0:00:05 > 0:00:09I'm setting out to debunk a myth.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13A myth that's persisted for far too long.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16We all think we know what the Romans were about.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Impressive monuments, a bit like the one behind me.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Pont du Gard aqueduct in southern France,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24which was built more than 2,000 years ago.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28You can see it's an expression of engineering genius.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29A harmonious symbol, if you like,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33of the Romans' mastery over the natural world.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37But when it came to art, so the story goes,
0:00:37 > 0:00:38the Romans didn't have a clue.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43The thing is, the whole idea about the Romans' artistic incompetence
0:00:43 > 0:00:44is a myth.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48To say that the Romans "didn't do art" is just nonsense.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Over the centuries, the Romans transformed art,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and defined the way we view the ancient world.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14The history of Roman art may be the stuff of marble statues,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17but it's anything but set in stone.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Every year exciting discoveries are made that offer fresh insights
0:01:21 > 0:01:24into the artistic achievements of ancient Rome.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30God, that really is special.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34'In this series, we'll unlock the secrets of Roman art.'
0:01:34 > 0:01:38That was a sort of glimpse for me of what it must be like
0:01:38 > 0:01:41to actually discover some of these ancient Roman treasures.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46'We'll show the ingenious techniques they used.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53'It's a journey that will take us from the heart of Rome,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56'to the furthest corners of the empire.'
0:01:58 > 0:02:02But our story begins with the rise of Rome.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07We'll reveal 10 works of art
0:02:07 > 0:02:10which chart the city's transition
0:02:10 > 0:02:14from a pugilistic republic to an empire...
0:02:15 > 0:02:18..and discover how, in forging their identity,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21the Romans invented a new form of art -
0:02:21 > 0:02:23warts and all realism.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29You cannot fathom the nature of ancient Rome
0:02:29 > 0:02:32until you understand the history of Roman art.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05I first fell in love with Roman art as a student
0:03:05 > 0:03:07at the Courtauld Institute in London.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12It always puzzled me that people could be so sniffy
0:03:12 > 0:03:15about the art of ancient Rome.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19It's high time we pruned back all the prejudices and misconceptions.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Roman art's always had a bit of an image problem.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26The thing is, the Romans only had themselves to blame.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Because although in most fields they were massive self-publicists,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32when it came to the visual arts, they had an inferiority complex
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the size of...well, the size of the Coliseum.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40There's a character in Virgil's great epic Roman national poem,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44The Aeneid, who says, "Let others fashion from bronze
0:03:44 > 0:03:48"lifelike breathing images and invoke living faces from marble."
0:03:48 > 0:03:52"But Romans, never forget that government is your medium."
0:03:58 > 0:04:01For 500 years, Rome was a republic
0:04:01 > 0:04:05governed by an aristocratic senate, and a popular assembly.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12And nowhere is its tough-minded, expansive spirit
0:04:12 > 0:04:15more visible than in its art.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Traditionally, the history of Rome begins in 753 BC,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and it all centres upon a charming tale
0:04:27 > 0:04:30concerning a wolf with rather maternal instincts
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and two twin boys, Romulus and Remus.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Now, Romulus ended up killing his brother Remus,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38but we won't get into that.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43The thing is, the image of the wolf suckling the two boys
0:04:43 > 0:04:46can be seen almost everywhere you go in Rome.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48So, in fact, here she is.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52There's Romulus and Remus underneath,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55reaching up towards the teats of the wolf.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58- How much?- 4 euros 15.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59Grazie.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02So if anything really encapsulates Rome,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05it's that wolf with the twin boys.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It's my first treasure of ancient Rome,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15but it's got a guilty secret.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25The Capitoline wolf,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29not only a symbol of Rome's fierce and independent spirit,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34but long been considered the foundation stone of Roman art.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36The boys themselves,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39well, we know that they date from the 15th Century.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43But according to the art historian JJ Winckelmann,
0:05:43 > 0:05:44who, during the 18th Century,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47actually invented the entire discipline of art history,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50the she-wolf dates from the 5th Century BC
0:05:50 > 0:05:56and is typical of Etruscan art, confirming the whole prejudice
0:05:56 > 0:06:01that the Romans had to borrow or steal sophisticated art
0:06:01 > 0:06:03of their Northern neighbours in Etruria.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08The thing is, recent research has thrown up a whole storm
0:06:08 > 0:06:11about the age of the she-wolf, and it turns out
0:06:11 > 0:06:15that she may not be quite as ancient as we've been led to believe.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26To settle the argument,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29the art buffs turn to the science boffins
0:06:29 > 0:06:31at the University of Salento in Brindisi,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35who use the last radiocarbon dating technology
0:06:35 > 0:06:37to discover when the wolf was cast.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Organic samples were taken from the inside of the statue.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48These contain a radioactive isotope called Carbon-14,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51which can be accurately dated using a particle accelerator.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58The results would have had Winckelmann spinning in his grave.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27The Romans are just going to have to get used to the fact that
0:07:27 > 0:07:31their beloved wolf is 1,500 years younger than they thought.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40You know, the whole controversy that surrounds the Capitoline wolf
0:07:40 > 0:07:43is, in a sense, emblematic of Roman art as a whole,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47because we think we know everything there is to know about it,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51we think that there's nothing left to say, but there is, clearly.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54If even the Etruscan Capitoline wolf isn't actually Etruscan,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58then what icons of Roman art can we really trust?
