Plate questions 1983, 1992, 1998

This is a magnificent altar surrounded by a screen which is highly decorated with sculptured reliefs on both the interior and the exterior.  It highlights one of the major functions of the works of art and architecture which we see on this course: art being used for altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] to glorify the achievements of Rome and of particular Romans.

 

Date:               altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] 13 BC, construction complete 9 BC

Type:               Art: altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] sculptures

altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?]:            6.1m  (Campbell says 7m)

altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?]:           East /West (front and back) 10.5m

                        North/South (sides)                 11.6m

Material:        

TUFA                            (the altar itself)       
TRAVERTINE               (foundations, platform and pavement)
CARRARA altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] (superstructure)

 

Tufa is a local altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] conglomerate rock and a general purpose stone.

Travertine is a form of altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?]. It is more durable than volcanic stone and takes a strong edge and sharp detail far better.

Carrara marble is altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] and came from quarries at Carrara, 350km north of Rome

Location:        On the Campus Martius (Field of altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?]) in northern Rome

Restored:       to current appearance and site in the 1930s by altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?].

 

Why was the altar built?

1. It was awarded by the altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] to honour Augustus and to commemorate his return to Rome, as a gesture of public thanks. This was in lieu of triumphal honours normally celebrated by a victorious general.  From 16 to 13BC Augustus had been supervising the altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] of the western Roman provinces of Spain and altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?].

When Augustus had emerged as a sole ruler after 29BC, he had refused to accept triumphal honours which were offered him.  Therefore the Senate found other ways officially to celebrate his return to Rome, and this altar was one of them.

2. It was used as a focus for an annual altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] to give thanks for peace.

3. It was an enduring instrument of altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] symbolising a new age of peace, prosperity and fertility.

 

Precedent for the form

There was an ‘Altar of Pity’ with surrounding screen walls in Athens in the 5th century BC.  It was situated in the ‘agora’, which is Greek for ‘marketplace or forum’.

Precedent for the decoration

There is a similarity between the altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] on the North and South walls of the Ara Pacis Augustae and the Panathenaic procession on the Parthenon, on the Acropolis in Athens.  They are different however in that the Roman procession represents a specific occasion, while the Greek one is a generalised procession and the Roman people are personalised and real, whereas the Greeks are formalised and ideal.

The craftsmanship of the Ara Pacis Augustae is Greek, as is the concept of an important civil and religious procession. altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] deliberately allows himself and his family to be linked with the greatness of 5th century Athens.

 

Description

The structure is an altar enclosed by a altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] wall.  The north and south walls of the screen are full walls and the east and west walls have openings midway.  The entrance is from the west up altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] steps leading to the level of the base of the screen.  A further altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] steps lead up to the altarAugustusDedicatedGaulHeightLengthlimestoneMARBLE MarsMussolinipacificationprocessionspropagandareliefsacrificescreenSenatetenthreevolcanicwhite[?] itself.