I LOVE ancient Roman culture. The art, the architecture, the cities and gods... ALL of it fascinates me. :) I have a test in my Roman Art class on Tuesday.. it's what I'm currently studying for. I just got done reading a particularly, um, interesting article by scholar John Clarke about erotic art in ancient Pompeii. If you've never heard about it, or read about it, or at least seen pictures about it, GO DO IT NOW!! It's a very cool topic. You just have to view it from an ancient Roman's perspective... you can't put ancient Roman art into our modern context.. 'cause then you're gonna think that they paint the walls of their homes with porn. Not the case.
This is the Roman god Priapus. Notice his particularly large phallus. He was the god of fertility and prosperity, and in the fresco here, from the House of the Vettii at Pompeii, he's weighing his member against a bag of gold, emphasizing that it's "worth its weight" in gold... signifying its importance. Also notice the basket of fruit at his feet, a symbol that he wishes great bounty and harvest to his people, so that they can prosper. To the ancient Romans, "erotic art" was a symbol of status. Nothing more... nothing less. Also, this particular painting being a good example of this, it was a symbol of good blessings and good luck. Not so bad when you look at it this way, right?
ANYways.. now that you've had your art history lesson for the day, ha ha, I'd better get back to studying. Got lots to read and not a lot of time to memorize it!
- Allison -
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