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Well, in fact, there is a more trustworthy work
0:08:06 > 0:08:08of early Roman art in this very museum.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12A bronze head that suggests the Romans weren't a race of dreamers
0:08:12 > 0:08:16in thrall to myth and legend, but down-to-earth hardmen,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19concerned with tough realities like war and business
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and the push and pull of political compromise.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25It's thought to date from the early Republic,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and probably depicts a leading statesman.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33This is one of the most venerable of all Roman busts.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37It's called the Capitoline Brutus, because it was originally named,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40when it was discovered in the 16th century,
0:08:40 > 0:08:41after L. Junius Brutus,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44who was the first consul of the Republic,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46but whoever created this bust
0:08:46 > 0:08:50seems to have really summoned the spirit of his age,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and that points to a degree of sophistication that, I think,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56people often overlook when they think about Roman art.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58It feels like it's the embodiment,
0:08:58 > 0:09:03the concentration of that acquisitive Roman spirit
0:09:03 > 0:09:05that marched out from Rome and conquered,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07eventually, the Mediterranean world.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10That gaze is terrifying. So fierce.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22The Romans had always been a race of warriors,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and the story of the Republic is a litany
0:09:25 > 0:09:27of one conquest after another.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30By the third century BC,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34they'd subjugated first the Italian peninsula,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36then Carthage, Greece and beyond.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42As Rome's generals romped round the Med,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44sacking cities willy-nilly,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47they brought home beautiful works of art,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50like these stunning Hellenistic Greek statues.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57It was the age of plunder, and it earnt the Romans a reputation
0:09:57 > 0:10:02as the art equivalent of simple thieves and common plagiarists.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Of course, the truth is much more complex.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11The Romans subtly adapted the Hellenistic tradition
0:10:11 > 0:10:14their forefathers had stolen or copied,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17infusing it with a distinctive spirit of their own.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Above all, they relished the lifelike modelling
0:10:24 > 0:10:29of Hellenistic art, like this seated boxer's broken nose,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32scarred face and cauliflower ears.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38And upon this foundation,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41they constructed their first great contribution
0:10:41 > 0:10:43to the history of Western art.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I've come to one of Rome's most spectacular museums,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01the Centrale Montemartini, to see how it happened.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17This chap's known as the Barberini Togatus,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and I don't think you'd really call him a treasure of Ancient Rome.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Aside from anything else, this head, although it's ancient,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25actually belonged to an entirely different statue.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29But these two heads on this sculpture are original,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and they allude to the importance of ancestor worship
0:11:33 > 0:11:36within noble Roman families.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38He's proudly displaying his lineage,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41and it's thought that these busts - just like this -
0:11:41 > 0:11:43were used in various ritual contexts in the ancient world,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47sometimes at funerals for Roman aristocrats.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50And this is an important statue because it reveals
0:11:50 > 0:11:55one of the sources for a very profound innovation within Roman art,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58which is known as the veristic or true-to-life portrait,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02the warts and all famous portrait busts that the Romans did so well.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Greek art was exquisite and refined,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13but seen by the Romans as a bit soft and effeminate.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17They thought of themselves as barbarians in comparison,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20but they were proud of their martial nature,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and they needed a more grounded, less OTT, style of art
0:12:24 > 0:12:26to express their warrior identity.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32So Roman realism is down-to-earth.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36It embodies the Republican values of gravitas,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40dignitas and integritas.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The wrinkles in the busts can be read like the lines of a CV.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Each crease proclaims experience and wisdom.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53These men were at pains to depict themselves
0:12:53 > 0:12:56as trustworthy people of flesh and blood.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04And what's brilliant is that, 2,000 years later,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07we know what the people in the history books look like.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12This bust of Cicero, a leading statesman and orator,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17celebrates the wisdom of old age in his wrinkles and jowls.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Even the legendary Julius Caesar is no film star,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25with his receding hair and lined face.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29And his great rival, Pompey the Great,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33looks more like a portly farmer than a leader of legions.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45My favourite veristic bust is housed today
0:13:45 > 0:13:48at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Just around this corner here
0:14:01 > 0:14:04is one of the out-and-out stars of the Hermitage collection.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08It's a bronze bust of an anonymous Roman by an anonymous sculptor,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10and it's remarkable for a number of reasons,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13not least because it's a very rare example of a work in bronze
0:14:13 > 0:14:15that's actually survived from antiquity.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Just look at all of this subtle, supple modelling of all the forms,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22all of the intricate locks of hair of the Roman's beard.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26We do know that Romans often wore beards and went unshaven
0:14:26 > 0:14:29during periods of mourning, and you can just tell
0:14:29 > 0:14:31that here is a figure afflicted in grief.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34It's recording the loss of a loved one.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37It's so harrowing, the way that sorrow's just stamped into his face.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40You can see everything from the sunken cheeks,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44these dramatic lines that are going down from his nose to his mouth,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47the actual downcast turn of those lips.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51There's so much humanity in this one bust,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and I think of it as almost like the definition of melancholy.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58This guy could be the Hamlet of the ancient world, if you like,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02with that limitless sadness, that mournful expression.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13One man with a passion for the warts and all style of the Romans
0:15:13 > 0:15:16is the British sculptor Antony Gormley,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19who's curating an exhibition of his own here at the Hermitage.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24For me, there's no question that
