions he instigated throughout his Empire.
When comparing the two statues its hard to compare the full bust. We can only compare the emotion the statues portray. It’s clear that Commodus as Hercules wanted to represent his power over all those below him, and the vanity of his body. Caracalla represents determination and strength through his facial features and distinct lines. I think Commodus, as Hercules is a statue that as an audience we look at to worship whereas Caracalla is a statue that we look upon and respect what it was he did. Each statue represents a different leader. Each leader represents a different achievement or triumph. The background behind both these men is what gives these statues more emotion. After knowing that Commodus was incredibly vein his statue as Hercules makes more sense in that it shows many aspects of vanity. Caracalla was notorious for his lack of caring and this marble portrait shows this emotion to use. I will always be a strong believer in understanding art better with the history behind it rather than my own interpretation of the piece.
Hi! I see that you included an image of a slightly different portrait of Caracalla than the one that I assigned. This portrait also focuses on Caracalla as an intimidating ruler, however.
ReplyDeleteCaracalla was a very ruthless leader. Although he was smarter than Commodus in some ways, he was also dangerous. Caracalla murdered his brother Getta so that he would gain sole control of the empire. The story gets worse: Caracalla not only murdered his brother, he decided to murder his brother in front of their mother. Basically, Caracalla wanted to send his mother (who favored the Getta as a successor) the message, "Don't mess with me!" I think Caracalla's portrait sums up that idea as well.
-Prof. Bowen
Caracalla and unpleasant? I definitely agree with you on that one! When I was comparing these statues it was hard to come across different ideas but when you look at the emotion in each piece, it all comes together. I think you have some great points, you explained yourself well and it makes me understand the pieces a little better. Learning the background from each statues absolutely gives the pieces a bit more understanding!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Caracalla is a bit plain, especially when held up against the Commodus as Hercules. There is detail in the make of his face and facial feature and shadowing, but the Hercules contains added on details and pieces to get the message across. In a way the Caracalla is more significant in that it can get its message across without much detail, whereas the Hercules needed extra details to describe its message.
ReplyDeleteThe Caracalla does come off less appealing to me compared to the Hercules. Though the Caracalla is clearly well sculpted and the shadowing is incredible. The Hercules just has more to look at and gives the viewer a chance to think more in depth about the different aspects and meaning behind the piece.
ReplyDeleteSeems like you took to the two art pieces differently than I did. Though being different you gave a lot of description in how you came to your conclusions. You gave a bit of proof in how you described and included a little bit of history with it also to further add to your answer. Though there were differences I did find some similarities in our conclusion but not too much, just the basics as Commodus as Hercules being good, nice and portrait head of Caracalla being mean and intimidating.
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