Aina Medina Balaguer: Recent Episodes
Aina Medina Balaguer
Escucha este podcast y muchos más en www.ivoox.com o en las apps de iVoox para iOS, Android o Windows Phone.
Portrait of Paquius Proculus: First century B.C., Naples. It was also called Portrait of Terentius Neo. This painting was found in a house of Pompeii, dated in the first century, between 50-74 B.C. The house where this painting was found was attributed to a public baker called Paquius Proculus, shown with his wife. However, for many historians, this painting depicts Terentius Neo. The portrait is characterized by an extraordinary realism due to the features that the people show. There is a chromatic contrast between both characters shown in the colors of the clothes and face.
Audio: Romans created wax masks to be worn at funerals because they liked lifelike portraits. Since wax did not last a lot, they started to create portraits with other types of materials such as marble and other kinds of stones. Romans wanted their sculptures to be realistic and felt that a person’s character could be shown through facial features and expressions. An example of a sculpture is Augustus of Prima Porta, made in the 14 A.D., a 2 m high marble statue of Augustus Caesar, the first and one of the most significant emperors of Ancient Rome. Another example is the Bust of Cato and Portia, made in the first century B.C. with white marble. Its realistic shape shows the personalities and character of the Cato and Portia.
Baths of Caracalla: 216 A.D., Rome. One of the most famous baths was built by the emperor Caracalla in the early part of the third century A.D. It sprawled out over 30 acres and had a bathhouse that measured750 feet by 380 feet. A huge central hall over 180 feet long and 77 feet wide was spanned with concrete groin vaults. In the Baths of Caracalla, a barrel vault ran the length of the central hall and was intersected at right angles by three shorter barrel vaults, creating the groin vaults. The use of these groin vaults enabled the builders to cover a very large area. It also allowed the placement of windows, which was not possible with barrel vaults requiring thick, solid walls.
80 A.D., Rome. The Colosseum was built in the second half of the first century A.D. The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. It owes its name to a colossal statue of the Roman emperor Nero.
The exterior of the Colosseum consists of four stories constructed of stone, brick, and concrete. On the top level are Corinthian pilasters, flat, rectangular columns attached to a wall. Between these pilasters are small holes. Poles were placed in these holes to support a canvas awning that protected spectators from the sun and rain. Corinthian columns are used on the third level. These show the most decorative style. Ionic columns are used on the second level. The capitals are distinguished by their double scroll design. On the lowest level, the columns are Doric, the heaviest and sturdiest of the column orders.