All Topics  
Severan Tondo

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Severan Tondo
 
 
  Topics Severan Tondo Topic Home

The Severan Tondo, from circa AD 200, is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting
Panel painting

A panel painting is a painting on a panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or on vellum, which was used for miniature in illuminated manuscripts and also for pa...
 from Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
. It is a tempera
Tempera

File:Duccio The-Madonna-and-Child-128.jpgTempera is a type of artist's paint and associated Art techniques and materials that were known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over from encaustic painting and was the main medium used for panel painting and illuminated manuscripts in the Byzantine world and the Middle Ages...
 painting on a circular wooden panel (tondo
Tondo (art)

A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian language rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about two foot in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait miniatures....
), with a diameter of 30.5 cm. At present, it is on display at the Antikensammlung Berlin
Antikensammlung Berlin

The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin....
 (inventory number 31329).

The panel depicts the Roman emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Septimus Severus with his family: On his left his wife Julia Domna
Julia Domna

Julia Domna was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Publius Septimius Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire....
, in front of them their sons Geta
Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta , was a Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death....
 and Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. All are wearing sumptuous ceremonial garments; Septimus Severus and his sons are also holding sceptre
Sceptre

A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental Staff held by a ruling monarch, a prominent item of royal regalia. While some sceptres resemble a Ceremonial mace, their use is quite different....
s and wearing gold wreaths decorated with precious stones.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Severan Tondo'
Start a new discussion about 'Severan Tondo'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Severan Tondo, from circa AD 200, is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting
Panel painting

A panel painting is a painting on a panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, it was the normal form of support for a painting not on a wall or on vellum, which was used for miniature in illuminated manuscripts and also for pa...
 from Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
. It is a tempera
Tempera

File:Duccio The-Madonna-and-Child-128.jpgTempera is a type of artist's paint and associated Art techniques and materials that were known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over from encaustic painting and was the main medium used for panel painting and illuminated manuscripts in the Byzantine world and the Middle Ages...
 painting on a circular wooden panel (tondo
Tondo (art)

A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian language rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about two foot in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait miniatures....
), with a diameter of 30.5 cm. At present, it is on display at the Antikensammlung Berlin
Antikensammlung Berlin

The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin....
 (inventory number 31329).

The panel depicts the Roman emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Septimus Severus with his family: On his left his wife Julia Domna
Julia Domna

Julia Domna was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Publius Septimius Geta and Caracalla, Julia was among the most important women ever to exercise power behind the throne in the Roman Empire....
, in front of them their sons Geta
Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta , was a Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death....
 and Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. All are wearing sumptuous ceremonial garments; Septimus Severus and his sons are also holding sceptre
Sceptre

A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental Staff held by a ruling monarch, a prominent item of royal regalia. While some sceptres resemble a Ceremonial mace, their use is quite different....
s and wearing gold wreaths decorated with precious stones. Geta's face has been removed, probably after his murder by his brother Caracalla and the ensuing damnatio memoriae
Damnatio memoriae

Damnatio memoriae is the Latin language literally meaning "damnation of memory", in the sense of removed from the remembrance. It was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate upon treachery or others who brought discredit to the Roman State....
.

The image is probably an example of imperial portraits that were mass-produced to be displayed in offices and public buildings throughout the empire - as part of Roman legal procedure some documents had normally to be signed in front of an image of the Emperor, which gave them the same status as if signed in his actual presence. With each change of emperor, they would have been discarded or replaced. Since wood is an organic material and does not normally survive, the Berlin Tondo remains, so far, the only surviving specimen of this type of painting. It appears to be of Egyptian origin.

See also

  • Fayum mummy portraits
    Fayum mummy portraits

    Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits is the modern term for a type of realistic painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummy from History of Roman Egypt ....
  • Pitsa panels
    Pitsa panels

    The Pitsa panels or Pitsa tablets are a group of painted wooden tablets found near Pitsa, Corinthia . They are the earliest surviving examples of Ancient Greece panel painting....


Bibliography