Art History Final

Amphitheater

"Double theater," a continuous elliptical cavea, resembling two Greek theaters put together. Supported by concrete.

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of the Augustan Peace), Rome, Italy, 13-9 BCE

-Agustus sought to present his new order as a Golden Age equaling that of Athens under pericles -The Ara Pacis celebrates the emperor's most important achievement, the establishment of peace p197 (The Roman Empire)

Portrait of Constantine, from the Basilica Nova, Rome, Italy ca. 315-330 CE Marble

-Constantine's portraits revive the Augustan image of a perpetually youthful ruler -This colossal head is one fragment of an enthroned jupiter-like statue of the emperor holding the orb of world power p226 (The Roman Empire)

Greek Temple Plans

-Core was the naos, or cella, a windowless room that housed the cult statue of the deity -In front of naos was a pronaos, or porch, often with two columns between the ante or extended walls -Smaller second room might be placed behind cella, but in its canonical form, the Greek temple had a porch at the rear (opisthodomos) set against the blank back wall of the cella; the second porch was for decorative purposes -Around core, builders might erect a colonnade across front of the temple (prostyle), across both front and back (amphiprostyle), or more commonly, all around the cella and its porches (peristyle) -Single (peripteral) colonnades were the norm, but double (dipteral) colonnades were features of especially elaborate temples -Insistence on balance and order-earliest temples were long and narrow with the proportion of the ends to the sides roughly expressible as 1:3 but from sixth century BCE on, plans approached but rarely achieved a ratio of front of 1:2 -Classical temples were a little longer than twice their width

Portraits of the four tetrarchs, from Constantinople, ca. 300 CE. Porphyry.

-Diocletian established the tetrarchy to bring order to the Roman world -In group portraits, artists always depicted the four couriers as nearly identical partners in power, not as distinct individuals p224 (The Roman Empire)

Alexandros of Antioch-on-the-Meander, Aphrodite, from Melos, Greece, ca. 150-125 BCE. Marble

-Displays the eroticism of many Hellenistic statues -Overtly sexual portrayal of Aphrodite-Goddess's slipping garment teases the spectator -Larger-than-life size marble statue p156 (Ancient Greece)

Arch of Titus, Rome, Italy, after 81 CE

-Domitian built this arch on the road leading into the Roman Forum to honor his brother, the emperor Titus, who became a god after his death. Victories fill the spandrels of the arcuated passageway -Reliefs inside the bay of the arch commemorate the emperor's conquest of Judaea -Also relief of Titus in his triumphal chariot-also personifications of Honor and Valor (first instance of intermingling of human and divine figures in a Roman historical relief) -Think about the architecture depicted in the frieze -Depicts one particular conquest (Judaea) while the Arch of Constantine depicts more than one particular moment of glory p205 (The Roman Empire)

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, Roman copy of a marble statue of ca. 350-340 BCE. Marble

-First nude statue of a Greek goddess-caused a sensation -Humanizing spirit rather than solemn grandeur -Praxiteles was also famous for his ability to transform marble into soft and radiant flesh -His Aphrodite had dewy eyes p142 (Ancient Greece)

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater; looking south), Rome, Italy, ca. 70-80 CE

-Flavians left their mark on capital through Colosseum-gigantic amphitheater -Largest arena for gladiatorial combats and other lavish spectacles -For the facade, an unknown architect mixed Roman arches and Greek columns-Tuscan on the lowest story, then Ionic and Corinthian -Wood poles held up an awning over the cave p202 (The Roman Empire)

The Etruscans

-From Italy -Seafarers, enriched themselves through trade abroad Ruled much what is now Italy -Left fine metalwork, elaborate tombs and a deep mark on ancient Roman culture. Orientalizing Art Archaic Art Classical Hellenistic Art

Reconstructed west front of the Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, Turkey, ca 175 BCE.