0:15:24 > 0:15:33the greatest gift that classical art from Rome gave was the portrait,
0:15:33 > 0:15:37and I think the kind of psychological insight,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41and that sense of - I don't know, it's like Freud before Freud -
0:15:41 > 0:15:47and we should look at this chap, because here is Balbin.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49So he was emperor, 238 AD.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53So he's sort of fairly late on.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59Anyway, there's something absolutely exquisite and so insightful
0:15:59 > 0:16:03about the way that this mouth has been carved,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07that slight lowering of the left-hand side of his mouth.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09But then, just look at his eyes.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13He is an emperor, but he's no longer in control.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And there's this...I mean, really scared look on his face.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21He knows that his days are numbered.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26I just think that Roman art reached its highest perfection
0:16:26 > 0:16:35in the ability to interrogate the inner workings of the mind
0:16:35 > 0:16:40through an understanding of physiognomy and portraiture,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42and I think they raised portraiture to heights
0:16:42 > 0:16:46that actually were never reached again, in my view.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55During the Republic, a sophisticated art world emerged
0:16:55 > 0:16:57for the first time in history.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01To keep up with this new and insatiable demand,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03the Romans started quarrying marble
0:17:03 > 0:17:07in the Apennine mountains near Carrara in Tuscany.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14The historian Pliny claimed that the marble here was purer
0:17:14 > 0:17:17and whiter than anything from Greece.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28For anyone who likes sculpture, this is a proper pilgrimage.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30This is like returning to the source,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33because this is the place that Michelangelo came
0:17:33 > 0:17:35to get the stone to make his famous Pieta.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42So this is the source. This is the mother lode.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44- MAN SPEAKS ITALIAN - I love this guy.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51My guides are quarry owner Franco Barattini
0:17:51 > 0:17:53and sculptor Marcello Giorgi.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57So this is the top of the mountain?
0:17:57 > 0:17:58Yeah.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01That is extraordinary.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14And what's so special about the rock that comes out of the ground here?
0:18:15 > 0:18:17It's the transparency. So...
0:18:23 > 0:18:26You can see some of the brightness which comes out already,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and that's before it's been polished up to become really like snow.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45I would like that very much.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Sculpting in marble requires a huge amount of skill.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Good sculptors were in demand in ancient Rome,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57but in terms of status, they were jobbing artisans,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01so few star names have come down to us.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Sculptor Massimo Gelenni is making a copy of a Roman bust
0:19:06 > 0:19:10using a hammer and chisel, just as the Romans would have done.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33- Aha!- Hi, Massimo.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- Massimo. Hello, hi. Alistair.- Alistair.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And I recognise this fellow. It's Marcus Tullius Cicero.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44That's pretty good!
0:19:44 > 0:19:46It looks like it's soft.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Yeah, sure, sure.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Like, er...the skin's warm.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Which is significant with a bust like this,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00because what you can see are lots of the realistic details.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02The character of the face.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Crow's feet by the eyes, the lines across the forehead,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12the wrinkles,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16the slightly jowly, fatter cheeks.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20All of these details are very realistic,
0:20:20 > 0:20:21typical of the busts of that period.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45- Thanks!- You can work now with the scalpello.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Well now I feel inspired, now I have the Pietrasanta hat.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50So, um...I place it up...
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- No!- No! OK.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55No, down here, right?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58He got genuinely worried. So, down here.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02That's rubbish, I'm not getting any purchase.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Put the hat back on.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Modern sculptors, like their Renaissance predecessors,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19prize the luminescence of Carrara marble.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22But for the Romans, this wasn't enough.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25It had to be as real as possible.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30The latest scientific techniques
0:21:30 > 0:21:33suggest that the ancient world many not have been
0:21:33 > 0:21:35as monochromatic as most of us imagine.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40This is a very rare thing.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42When she was excavated,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44traces of colour survived,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46especially on the skin tones.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48When you say traces of colour,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52you're saying that these patches are remnants of paint,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55that this would have been painted in antiquity?
0:21:55 > 0:21:57- Fully painted.- Completely painted? - Completely painted.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59How do you know?
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Well, we studied the surviving pigments,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05which includes a pigment called Egyptian Blue,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09which was basically only used in antiquity.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Especially mixed in the skin tones.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14If you, for example, mix white and pink,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17you don't really get a realistic skin tone.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20You need to add something blueish or greenish,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23very, very small amounts to make it more real,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25more lifelike.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29So all of these blotches here is a piece of Egyptian blue
0:22:29 > 0:22:32that has survived from the Roman era?
0:22:32 > 0:22:34That's really quite beautiful,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36that's like the spirit of the Roman statue,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39- which has somehow been preserved.- Yes.
0:22:39 > 0:22:40So I have a question for you.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44What is the point of sculpting in such an expensive material
0:22:44 > 0:22:46if you're then going to slather it with paint?
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Well, you make it even more beautiful,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and paint is translucent,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57so the quality of the marble
0:22:57 > 0:23:01would have shown through the paint layers.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05So revelation number one is that this head was definitively
0:23:05 > 0:23:09covered with paint, realistic pigment,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11creating a lifelike impression of a person or goddess,
0:23:11 > 0:23:12in the Roman world.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Can we extrapolate from that to make revelation number two,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18and say that all the Roman marbles
0:23:18 > 0:23:20that we encounter in galleries around the world
0:23:20 > 0:23:22would have been painted in a similar fashion?
