![]() ![]() Power is very rarely limited to the pure exercise of brute force. Jás Elsner in his recent book Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph, has written: By this he means that there was already a move away from the naturalistic and organic style of the Classical tradition to a more abstract and mechanical style independent of the influence of Christianity. ![]() Ernst Kitzinger has written that art became Medieval before it became Christian. As testified to by the quotation above, images of the Emperor held great power in the Roman World. This transformation in the conception of imperial power is dramatically manifested in imperial images. The idea of the Emperor as the Principate or the first citizen of Rome gave way to the idea of the Emperor as the Dominate or as the absolute and awesome wielder of power. The institution of imperial authority underwent dramatic changes during the period of Late Antiquity. But just as continuity is an important theme, so is transformation. The Byzantine Empire of Justinian and the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne traced their origins back to the Roman Empire of Augustus and his followers. 54Īn important theme in Medieval art is the continuity of the Roman Empire. Elsner, Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph, p. Severian of Gabala, On the “Creation of the World” 5.5, as qtd. For the emperor is only a human being, and he cannot be present everywhere. In every place, in fact in which an official acts, the imperial effigy must be present, so that the emperor may thus confirm what takes place. ![]() Since an emperor cannot be present to all persons, it is necessary to set up the statue of the emperor in law courts, market places, public assemblies, and theatres. ![]()
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