-Gigantomachy frieze of Pergamon's monumental Altar of Zeus -Almost 400 ft long -Battle of gods and giants alluded to the victor of King Attalos I over the Gauls of Asia Minor -Most famous Hellenistic sculptural ensemble -Subject of the sculptured frieze is battle of Zeus against the giants -Tumultous battle scenes of the Pergamon altar have an emotion power unparalleled in earlier Greek art-violent movement, swirling draperies, and vivid depictions of suffering fill the frieze p152 (Ancient Greece)

Inktinos, Parthenon (looking southeast), Acropolis, Athens, Greece, 447-438 BCE

-Inktinos-architect of Parthenon -Calculated dimensions of every part of the temple using harmonic numerical ratios, which determined, for example, the height and diameter of each column-perfect proportions -Greatest Greek temple but lacks some key features of other Greek Temples -Celebrated the Athenian people, who a generation earlier led the Greeks to victory over the Persians -Reliefs depicting Greeks battling semihuman centaurs are allegories of triumph of civilization and rational order over barbarism and chaos and of the Greek defeat of Persians -Purpose-made for Athena -Basic style was Doric, but two ionic features: 1)The back room had four tall and slender Ionic columns as its sole supports., 2) The inner frieze that ran around the top of the cella wall was Ionic. -Some deviation to perfection: 1) The stylobate curves upwards at the center on both the sides and the façade, forming a shallow dome, 2) The curvature of the shallow dome of the stylobate carries up into the entabulature, 3) The peristyle columns lean inward slightly. p102 (Ancient Greece, Archaic Art)

Portrait of Augustus as general, from Primaporta, Italy, early-first-century CE copy of a bronze original from ca. 20 BCE. Marble.

-Models for Augustus' idealized portraits, which depict him as a never-aging god, were Classical Greek statues -This portrait represents the armor-clad emperor in his role as general p196 (The Roman Empire)

Arch of Constantine (looking southwest), Rome, Italy, 312-315 CE

-Much of the sculptural decoration of Constantine's arch came from monuments of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius -Sculptors recut the heads of the earlier emperors to substitute Constantine's features -Grandiose triple passageway arch next to the Colosseum -Commemorates Constantine's defeat of Maxentius -Depicts more than one victory (unlike the arch of titus which only commemorates one particular conquest) -Interesting that the sculpture is at the top -The enemies (sculptors at top) are enemies, yet are depicted noble (unlike in the altar of zeus at pergamon where the enemies are depicted much differently) -Figures are even more squat, frontally oriented, similar to one another, and there is a clear lack of naturalism. Again, the message is meant to be understood without hesitation: Constantine is in power p225 (The Roman Empire)

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman copy from the palaestra, Pompeii, Italy, of a bronze statue of ca. 450-440 BCE. Marble

-Polykleitos sought to portray the perfect man and impose order on human movement -He achieved his goals through harmonic proportions and a system of cross-balancing for all parts of the body p129 (Ancient Greece)

The Roman Empire

-Roman empire was diverse -Amazing architecture -Center of Roman Empire was city on Tiber River Monarchy and Republic Early Empire High Empire Late Empire

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, from Rome, Italy, ca. 175 CE, Bronze

-Shows Marcus Aurelius as omnipotent conqueror -Emperor stretches out his arm in a gesture of mercy -An enemy once cowered beneath the horse's raised foreleg -Marcus' statues were the first ones in which a Roman emperor appeared saddened and worried -Marcus used Meditations-a philosophical treatise setting forth the emperor's personal worldview -Marked the beginning of the end of Classical art's domination in the Greco-Roman world p215 (The Roman Empire)

Column of Trajan, Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, Dedicated 112 CE

-Spiral frieze of Trajan's Column tells the story of the Dacian wars in 150 episodes -The reliefs depict all aspects of the campaigns, from battles to sacrifices to road and fort construction -The story is told in more than 150 episodes (carved in low relief) in a winding, 625-foot long band. The band increases in width as it winds up the column, to make it easier to read as it reaches the top and is farther from the viewer. p208 (The Roman Empire)

Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118-125 CE

-Started when Hadrian was emperor -The temple of all the gods -Traditional facade masked its revolutionary cylindrical drum and huge hemispherical dome -Interior symbolized the orb of the earth and the vault of the heavens -Original approach was from a columnar courtyard and the Pantheon stood at one narrow end of the enclosure -Its facade of eight Corinthian columns was a bow to tradition p211 (The Roman Empire)

Kouros, from Attica, possibly Anavysos, Greece, ca. 600 BCE. Marble

-The sculptors of the earliest life-size statues of kouroi (young men) adopted the Egyptian pose for standing figures, but the Kouroi are nude and liberated from the stone block -Emulates the stance of Egyptian statues -Greek example of life size statuary -Kouroi-marble that made life size statues, means youth p110 (Ancient Greece, Archaic Art)

Anthanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön and his sons, from Rome Italy, early first century CE. Marble.

-Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons -Three Trojans writhe in pain as they struggle to free themselves from the death grip of the serpents -The serpentined figures recall the suffering giants of the great frieze of the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon -An example of Hellenistic style that lived on in Rome -Statue of sea serpents attacking Laocoön and his two sons matches the account given in the Aeneid -Great emotion is showed by Laocöon, who seems to give out a huge cry of pain, which is heightened by the writhing forms of the serpents. Even his hair is twisted and active. Motion is created by dynamic poses and every muscle of each figure is tensed with drama. p159 (Ancient Greece)

Gardenscape, Second Style wall paintings, from the Villa of Livia, Primaporta, Italy, ca. 30-20 BCE. Fresco

-Ultimate example of a Second Style "picture window" wall -To suggest recession, the painter used atmospheric perspective, intentionally blurring the most distant forms to create illusion of depth p191 (The Roman Empire)

Head of an old man, from Osimo, Italy, mid-first century BCE. Marble

-Veristic (superrealistic) portraits of old men from distinguished families were the norm during the Republic -Sculptor of this head recorded every detail of the elderly man's face -Makes statement about personality-serious, experienced, determined, loyal to family and state-the most admired virtues during the republic -Tradition of the treasured household imagines-people request images memorializing their distinct features p184 (The Roman Republic)

Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 530 BCE. Marble

-Women are always clothes in Archaic statuary (unlike men of ancient Greece) -This kore is a votive statue of a goddess wearing four garments, one of which only goddesses wore -She held her identifying attribute in her missing left hand p112 (Ancient Greece)

Mycenaean (Late Helladic) Art (Prehistoric Aegean)

1600-1200 BCE -Mycenaeans waged war on Troy with Greek allies -Buried kings in deep shaft graves in which excavator, Heinrich Schliemann, also found gold funerary masks and bronze daggers inlaid with gold and silver -By 1400 BCE, Mycenaeans occupied Crete and between 1400 and 1200 BCE, they erected great citadels on mainland at Mycenae, Tiryns, and elsewhere with Cyclopean walls of huge shaped weirdly shaped stone blocks. -They were masters of corbel vaulting and erected beehive-shaped tools tombs -Oldest preserved large-scale sculptures in Greece date to end of Mycenaean period -Excelled in small ivory carving and pottery painting

Middle and Late Minoan Art (Prehistoric Aegean)

1700-1200 BCE - Construction of first palaces on Crete occurred during the Old Palace period (2000-1700 BCE), but golden age of Crete was Middle and Late Minoan period -Minoan palaces were administrative, commercial, and religious centers that may have not been royal residences -Greatest Minoan palace was at Knossos-vast multistory structure arranged a central court, so complex in plan that it gave rise to the myth off the Minotaur in the labyrinth of King Minos -Major pictorial art was fresco painting-murals depicted rituals (bull leaping), landscapes, seascapes, and other subjects -Surviving examples of Minoan sculpture are of small scale. They include statuettes of "snake goddesses" and reliefs on stone vases

Late Empire (The Roman Empire)

193-337 CE -In the art of the Severans, the non-naturalistic Late Antique style took root; artists represented the emperor as a central frontal figure disengaged from the action around him -During the chaotic era of the soldier emperors, artists revealed the anxiety and insecurity of the emperors in moving portraits -Diocletian reestablished order by sharing power; statues of the tetrarchs portray the four co-emperors as identical and equal rulers, not as individuals -Constantine restored one-man rule, ended persecution of Christians, and transferred the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330; the abstract formality of Constantinian art paved the way for the iconic art of the Middle Age

Early Empire (The Roman Empire)