0:23:22 > 0:23:24It is definitely a possibility.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Perhaps some sculptures would have been fully painted
0:23:27 > 0:23:29including the skin tones.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Some others, only details might have been painted.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37This example was definitely fully painted.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41She would have been painted to look like a real person.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08I've always been fascinated by the strange and wonderful alchemy
0:24:08 > 0:24:12that goes into creating a lifelike impression in marble or bronze.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18I've been told it's a process of self-discovery.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21My guru is sculpture Marcello Georgi,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23who's making a bronze bust of me.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Step one - he reproduces me in wax.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34You're using the techniques that the Roman artists would have used?
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Yes, yes. In fact, this is more or less the same technique,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41the same way used in Roma.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Obviously the Romans didn't have gas burners,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48but they had to warm up the wax,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and you make it pliable in your hands.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55They probably use also different kind of wax, natural wax from bees.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57- Beeswax?- Yeah, sure.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02And these will be the thickness of the bronze.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06So, the important point to understand
0:25:06 > 0:25:09is that in the finished bronze portrait,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12the bronze corresponds to the wax?
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- Yes.- This is a weird experience.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Strange for you, to see your face...?
0:25:19 > 0:25:21- Appearing.- Appearing, yes.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24How's that? Is that similar?
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I must admit, I'm a little bit apprehensive
0:25:37 > 0:25:41that Marcello may be creating Frankenstein's monster.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44They don't look pretty, but the tubes are needed
0:25:44 > 0:25:47to let molten bronze flow into my head.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Next I'm entombed in a special mixture of clay and plaster.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05From there, it's into the oven, where my wax alter ego melts away.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10All that will be left is a negative impression of me.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Five days later, I'm taken out of the oven,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22and buried in a sand pit.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Molten bronze heated to more than 1,000 degrees
0:26:30 > 0:26:32is poured into the cavity left by the wax.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38This gives the process its name, the lost wax technique.
0:26:45 > 0:26:4912 hours later, and it's time to see what lies within the clay womb.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54It's a bit of a rough birth.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Time will tell how my bronze doppelganger scrubs up.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11- This is it, underneath this green scarf on the plinth.- Yeah.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15That's my head under there.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16- Yeah.- OK, let's see it.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17- I show you?- Yep.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19- Are you ready?- Yeah, I'm ready.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23Oooh!
0:27:25 > 0:27:26What do you think?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32God, it's weird. I mean, I...it's...I tell you,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35I think it's really uncanny seeing yourself,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40because in a way, you associate things like this
0:27:40 > 0:27:42with people who are dead.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46I tell you what I really think, as well, is that Roman busts
0:27:46 > 0:27:48looked much older.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And I think this looks a little young, really.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55It sort of feels like I should be a bit older
0:27:55 > 0:27:56before someone's made a bust.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01It's your portrait, so it's totally different.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06I think the Romans' portrait is still nowadays
0:28:06 > 0:28:10the most important example of realistic portrait.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13I love the fact that this was something that the Romans did
0:28:13 > 0:28:17that was new. Here was this idea that they had a style, realism,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20the warts and all, the kind of unvarnished truth.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Sort of saying, "You can read in my face
0:28:23 > 0:28:27"all of my experiences over the years."
0:28:27 > 0:28:30They were the men who made the Roman Empire what it was.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I'm not convinced this chap would have created the Roman Empire,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36but I think it's beautiful, and thank you very much
0:28:36 > 0:28:39for spending two months of your life, poor you,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41having to sculpt my head!
0:28:41 > 0:28:42- Thank you.- You're welcome.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55The Romans' love of realism quickly evolved
0:28:55 > 0:28:57beyond the portrait bust.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01If that was their greatest artistic innovation,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03then running it a close second
0:29:03 > 0:29:06was the documentary-style historical relief.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15The so-called altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus
0:29:15 > 0:29:18is considered one of the most celebrated,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21crucial monuments of the Roman republic,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23in part because it lies right at the beginning
0:29:23 > 0:29:25of a quintessential Roman tradition,
0:29:25 > 0:29:30the historical relief commemorating real events that took place.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33So what we have here, if you like,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35is the blueprint for later Roman art.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38This is one of the essential chromosomes
0:29:38 > 0:29:40in the genetic code of Roman art history.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44And the event depicted is a census that was taken
0:29:44 > 0:29:48by the consuls of the citizens of Rome, usually every five years.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52So at the left, you see young men being enrolled into the Roman army.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57And in the centre, you have what was called the suovetaurilia -
0:29:57 > 0:29:59I think I've got that right -
0:29:59 > 0:30:04or the sacrificial killing of a bull, a ram and a pig...
0:30:07 > 0:30:09..in honour of the God Mars, who you can see here,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12wearing a helmet and his cuirass.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14And then on the other side, you have the man
0:30:14 > 0:30:17presiding over the whole ceremony, the censor himself,
0:30:17 > 0:30:19with a veil, a crown of laurel...
0:30:20 > 0:30:24..and what's specially distinctive about this relief,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27as well as the realism of the subject matter,
0:30:27 > 0:30:29is the style with which it's been made,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32because the carving is really factual,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34it's down to earth, it's sober.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37It feels quite blunt. In places it's awkward,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41but it does have an honesty, a sincerity, a straightforwardness,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44a kind of pragmatism that feels perfectly suited
0:30:44 > 0:30:46to the spirit of the Republic.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Historical reliefs open a window onto the everyday lives of Rome's citizens.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04And my next treasure celebrates not a senator or a general,
0:31:04 > 0:31:05but a baker.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19This big old block of crumbling brickwork and masonry
0:31:19 > 0:31:24is essentially one gigantic chunk of bourgeois self-promotion.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Because it's a tomb,
0:31:26 > 0:31:31and it says, "This is the monument of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces."
