View source for Verism

{{Short description|Artistic style of portraiture in ancient Rome}}
{{About|artistic preference|artistic movement|Verismo}}
[[File:Head old Roman Glyptothek Munich 320.jpg|thumb|Portrait bust of a man, Ancient Rome, 60 BC]]
'''Verism''' was a [[Realism (arts)|realistic]] style in [[Roman art]]. It principally occurred in portraiture of politicians, whose imperfections of the face were exacerbated in order to highlight their old age and ''[[gravitas]]''. The word comes from [[Latin]] ''verus'' (true).
==Roman art==
Verism first appeared as the artistic preference of the Roman people during the late [[Roman Republic]] (147–30 BC) and was often used for Republican portraits or for the head of “[[pseudo-athlete]]” sculptures. Verism, often described as "warts and all," shows the imperfections of the subject, such as warts, wrinkles, and furrows. It should be clearly noted that the term veristic in no way implies that these portraits are more "real." Rather, they too can be highly exaggerated or idealised, but within a different visual idiom, one which favours wrinkles, furrows, and signs of age as indicators of gravity and authority. Age during the Late Republic was very highly valued and was synonymous with power, since one of the only ways to hold power in Roman society was to be part of the [[Roman Senate|Senate]].<ref name=smith1981>''Greek, Foreigners, And Roman Republic Portraits'', Cambridge Journals: The Journal of Roman Studies, 1981</ref>{{rp|37}}[[File:General de Tivoli (Massimo) 01.JPG|thumbnail|left|General de Tivoli, pseudo-athlete with veristic head, ca. 90-70 BC, Tivoli]]It is debated among scholars and art historians whether these veristic portraits were truly blunt records of actual features or exaggerated features designed to make a statement about a person's personality.<ref name="kleiner2010">''A History of Roman Art'', Enhanced Edition, Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning, Boston, 2010</ref>{{rp|54}}  It is widely held in academia that in the ancient world [[physiognomy]] revealed the character of a person; thus, the personality characteristics seen in veristic busts could be taken to express certain virtues very much admired during the Republic.<ref name="kleiner2010" />{{rp|54}} However, scholars can never know for certain the accuracy of portrait renditions made long before their own era.
==Verism throughout the Roman Empire==
Verism first appeared during the Late Republic. The subjects of veristic portraiture were almost exclusively men, and these men were usually of advanced age, for generally it was elders who held power in the Republic.<ref name=kleiner2010 />{{rp|53}} However, women are also seen in veristic portraiture, though to a lesser extent, and they too were almost always depicted as elderly.<ref name=kleiner2010 />{{rp|53}} A key example of this is a marble head found at Palombara, Spain. Carved between 40 BC and 30 BC, during the decade of the [[Liberators' civil war|civil war]] that followed Julius Caesar's assassination, the woman's face shows her advanced age.<ref name=kleiner2010 />{{rp|54}} The artist carved the woman with sunken cheeks and pouches under her eyes to illustrate her age, much like male veristic portraiture of the time.<ref name=kleiner2010 />{{rp|54}}
Verism, while the height of fashion during the Late Republican era, quickly fell into obscurity when [[Augustus]] and the rest of the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]] (44 BC-68 AD) came to power. During this imperial reign, Greek [[Classical sculpture]] that featured "eternal youth" was favored over verism. It wasn't until after the suicide of [[Nero]] in 68 AD that verism was revived.
[[File:Vespasianus01 pushkin.jpg|thumbnail|right|Bust of Vespasian, ca. 75-79]]During the [[Year of the Four Emperors]] (68-69 AD) that resulted from Nero's suicide, when [[Galba]], [[Vitellius]], and [[Otho]] all grappled for the throne, verism made a resurgence, as seen in obverse portraits of Galba on bronze coins or marble busts of Vitellius. When [[Vespasian]] and his sons came to the throne the [[Flavian dynasty]] harnessed verism as a source of propaganda. Scholars believe that Vespasian used the shift from the Classical style to that of veristic portraiture to send a visual propagandistic message distinguishing him from the previous emperor. Vespasian's portraits showed him as an older, serious, and unpretentious man who was in every respect the anti-Nero: a career military officer concerned not for his own pleasure but for the welfare of the Roman people, the security of the Empire, and the solvency of the treasury.<ref name="kleiner2010" />{{rp|123}} Like the Romans from the Late Republic, Vespasian used veristic busts to underscore traditional values as a way to indicate to the Roman people a connection to the Republic.<ref name="kleiner2010" />{{rp|123}} With this reminder of the Late Republic, many Roman citizens were likely put at ease, knowing Vespasian was truly not like the previous emperor Nero, who represented everything the Republic abhorred. Yet after the Flavian period verism again faded into obscurity.
[[File:Galba.jpg|thumbnail|left|Obverse portrait of Galba, AD 68-69, Roman Mint]]
==Verism in academia==
Veristic portraits of the late Republic hold a special fascination for classical art historians. Romans had inherited the use of sculpted marble heads from the Greeks but they did not inherit the veristic style from them. To scholars verism is uniquely Roman. Scholars have put forth multiple theories as to what or who were the precursors to Republican portraiture. Yet what is important to note is that there is not one single accepted theory of the origin of verism. The question of veristic style remains to this day essentially open and unresolved. Each theory, while plausible in its own way, will require further research and adequate consideration among scholars.