27 BCE-96 CE -Augustus defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra and became the first Roman emperor -Augustan art revived the Classical style with frequent references to Periclean Athens' Augustus's ambitious building program made lavish use of marble, and his portraits always represented him as an idealized youth -Under the Julio-Claudians, builders began to realize the full potential of concrete in such buildings as the Golden House of Nero -The Flavian emperors build the Colosseum, the largest Roman amphitheater, and other grandiose buildings in Rome -The Arch of Titus celebrated the Flavian victory in Judaea and Titus's apotheosis -The eruption of Mount Vesuvius bring Pompeii and Herculaneum' before the disaster, painters decorated the walls of houses in the Third and Fourth Styles

Early Cycladic Art (Prehistoric Aegean)

3000-2000 BCE -Islands of Aegean sea boast excellent marble quarries, and marble statuettes are the major surviving artworks of the Cyclades during the third millennium BCE -Little is known about function of Cycladic figurines because few have secure provenances -Most statuettes represent nude women with arms folded across abdomens. They probably came from graves and may represent the deceased, but others (like musicians) do not. Whatever their meaning, these statuettes mark the beginning of the long history of marble sculpture in Greece.

Hellenistic Art (Ancient Greece)

323-30 BCE -The Hellenistic age extended from the death of Alexander until the death of Cleopatra, when Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire -In art, both architects and sculptors broke most of the rules of Classical design. -Hellenistic sculptors explored new subjects, such as aged, bent women, and Gauls with strange mustaches and necklaces, and treated traditional subjects in new ways-for example athletes with battered bodies and faces, and openly erotic goddesses; artists delighted in depicting violent movement and unbridled emotion

Late Classical Art (Ancient Greece)

400-323 BCE -In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, which ended in 404 BCE, Greek artists, though still adhering to the philosophy that humans are the "measure of all things," began to focus more on the real world of appearances than on the ideal world of perfect beings -Late Classical sculptors humanized the remote deities, athletes, and heroes of the fifth century BCE. Praxiteles, for example, caused a sensation when he portrayed Aphrodite undressed. -In architecture, the ornate Corinthian capital became increasingly popular, breaking the monopoly of the Doric and Ionic orders; features a double row of acanthus leaves with tendrils and flowers -The period closed with Alexander the Great, who transformed the Mediterranean world politically and ushered in a new artistic age as well

Early and High Classical Art (Ancient Greece)

480-400 BCE -Classical period opened with Persian sack of the Athenian Acropolis in 480 BCE and the Greek victory a year later. During the Early Classical period (480-450 BCE), sculptors revolutionized statuary by introducing a contrapposto (weight shift) to their figures (Contrapposto-an asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure in which the line of the arms and shoulders contrasts with while balancing those of the hips and legs) -In High Classical period (450-400 BCE), Polykleitos developed a canon of proportions for the perfect statue, Iktinos similarly applied mathematical formulas to temple design in the belief that beauty resulted from the use of harmonic numbers -Under the patronage of Pericles and the artistic directorship of Phidias, the Athenians rebuilt the Acropolis after 447 BCE. The parthenon, Phidias's statue of Athena Parthenos, and the works of Polykleitos have defined what it means to be "Classical" ever since.

Classical and Hellenistic Art (The Etruscans)

480-89 BCE -Greek victory over Etruscan fleet in 474 BCE ended Etruscan domination of the sea and marked the beginning of the decline of Etruria -Rome destroyed Veii and conquered Cerverti-all of Italy became Romanized by 89 BCE -Later Etruscan tombs are not as richly furnished as those of the Archaic period, but classical and Hellenistic Etruscan sculptors continued to excel in bronze-casting -A more somber mood characterizes many Late Classical and Hellenistic Etruscan artworks -Later Etruscan architecture is noteworthy for the widespread use of the stone arch, often framed with Greek pilasters or engaged columns

Archaic Art (The Etruscans)

600-480 BCE -Etruscan power in Italy was strongest during sixth century BCE; Etruscan kinds even ruled Rome until 509 BCE, when the Romans expelled Tarquinius Superbus and established the Roman Republic -Admired Greek art and architecture, but did not copy Greek works; they constructed temples of wood and mud brick instead of stone and placed the columns and stairs only at the front; Terracotta statuary decorated the roof -Most surviving Etruscan artworks come from underground tomb chambers -At Tarquinia, painters covered the tomb walls with large-scale frescoes, often depicting banquets attended by both men and women; the mural in other tombs depict funerary games and hunting and fishing