0:31:31 > 0:31:34And on the other side it tells us what he did. He was a baker,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37he was a contractor, he was a public servant.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41And I imagine him as quite a plump and pleased-with-himself man,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44because he's managed to bag himself this important spot here
0:31:44 > 0:31:49at this intersection of various busy thoroughfares heading into the city.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53And for those Romans who were illiterate, in fact most of them,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57he wanted to tell them how well he'd done in the frieze at the top.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01What we see is not a mythological scene,
0:32:01 > 0:32:02which you might expect on a tomb.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06Instead, we see something resolutely realistic.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08It shows us life in one of his bakeries.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11There are various workers, they're sifting grain,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15they're kneading dough, they're cutting the dough up into loaves.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17They're putting it into an oven.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20The interesting thing as well about the style of the frieze,
0:32:20 > 0:32:25is that some people call it plebeian art. It's art of the people.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29People who aren't really interested in highfalutin nonsense.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33They're interested in realities, everyday business.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Eurysaces was clearly a brilliant businessman,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39and he made damn sure that we know it.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55The Roman republic left behind a form of historical art,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58which transports us back to their world.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09I'm heading out of Rome now,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12I'm heading south along the ancient Appian Way,
0:33:12 > 0:33:17the Roman road, towards probably the greatest archaeological site
0:33:17 > 0:33:18ever discovered.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24There, we can see the republic at its height,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27around the turn of the first century BC...
0:33:28 > 0:33:31..when the visual culture of the Roman world
0:33:31 > 0:33:35reached undreamt-of opulence and complexity,
0:33:35 > 0:33:40and art touched the everyday lives of Roman citizens of every class.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45I'm just having to slow down,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49because this is incredibly bumpy bit of the Appian Way!
0:33:49 > 0:33:51I have a feeling that the car's suspension
0:33:51 > 0:33:53is maybe going to give up.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55So wish me luck!
0:34:15 > 0:34:20The Bay of Naples is 120 miles south of Rome.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24It was a fashionable resort for wealthy Romans,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28where they built luxurious seaside villas and lived la dolce vita.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION
0:34:34 > 0:34:39But that all changed when a rather famous volcano
0:34:39 > 0:34:43called Vesuvius erupted and buried the nearby town of Pompeii
0:34:43 > 0:34:46in scalding volcanic dust and debris.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50When excavations began here in the 18th century,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53they unearthed a really rich
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and complex visual culture here in Pompeii,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59which was just a mere provincial backwater
0:34:59 > 0:35:01in comparison with the metropolis of Rome.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06So ultimately, that Vesuvian tragedy testifies to the quality,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09the variety and the obsessions of Roman art.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15What makes Pompeii so special
0:35:15 > 0:35:18is that fragile and exquisite works of art have been preserved
0:35:18 > 0:35:20in almost perfect condition.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Nowhere else can you enjoy such vibrant mosaics
0:35:25 > 0:35:27and wonderful paintings.
0:35:28 > 0:35:34Artistic disciplines in which Republican Romans truly excelled.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39So this is one of the grandest residences in Pompeii.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42It's known as the House Of The Faun, named after this sculpture.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45This is a beautiful piece.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48I think it sets the tone for the entire house,
0:35:48 > 0:35:52which was clearly, as you look around, extremely opulent.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57Frescos, pattern mosaic floors.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00I mean, this could be a piece of '60s op art.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03This is a wonderful geometric extravaganza.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Complete with dog. And you can see over here,
0:36:05 > 0:36:08there's another mosaic of doves. There were loads of them.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12It was a real display of aesthetic connoisseurship.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19The real piece de resistance of the decoration of this villa
0:36:19 > 0:36:21is just over here.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25It's not the real thing, the real thing has long since been removed.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29It's really quite an epic piece.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37An enormous mosaic presenting a dramatic, tumultuous battle scene,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41starring the Macedonian hero Alexander the Great,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45charging in and defeating his enemy, the King of the Persians, Darius,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47in a battle from the 330s BC.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51CRIES OF BATTLE
0:36:59 > 0:37:02And this is the original. And you can see at once
0:37:02 > 0:37:04that rather than displaying it on the floor,
0:37:04 > 0:37:08they've presented it on a wall, which is an interesting thing to do,
0:37:08 > 0:37:13because you can revel in the mastery with which this Roman artefact
0:37:13 > 0:37:14has been made.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19You see, when you get up close, you suddenly realise
0:37:19 > 0:37:23just what an epic undertaking making this piece actually was.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27This is a genuine masterpiece of the mosaicist art.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Just see how small the bits of rock and the bits of stone,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34known as tesserae, are, that construct the wider image.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37There are estimates that say for every square centimetre,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40there are 15 odd pieces of stone,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44and that would mean that the entire mosaic would have
0:37:44 > 0:37:46between possibly two-and-a-half million
0:37:46 > 0:37:49to maybe five-and-a-half million of these bits of stone
0:37:49 > 0:37:52to construct the entire image.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54It's really mind-boggling,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58and the overall design is really compelling
0:37:58 > 0:38:01as a piece of just narrative history.