=== Italic heads theory ===
Scholars believe the ancient [[Italic peoples]] had an inclination to veristic representation leading to influence on later Roman art.<ref name="Richter, p. 39">Richter, ''The Origin of Verism in Roman Portraits'', p. 39.</ref> From a central Italian provenance in ancient times tribes from this area used [[Terracotta]] and [[Bronze]] to make a somewhat realistic portrayal of the human head.<ref name="smith1981" />{{rp|30}} Yet the ‘Italic’ heads, as they are called, are not seriously considered to be a favorable or strong theory held among scholars as being forerunners to the Republican portraits.<ref name="Richter, p. 39"/> Scholars note that none of the realistic looking specimens can be shown to be earlier than the arrival of the new wave of Greek influence, rather than vice versa.<ref name="smith1981" />{{rp|30}}
=== Etruscan cinerary urns theory ===
[[File:IMG 1075 - Perugia - Museo archeologico - Urna etrusca - 7 ago 2006 - Foto G. Dall'Orto2.jpg|thumbnail|right|Etruscan cinerary urn, c. 150-100 BC]]
Scholars debate whether the heads of reclining figures on [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] cinerary urns are the forebears to Republican portraiture.<ref name="smith1981" />{{rp|30}} It was traditional, and very common in [[Etruscan art]], to provide a naturalistic look to figures. Many cinerary urns are realistic-looking, or at least have harshly-treated faces.<ref name="smith1981" />{{rp|30}} Scholars debate whether the realistic-looking style of the figures' heads was a native creation which influenced the Romans, or whether the Romans influenced [[Etruria]].<ref name="smith1981" />{{rp|31}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kleiner |first=Diana E. E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25050500 |title=Roman sculpture |date=1992 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-04631-6 |location=New Haven |pages=33-34 |oclc=25050500}}</ref> The issues relating to chronological time casts doubts as to the accuracy of the theory.
=== Etruscan death mask theory ===
Some scholars consider the ancient Roman custom of making wax portraits, a.k.a. funerary or [[death mask]]s of their ancestors as a convincing source for the veristic style. H. Drerup argues that death masks molded straight from the face were used early in Rome, and exerted a ‘direct influence’ on Republican portraits.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|31}} Yet research has cast doubt on this theory. None of the funerary masks date from before the 1st century AD. Evidence suggests that the ancestral funerary masks merely kept pace with contemporary portraits in the round.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|31}} Chronology seems to be an issue with supporting the theory.
[[File:Face of a child-MGR Lyon-IMG 9850.jpg|thumbnail|left|Roman funerary mask of a child]]
=== Egyptian influence theory ===
Scholars debate whether Egyptian influence started Roman verism. A group of portraits in hard [[Stone quarries of ancient Egypt|Egyptian stone]] from the Roman [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] show a harsh realism that is similarly seen in Republican portraits.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|32}} Scholars believe the Egyptian portraits began to be made before the Republican portraits and strongly influenced the Romans into establishing the veristic style when Egyptian priests and cults came into contact with Italy and Greece.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|32}} Although this theory like the others has merit, lack of concrete dating of this certain Egyptian style makes scholars doubt the creditability. Suggested stylistic dates often fluctuate by two or three centuries leaving scholars with no solid evidence for when the style of harshly realistic [[Portraiture in Ancient Egypt|Egyptian portraiture]] begun.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|31}} Historians also note Romans did not have extensive military or commercial contact with [[Egypt]] before 30 BC, which was after the Late Republic when verism was being used on portraiture.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|32}} Scholars conclude that it is unlikely that Egyptian portraits influenced the Republican style.
=== Hellenistic culture theory ===
Another theory presented to scholars in classical academia suggests that verism came about from Greek reactions to the conquering Romans. The theory goes that Romans in the Republic privately cherished the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic culture]] yet still held onto Republic values.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|34}} This interest leaked similar portrayals seen in the more realistic Hellenistic royal portraits of the [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontic]] and [[Bactria]]n kings of the first half of the 2nd century BC, such as the slight turn of their heads and upward glance of the eyes, into Roman veristic busts.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|34}} As Rome conquered Greece the empire saw an influx of talented Greek artists who were commissioned by the Romans to create their portraits that portrayed both the [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic look]] and Republic values. Greek artists notoriously portrayed foreigners in an unfavorable light as a result of Greek attitudes of superiority.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|35}} For the Romans the Greeks found them not only to be foreigners, yet to be increasingly pompous and unlikeable oppressors.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|35}} Greek artists were little concerned to put the sitter's case favorably and portrayed Romans with an unsympathetic likeness.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|35}} As a result, the Greek artist would maintain the Hellenistic ‘pathos formula’ – turn of the head and neck, eyes looking upward – but the Greek sculptor, rather than adapt the Roman's features to a Hellenistic ruler ideal, had concentrated on bringing out an air of caricature to the face leading to what scholars call veristic portraiture.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|36}}
Some scholars refute this theory as being the cause of verism. Scholars doubt that Romans would not have been angered by the caricature like portrayal given to them by the Greeks. Many question why the Romans did not punish the Greeks for this obvious slight. Yet scholars who are in favor of this theory state that the Romans simply didn't care for this over realistic portrayal. The Republic values of that time favored the straightforward and honest Roman citizen who did not need the deceits of art, but instead should be portrayed as they were, without artifice, for this would best bring out their Republican values.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|37}} As a result, some art historians, like [[R. R. R. Smith]], believe verism originated from the negative Greek attitudes, if not somewhat unconscious attitudes, the artists felt towards these particular foreign clients, which was allowed to work itself into the Roman portraits because the artists had been freed from the usual obligation to flatter and idealized the sitter and instead allowed to sculpt without artifice.<ref name=smith1981 />{{rp|38}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{wiktionary|verism}}
[[Category:Artistic techniques]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman art]]