The Colossus of Constantine

[@Smallpotato1965]

the statue was HUGE, which meant that the people who stood in front it were looking up, up, UP to the face. If you make the face too naturalistic, you'd hardly see his features. It HAS to be a bit abstracted and exaggerated. The same for those who saw the statue from the other side of the room; they could see it better as a whole, but it's features would be blurred. It had to be a bit abstracted and exaggerated to be, at that size, visible.

[@SethTheOrigin]

Constantine wasn’t the first emperor to make a huge sculpture of himself, and those previous emperors had naturalistic features. So it doesn’t HAVE to be, doesn’t it?

[@thatonelad4594]

I would say it is the artistic style which you see start around the gallenic Renaissance and go into full swing by the tetrarchs where features like the eyes are exaggerated making the face look quite abstract.

[@watchchimp3102]

I agree! Stylized to look good from a distance or an angle. The fine detail would be lost from even 20 or 30 feet.

[@IDPYouTube]

An interesting opinion not bore out by reality, for example Trajan’s huge and tall Column, statues placed on top of buildings, or the innumerable Roman arches are full of detail.

[@patavinity1262]

"He was the last pagan Roman emperor" No, that was Julian the Apostate.

[@paulolelewe2330]

Hey, all these videos are from 5 or 12 years ago.

[@tamatoatuisila4633]

Technically the last Roman pagan emperor was Julian the Apostate.

[@paoloviti6156]

Correct, his real name in Latin was Flavius Claudius Julianus from 331 - June 363 was truly the last pagan Roman Emperor as well a notable philosopher, an author in Greek, a good administrator and a good leader but mortally wounded in mysterious circumstances....

[@loris3ai665]

The last was the usurper Flavius Eugenius who tried to restore paganism with the help of the roman senate but he was killed by Theodosius in 395

[@tamatoatuisila4633]

@@loris3ai665 oh, forgot about him. Thanks for the info.

[@paoloviti6156]

@@loris3ai665 Flavius Eugenius, you are correct as I forgot completely about him! But as his Roman army was so depleted he was forced to relay heavily on barbarian troops and with the execution of the usurper came the final collapse of the Western Empire...

[@loris3ai665]

@@paoloviti6156 every factor that leads to the collapse of west rome can be linked to the third century crisis. The mass of the barbarians in the army is caused by the mortal diseases which occured in that century that leads emperors to recruit barbarian soldiers instead of the romans recruits who were decreased in numbers. Flavius Eugenius had to rely on them and Theodosius had barbarian origins. The crisis of roman identity started way before this civil war

[@TWOCOWS1]

"Eyes open" is the message of that face of Constantine--the FIRST Roman Christian emperor

[@Gwynarra2]

Very informative. I have just returned from a trip to Rome and saw both the Capitoli museum and walked around the ancient centre of Rome. Even in ruins the size of that basilica is very imposing especially when one is standing under it's remaining arches and imagines what the original building must have been like. It is nice to add the colossus of Constantine to that imagined reconstruction.

[@cirion6000]

Though the video is very informative, it contains allot of information that is now disputed. In the video, the portrait is not properly contextualized in the time in which it was made. It is not a hallmark of transition to the Christian period. That is a concept that was later placed onto the statue. It was made during the reign of emperor Maxentius. Signs or re-carving above the ears indicate that this presented Constantine's famous adversary Maxentius once. The big eyes, nose, chin are the result of the re-carving to Constantine. Those were the most vulnerable parts of the portrait, and, therefore, omitted from heavy re-carving (they could break easily). More on this, see the works of Eric Varner and Marina Prusac. When we consider the time in which it was made, this portrait was strongly influenced by models of Augustus and Trajan. Maxentius' and Constantine's contemporaries (the Tetrarchs) presented themselves as almost indistinguishable short-cropped, strict military men with stippled beards. The comma-shaped locks on the forehead are a reference to earlier emperors. Also, we should not forget, that for almost 200 years adult emperors had not presented themselves without a beard. The last emperor who had done so was Trajan, another example Constantine was emulating.

[@TWOCOWS1]

"Eyes open" was the central message of the young Christianity to the "blind" Romans and other people. So, all the early Byzantine eyes are wide open (like those of Justinian that are so well known), and inhumanly so. That is the point. Just look at any early Christian Roman portraiture and note the bug eyes, even on the Arch of Constantine (just the parts his folks made, not the one they looted). The rest of the face and body are naturalistic and Roman. Those deformed bug eyes will disappear by the time after Justinian, when Christianity has settled down.

[@3John-Bishop]

Eyes open means he is 'woke'

[@johannahidalgo7738]

Wow!!! Didn’t know that, thanks!😉😻

[@TWOCOWS1]

@@johannahidalgo7738 Pleasure, sir

[@SethTheOrigin]

Any evidence to back these claims up? How do you know what unnamed artists 1700 years ago were thinking before the made their sculpture?

[@TWOCOWS1]

@@SethTheOrigin Basic knowledge of Christianity's message and the sudden change of Roman portraiture to reflect that exact message--everywhere, after Christianizing, is reason enough. Why, do you want something by Dio Cassius the rumormonger to back it up??

[@eitnoorda]

The eyes were probably adjusted for looking better from a lower perspective.

[@carausiuscaesar5672]

Actually Julian the Apostate ruled 360-363 AD was the last pagan Roman Emperor.

[@johannahidalgo7738]

I consider myself educated but I had never known nor taught in college that all these marble sculptures were painted quite vividly, it must have been beyond awesome to see and experience!!! Was this sculpture also painted?😉

[@L-mo]

I am no expert. I had (incorrectly?) assumed the abstract or more primitive looking art of the Christian Middle Ages were due to a decline in the economic output and artistic skills of Europe. Rather than an artistic development based on Christian theology and culture. I just read your response to a similar question in which you compare the use of text/sms today with calligraphy in earlier centuries. Interesting point.