0:38:01 > 0:38:02BATTLE CRIES
0:38:02 > 0:38:04The mosaic brilliantly captures
0:38:04 > 0:38:08the dramatic, visceral hurly-burly of battle.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12You can see Alexander forging in from the left,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16and compositionally there's this long spear which pierces
0:38:16 > 0:38:19straight through a Persian, who's collapsing on horseback.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23And Darius, the King of the Persians who's fleeing on his chariot,
0:38:23 > 0:38:28reaches out to lament the fact that his comrade has just been speared
0:38:28 > 0:38:30by Alexander.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Some of the bits that I love are, for example,
0:38:33 > 0:38:35here there's a soldier who's fallen.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38And you can see on the interior of the shield,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42there's a reflection of this soldier's face.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44So this isn't someone looking out of the image,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47it's a reflection of this soldier looking back.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50This is playing with depth,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53in a way that suggested a true degree of sophistication.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56And I love these horses leading the chariots,
0:38:56 > 0:39:01these one, two, three, four black demented horses,
0:39:01 > 0:39:05with their eyes wide open, full of anxiety, full of fear.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09So lamentable.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13They have a kind of jangled madness, a ferocity,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16which reminds me of a painting like Picasso's Guernica,
0:39:16 > 0:39:20and this was created millennia beforehand.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Just to think that if it wasn't for the eruption of that volcano,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27this magnificent image, breathtaking as it is, with all of its power,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31wouldn't exist for us, and our culture, Western civilisation,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34would be all the poorer as a result.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47Pompeii offers a kind of through-the-keyhole experience.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51This ruined villa on the edge of the town
0:39:51 > 0:39:54is a mysterious Neverland, with a very special treasure
0:39:54 > 0:39:56that brings together myth, fantasy
0:39:56 > 0:39:59and the unique customs of Roman life.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03It's a bit of a maze, isn't it?
0:40:07 > 0:40:10So it goes on and on, but...
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Finally!
0:40:17 > 0:40:23This is the chamber, for which this villa is so famous.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37God, it's bizarre. You come in here...
0:40:37 > 0:40:42and you're transported into this really mythical realm.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49What you see is one continuous frieze that extends
0:40:49 > 0:40:53all the way around the room, on all four walls.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57And you walk into the middle, and you become a part of the action,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00you're immersed by this painting, enfolded by it.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08There are 28 figures on the frieze,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12and some of them are recognisably human. They're woman, Roman women.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Here's a Roman matron, for example.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18Here are also some women, perhaps a slave girl,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21maybe this girl's a priestess. But along with them...
0:41:22 > 0:41:27..you have these figures from myth. So here's Silenus, playing a lyre.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33And then you have Bacchus and Ariadne.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37This really disturbing demon woman...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39with wings,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43who seems to be whipping some poor lady
0:41:43 > 0:41:47as part of a kind of rite and initiation.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51The whole area, the aura of this is just suffused
0:41:51 > 0:41:53with something very enigmatic.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Because no-one really knows what this painting is about.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59There are lots of different theories.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02In fact, a lot of it hinges on this lady over here.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06Someone tending her hair,
0:42:06 > 0:42:08a kind of Cupid-like winged figure
0:42:08 > 0:42:11from myth, holding up a mirror to see her reflection.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18And perhaps she, maybe with some of the other women,
0:42:18 > 0:42:23is about to be initiated into some cult associated with Dionysus.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Maybe this is about a kind of ritual, a rite of passage,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33an initiation into sexual maturity, if you like.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37But the fact that I can't quite understand what exactly it means
0:42:37 > 0:42:41doesn't detract, if anything it adds, it enhances...
0:42:42 > 0:42:46..that elusive quality about it, which is really tantalising
0:42:46 > 0:42:48for your imagination.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58What's incredible is that this fresco
0:42:58 > 0:43:02is just one among many uncovered at Pompeii.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07'I've come to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples
0:43:07 > 0:43:09'with painter Leo Stevenson,
0:43:09 > 0:43:13'to examine the technical virtuosity of his Roman forebears.'
0:43:13 > 0:43:16..the amount of painting that survived.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19The quantity and sometimes the quality is staggering.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21It just blows your mind.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24I mean, an image like this, I think is quite typical.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27I mean, what can we see? This is a Europa figure from myth
0:43:27 > 0:43:31being carried away by Zeus, the chief god, in the form of a bull.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33It's got enormous testicles!
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Um, yes I've noticed that. But my eye is drawn to the drapery.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41I mean, this is an artist working in the technique of fresco.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45You paint into a special kind of wet plaster, a lime plaster.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47The pigments get drawn in,
0:43:47 > 0:43:49so it works quite quickly and efficiently.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53When you're actually painting the image, you are against the clock.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55Over the course of time, chemically it turns to stone.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58That's why so many of these amazing paintings survive,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01because they are literally stone, and the pigment is bound in the surface.
0:44:04 > 0:44:05What I think is quite fantastic here
0:44:05 > 0:44:08is you get a sense, not just of these individuals,
0:44:08 > 0:44:10sort of almost like paintings on a wall,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12but the whole room would have been decorated,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15everything saturated with colour, imagery, design.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Yes, but what's astonishing about a museum like this is you see
0:44:18 > 0:44:21a huge range of subject matter, as well as quality.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27You have historical, mythological, you have still lives. Portraiture.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Seascapes, landscapes. Everything is here.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34It's almost the whole panoply of subject matter that we know
0:44:34 > 0:44:36from later times. But it existed then.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38One of the things that interests me,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41I've noticed that an awful lot of these images,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44they're surrounded by black or brown borders.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46I think that represents frames.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Because what we're looking at is a picture of a picture.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54Now we know that they had panel paintings, much as later ages had.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Individual pictures, you hung on a wall.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59These pictures would have been staggeringly good.