Archaic Art (Ancient Greece)

600-480 BCE -Around 600 BCE, first life-size stop statues appeared in Greece; earliest kouroi emulated frontal poses of Egyptian statues but artists depicted young men nude, the way Greek athletes competed at Olympia. Also, they were different from Egypt in that they were free from stone block-they represented motion not permanence (kouroi-marble that made life size statues, means youth) -During 6th century BCE, sculptures refined proportions and added "Archaic smiles" to faces of statues to make them more life like-Greek artists used Archaic smiles to indicate the person was alive (different from Egyptian counterparts) -Construction of first stone temples with peripteral colonnade and codification of Doric and Ionic orders (A peripteral colonnade consists of a single row of columns on all sides) -Greek ceramists perfect black-figure painting and then, around 530 BCE, red figure vase painting, which encouraged experimentation with foreshortening (Foreshortening-portray or show as closer than it is or as having less depth or distance, as an effect of perspective or the angle of vision)

Orientalizing Art (The Etruscans)

700-600 BCE -During the Villanova period of the early first millennium BCE, the Estruscans emerged as a people with a culture distinct from those of other Italic peoples and the Greeks -Their language, although written in a Greek-derived script, is unrelated to the Indo-European linguistic family

Main advantage of a Corinthian capital over an Ionic capital was:

All four sides have a similar appearance, so corner Corinthian capitals did not have to be modified like Ionic capitals to follow the rule of "triglyphs at the corners of a frieze must meet so that no space is left over." They also did not require the use of metopes or triglyphs, because an Ionic frieze could be used instead.

Monarchy and Republic (The Roman Empire)

753-27 BCE -Republic temples combined Etruscan plans with the Greek orders, and houses had peristyles with Greek columns. The Romans, however, pioneered the use of concrete as a building material -First Style of mural painting derived from Greece, but the illusionism of the Second Style is distinctly Roman -Republican portraits usually depicted elderly patricians. The super realistic likenesses celebrated traditional Roman values

Geometric and Orientalizing Art (Ancient Greece)

900-600 BCE -Homer lived during the 8th century BCE, when city-states of Classical Greece took shape, Olympic games were founded, and when Greeks began to trade with neighbors -Human figure returned to Greek art in form of simple silhouettes among other abstract motifs on Geometric vases and in bronze statues; Greek artists revise figure painting during the Geometric period in small bronze figurines and paintings on ceramic pots -Increasing contact with civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia inspired the Orientalizing phase of Greek art, when Eastern monsters began to appear on black-figure vases

High Empire (The Roman Empire)

96-192 CE -The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan. The emperor's new forum and markets transformed the civic center of Rome; the Column of Trajan commemorate his two campaigns in Dacia in 625-foot-long spiral frieze -Hardian, emulating Greek statesmen and philosophers, was the first emperor to wear a beard; he built the Pantheon, a triumph of concrete technology -Under the Antonines, the dominance of Classical art began to erode, and imperial artists introduced new compositional schemes in relief sculpture and a psychological element in portraiture

Basilica

A civic building that housed the law court and other offices. Rectangular in plan with a central nave, flanked by two aisles.

What type of architectural elements were used to construct Constantine's Basilica Nova

Brick-faced concrete walls, coffered barrel vaults, and groin vaults.

What stylistic sources inspired the Augustus of Primaporta?

Classical Greek art, especially Polykleitos' works.

Doric and Ionic Orders

Doric-capitals with funnel-shaped echinuses, columns without bases, and a frieze of triglyphs and metopes; formulated on the mainland, preferred manner there and in Greece's western colonies; massive iIt was a temple to Athenan appearance, its sturdy columns planted firmly on stylobate; capital is very plan Ionic-volutes, capitals, columns with bases, and an uninterrupted frieze; choice of aegean Islands on the western coast of Asia minor, popular in Athens; seems light and airy and much more decorative; columns are more slender and rise from molded bases; capital is highly ornamental In both-columns rest on stylobate, the uppermost course of the platform

Prehistoric Aegean

Early Cycladic Art Middle and Late Minoan Art Mycenaean (Late Helladic) Art -Greeks came to seek revenge against Trojan prince who abducted wife of king of Sparta -Schliemann's excavations proved that Mycenae was not the only center of the civilization -Minos-King of Knossos on the island of Crete

Which cultures' art most strongly influenced that of Rome?