0:44:59 > 0:45:00You imagine the best art
0:45:00 > 0:45:04that was produced in the centre of the spider's web in Rome itself.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Serious money, serious high-status people.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09The kind of art they would've had.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17Leo chooses to recreate a panel painting from a fresco at Pompeii,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21showing a resplendent villa in the shadow of Vesuvius.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25So this is all the gear.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28This is all the gear. This is the important thing.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30- It's an egg.- It's an egg. An egg.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Basically, egg yolk is used to bind the paint onto the surface.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38When it dries, it lasts for a very, very long time,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40as we know from the paintings that survived.
0:45:40 > 0:45:46Now, the trick is to just take the yolk out without the white...
0:45:48 > 0:45:50..so it's just the yolk itself.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55Now, that's the binder. We now need to make the paint.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59So if we pour a little bit of the egg yolk in here...
0:46:01 > 0:46:03And if we take a colour,
0:46:03 > 0:46:07say, for instance, this beautiful, um, Egyptian blue...
0:46:12 > 0:46:16- See, that's quite a rich gorgeous blue.- Mm-hm.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20I'm also going to add a little bit of white.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24This white is actually a very refined chalk.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27So effectively, that is your paint.
0:46:45 > 0:46:46Wow.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50That is my impression of that.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55And you stuck throughout here to using the Roman technique of...
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Yes, this is all done in tempera paint.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00This is what they would have done.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09If you compare and contrast, what have you done to take us
0:47:09 > 0:47:13beyond the wall painting to the postulated original panel?
0:47:13 > 0:47:18Well, I've mainly concentrated on using a greater subtlety
0:47:18 > 0:47:20of colour, and of tone.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23Now, by tone, I mean the range from the lightest light
0:47:23 > 0:47:25to the darkest dark and all the shades in-between.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29The background, I've compressed the tones so they're much closer
0:47:29 > 0:47:33together, so that makes it a sort of a recession space, so effectively
0:47:33 > 0:47:37the strongest, darkest tones are in the foreground with the building.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39- That's very impressive.- Thank you.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51However much I admire the Romans' desire to document their lives in art,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54there are times when it goes a little far.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59If you're prudish, you might want to go and make a cup of tea.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02So if you were one of the men who lived in Pompeii,
0:48:02 > 0:48:06you might pop out your villa and you have to go on a few errands,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10buy a loaf of bread, maybe drink some wine in one of the bars.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Perhaps you might even have time to fit in a visit,
0:48:13 > 0:48:18maybe quite a quick one, to one of Pompeii's 35 brothels.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22That was one for every 71 men who lived in the town.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24And just to help you find your way,
0:48:24 > 0:48:27there were these very useful street signs.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29There's another one up here.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33I think you follow the direction of the, well, art historians call it
0:48:33 > 0:48:35an ithyphallic penis.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45So, come and have a look. It's not really the height of romance.
0:48:45 > 0:48:46It's quite basic.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51You'd hand over a few coins. And to get you in the mood,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55there were these frescos of people having sex.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03Now, well, that's... That's an intriguing one.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05But this is the thing about Roman art, you come in,
0:49:05 > 0:49:10and of course today, for us, these images induce all sorts of smirks
0:49:10 > 0:49:13and lots of titters. "Oh, look!" It's all very smutty.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15And this is clearly pornographic.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19The thing about Roman art, though, is that there are images like this
0:49:19 > 0:49:22throughout every genre, every location.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26You can find pictures of people shagging, people having sex.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28And for centuries, it's been hidden away.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31People try to neatly tidy up Roman art
0:49:31 > 0:49:34and suggest that images like this were only found in brothels
0:49:34 > 0:49:37or bars.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39It's not strictly true. You could find erotica,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42even if it was considered erotica, we don't know,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44all over the Roman world.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59Exploring Pompeii, I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of art.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Today we prize individual paintings and sculptures,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08but when it came to art, the Romans wanted everything at once.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Aesthetic overload defined the splendid look of the late republic.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15It's almost as if this warrior race,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18who were forever expanding their territorial frontiers,
0:50:18 > 0:50:23were just as keen on conquering space in a visual sense as well.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45By the first century BC, Roman art had come of age.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48But at the same time, the republic was collapsing.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54As Rome grew, power was concentrated in the hands of generals
0:50:54 > 0:50:58like Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, who went to war
0:50:58 > 0:51:00with each other.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05BATTLE CRIES
0:51:05 > 0:51:10This civil strife culminated in the epoch-changing Battle Of Actium,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12off the coast of Western Greece.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19The victor was Octavian,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22Caesar's 31-year-old adopted son.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Following his spectacular victory at Actium,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Octavian found himself all of a sudden the sole ruler of the Mediterranean world.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38And it wasn't long before the senate bestowed upon him a new title,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Augustus.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44His metamorphosis into becoming the first emperor of Rome
0:51:44 > 0:51:45was under way.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And in order to help him implement that shift
0:51:49 > 0:51:52from republic to empire, Augustus and his court
0:51:52 > 0:51:57had to precision-engineer a whole new concept of Roman art.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04It was an artistic revolution based upon the image of Augustus himself.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12Around 200 portraits of him survive.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Augustus appears in many different guises,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19but they all have something in common.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25The first emperor is handsome, young, and wart-free.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32Before Augustus, Roman portraiture was primarily about commemoration,
0:52:32 > 0:52:36about presenting individuals in a realistic fashion.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38But this offered something completely new.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42Because in opposition to the whole veristic tradition of Roman portraiture,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46this offers a vision of someone really glamorous, not grizzled.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48Charismatic rather than choleric.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52He looks eternal, rather than earthly.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55And Augustus was so pleased with his new portrait type,
0:52:55 > 0:53:01that he kept it, unaltered, until he died, aged 76, in AD 14.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06So in a sense, this head is the Roman equivalent of Botox.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11It's removing unwanted lines and wrinkles,
0:53:11 > 0:53:16because by the time of Augustus, old age was so last century.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21That was the public face of the first emperor.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24But in private, Augustus sanctioned a look
0:53:24 > 0:53:28which, to those in the know, conveyed a very different message.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36This is the really beautiful Blacas Cameo,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39which is a portrait of Augustus that was painstakingly carved
0:53:39 > 0:53:42out of this special stone called sardonyx,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45which consists of three differently coloured layers.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48And there's something about this particular example,
0:53:48 > 0:53:52with its really smooth polish, lustrous forms,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55that proclaims a majestic refinement.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59But unlike the bronze head, which would've been seen by the masses,
0:53:59 > 0:54:00this projects a message
0:54:00 > 0:54:03that was only really fit for Augustus' court.
0:54:03 > 0:54:08Because whoever made it presents Augustus almost as a god.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10He's got this special kind of cape known as an aegis,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13which was associated with the goddess Minerva.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15And we know that back in the republic,
0:54:15 > 0:54:19the Romans of course were famously mistrustful of monarchs.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23And here, Augustus couldn't really look much more kingly if he tried.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26So in public, he always said he was the first among equals,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29he paid lip service to the power of the senators.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33But in private, in art like this, he transmitted the truth,
0:54:33 > 0:54:37a different message, one that paved the way for the future
0:54:37 > 0:54:40when the emperors would be regarded as gods.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48Augustus realised that Rome wasn't ready yet for god emperors.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50He understood the psyche of the people,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53and was playing a clever, even cynical game.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58In fact, he was secretly killing off the republic,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02at the same time as paving the way for his vision of the Roman empire.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06And art played a leading role in this deception.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Nowhere can this be better seen
0:55:15 > 0:55:20than in one of ancient Rome's greatest artistic treasures.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34I've never actually visited the Ara Pacis Augusti
0:55:34 > 0:55:37or the Altar Of Augustan Peace before in the flesh, as it were.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39I've read a lot about it,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42but it really is quite a magnificent monument,
0:55:42 > 0:55:43work of art, really.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47It was inaugurated in 13 BC, it was dedicated in 9 BC,
0:55:47 > 0:55:52and this structure in the middle of the enclosure is the altar itself.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Monument to peace, and you can see up above, there's a simple frieze
0:55:56 > 0:55:59of animals being led to the sacrifice, where they'd be slaughtered.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04These big, thick swags of garlands
0:56:04 > 0:56:06of fruit and natural produce.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11This sense of teeming abundance is a big theme of the Ara Pacis.
0:56:11 > 0:56:16In a sense, it was a real great piece of propaganda.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21The political message is emblazoned
0:56:21 > 0:56:24on the outside of the monument for all to see.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33Up above, you see this and it really looks quite stunning.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35You see this big procession.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40It's a frieze which shows Roman officials, consuls, magistrates
0:56:40 > 0:56:42and, crucially, the imperial family.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45That figure there is Augustus, very damaged,
0:56:45 > 0:56:48half his body's been crunched away by time.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51You've got the empress, Livia.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55You have Livia's son, the future emperor Tiberius.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57It's almost as though the sculptures of the Ara Pacis
0:56:57 > 0:57:01were trying to suggest that here was a new dynasty
0:57:01 > 0:57:03that could potentially rule Rome for eternity,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07which is really emblematised by another panel
0:57:07 > 0:57:10which you can see just around the corner here.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13You have this wonderful scrolling foliage down below
0:57:13 > 0:57:16that looks like this very elegant kind of calligraphy.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18But up above, you have this panel,
0:57:18 > 0:57:21which in a sense is the poetic masterpiece of the Ara Pacis.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25At the centre, you have a woman and her identification...
0:57:25 > 0:57:27People are unsure who she might be.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30She could be Pax, peace. She could be Venus,
0:57:30 > 0:57:34a personification of Italia, or Tellus, this kind of Earth goddess.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37In the background behind, you can see these wonderful swaying ears
0:57:37 > 0:57:40of corn and wheat and poppies.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43It's just a vision of a wonderful paradise here on Earth,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46a golden age, and it's promising all of Augustus' subjects
0:57:46 > 0:57:48that this is what life will be like in the future.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50You can forget about all of the turmoil
0:57:50 > 0:57:52and all of the chaos of the republic.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56From now on, this is the new Augustan era of peace
0:57:56 > 0:57:58and harmony and abundance.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04It proved to be the perfect look for a new society,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07as Augustus turned Rome from a city of brick
0:58:07 > 0:58:10into a metropolis of marble,
0:58:10 > 0:58:14and transformed the republic into an empire.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27In the next episode, pleasure palaces,
0:58:27 > 0:58:30unbridled debauchery,
0:58:30 > 0:58:32blood lust,
0:58:32 > 0:58:34triumphal might...
0:58:36 > 0:58:39..and the most beautiful boy in the world.
0:58:39 > 0:58:43It's art and the age of the emperors.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media