Etruscan and Greek.

Ancient Greece

Geometric and Orientalizing Art Archaic Art Early and High Classical Art Late Classical Art Hellenistic Art -Humanistic worldview led Greeks to create the concept of democracy -Established city state or poleis -Gods of Greeks were distinct from those of neighboring civilization; Greeks made their gods into humans and their humans into gods; perfect individual became the Greek ideal and portray of beautiful humans became focus of many Greek artists -Borrowed ideas, motifs, conventions, and skills from older civilizations

What revolutionary architectural concept finds its fullest expression in the Roman Pantheon?

For the first time, architecture was conceived in terms of units of space that could be shaped by enclosures. The Pantheon is formed by the intersection of two circles, one horizontal (the orb of the earth) and one vertical (the dome of the heavens).

Praxiteles

He kept the superhuman beauty of the Early Classical period but lost its solemn grandeur in exchange for worldly sensuousness (e.g., female nudity in the Aphrodite of Knidos). He specialized in showing smooth flowing flesh rather than sharp outlining of body parts.

Fourth Style

In Roman mural painting, the Fourth Style marks a return to architectural illusionism, but the architectural vistas of the Fourth Style are irrational fantasies Late Fourth Style murals are often multicolored, crowded, and confused compositions with a mixture of architectural views, framed mythological panels, and First and Third Style Motifs It can be best described as a combination of the three styles that came before. Faux marble blocks along the base of the walls, as in the First Style, frame the naturalistic architectural scenes from the Second Style, which in turn combine with the large flat planes of color and slender architectural details from the Third Style.

Third Style

In Roman mural painting, the style in which delicate linear fantasies were sketched on predominantly monochromatic backgrounds Limits pictorial illusion in order to create framed images where the framing is actually painted on. The overall appearance is flat in contrast to the three dimensional space created in the second style. The third style closes up the walls making a sort of picture gallery effect.

What effect did the changes in Greek political and social life after the Peloponnesian War have on art?

In the 5th century BCE, artists believed they could impose order on their environment and create "perfect" statues and discover the "correct" mathematical formulas for architecture. Political upheavals in the 4th century BCE that brought disillusionment and alienation correlated with a growing focus on the individual and on the real world of appearances rather than on the community and the ideal. Distinctive individual styles of sculpture emerged during this time as well.

Where did the people stand when worshipping at the temple?

Outside. The altar faced east, towards the rising sun. The inside of the temple was the residence of the god.

Forum

Public square, usually located in a city's center at the intersection of the main east/west and north/south avenues.

What stylistic features differentiate Roman Republican portraits from Greek examples?

They were "veristic," e.g., realistic, not idealized. The head alone was enough to constitute a portrait, whereas the Greeks believed the head and body were inseparable parts of an integral whole. Romans sometimes put veristic heads on bodies to which they could not actually belong.

First Style

The earliest style of Roman mural painting; the aim of the artist was to imitate, using painted stucco relief, the appearance of costly marble panels Characterized by colorful, patchwork walls of brightly painted faux-marble. Each rectangle of painted "marble" was connected by stucco mouldings that added a three-dimensional effect. In temples and other official buildings, the Romans used costly imported marbles in a variety of colors to decorate the walls.

Atrium

The large central reception room in a Roman house.

What was the major function of Roman Republican portrait sculpture?

The patricians were proud of their heritage and used portraits for public show and private purposes. Portraits were one way the patricians celebrated their elevated position in Roman society.

Second Style

The style of Roman mural painting in which the aim was to dissolve the confining walls of a room and replace them with the illusion of a three-dimensional world constructed in the artist's imagination Replaces the reproduction of stone blocks with landscape scenes. Wall paintings of the second style creates the illusion of a three dimensional space from what is actually a two dimensional space.

What was the purpose of the Ara Pacis Augustae and how did the iconography reflect that purpose?

To celebrate his most important achievement, the establishment of peace in the Roman Empire (the Pax Romana), which was to last two centuries.