[@jacobcantrell82]

He looks like the Chad meme

[@Aristocles22]

The chad meme looks like him.

[@nilfabra4365]

He is the chad meme

[@Tsumami__]

Fitting

[@johna.4334]

Who? What?

[@michaeli1375]

I think the fact that he does not have the ideal style of the previous emperors is because of Christianity. Maybe he was meant to look humble and sad, to show humility in regard to Christ. His statue is not a heroic description of muscle and skin. After all, the church taught them that there was a better life that awaited them, and that this one was about suffering. This may explain his grim and sad face as well as the sudden change in style.

[@ZootWorld1]

It could be that, but there were statues from before Constantine came to power that show that this more abstract, symbolic style was already coming into effect.

[@Miloxiaocelao]

I have always thought that the Engineers in Prometheus might have drawn inspiration from the Colossus of Constantine. Not only there is the physical resemblance, but also that this statue of Constantine shows an "abstraction of human body", and the Engineers are a figment of Ridley Scott's imagination of a divine and superior being to humans, one which resembles humans, but better, perfect.

[@Kurtlane]

There is a giant marble foot just lying on one of the narrow Roman streets. I wonder whether it's a remnant of the statue of Constantine or of some other statue. Anyone knows?

[@angelabender8132]

I think that it is

[@Romewise]

That foot, on via di Pie di Marmo, for which it is named, is from an ancient statue of Isis that once stood nearby. @@angelabender8132

[@gamingthisera6339]

I didn't know it was that BIG

[@TheThedisliker]

Imagine it in one piece

[@CristianSAluas]

I was there the other day and the label beside it said he was a Dacian prisoner. Maybe the label was for another sculpture but it was the only label on that whole wall where the sculpture was.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Museum labels express so much authority, and yet they can be so misleading.

[@johna.4334]

Why is there a square hole on the left side of Constantine's head?

[@johna.4334]

Where and how were these marbles parts discovered? Surely there must be more parts buried under a street or building.

[@mgclark46]

Thanks for this. A bit more attention to the Arch of Constantine would have been instructive. That arch is a composite of earlier Imperial architectural elements as well as elements that were contemporaneous with Constantine. So that arch in itself is very illustrative of the transition in art from early Roman to Christian art and iconography. IMO that transition evidences the beginning of medieval art. It seems clear that this downgrade in artistic capabilities was the result of the advent of the period of the barracks emperors and the crisis of the third century. Artists were always held in low esteem, were regarded as slaves and were useful only insofar as they could bolster the dignity of the imperial family. Once the emperors were elevated from the soldiery as opposed to the senatorial and aristocratic classes the talents of artists were not appreciated. When the great heritage of Greco-Roman art was lost, that void was back-filled with Eastern elements.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Please see our video devoted to the Arch of Constantine: smarthistory.org/arch-of-constantine-rome/

[@3John-Bishop]

Where is Constantine buried?

[@mgclark46]

@@3John-Bishop according to Wikipedia... “Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople, but Constantius II, his son, had it moved

[@aybee63]

any ideas re the part cut out to the left temple?

[@johna.4334]

A frontal lobotomy perhaps?

[@seesafar9912]

The head's tone, demeanor and expression indicate a thinking man who is depicted as a god, as he is considered born of the gods....

[@terrencewimberly798]

I think it looks like Sylvester Stallone!

[@johna.4334]

Not even close.

[@Sasha0927]

There sure are some interesting comments to this video, lol... Mine, unfortunately, will not be one of them! Can't say I care for the PacMan pupils, but I am amazed at how tall this was. I'm trying to think of how many comparably-sized sculptures are left intact today.

[@TyroneBeiron]

Drs Zucker and Harris strike a good balance. What I like is their respect for culture and context, without making any 'Woke' statements or use of 'revisionist' terms many popular history commentators tended to use. So listening these 'slides' with their commentary is a pleasant and smooth ride without unnecessary 'provocation'. But they do lead us to 🤔 💭 and reflect. One point about the head of Constantine: we know from our own experience that we somewhat resemble our parents' features. In some ways we are also looking at the features of Constantius and Helena Augusta. Helena herself is worth exploring having left a significant legacy in her own right.

[@quffazalaswad2549]

Interesting views, though I think that many scholars do hold a different position, namely that by Constantine's time the skills of Roman sculptors simply weren't what they used to be, hence the rough geometric shapes and proportions that seem off. The arch in the video (Arch of Constantine) is actually notorious for the fact that much of its art was recycled from previous monuments, in comparison to which the art that was sculpted expressly for the arch is very, very poor in quality.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Much of the scholarship that raises the issue of quality dates from an older era-from the 19th and early-mid 20th century. More recent scholarship offers a more nuanced, less generalized reading. One way to think about this is the way we now use text. There are currently many highly-skilled calligraphers who produced beautiful, refined hand lettering for wedding invitations, etc. We also have crudely lettered stop signs that are meant to convey an important message quickly and directly. In 1,800 years it is more likely that a stop sign will be found than a paper wedding invitation. Should future historians conclude that we are no longer capable of skilled calligraphy? Works of art, like types of lettering have differing purposes and different audiences.

[@unojayc]

Maybe it was a statue of a Roman pagan god that was repurposed to look like Constantine?..

Julian was the last pagan Roman emperor.

[@ВикторияКондря-к7х]

El a fost un imparat pagan!

[@pedrocornejo6744]

Constantine put ROMA on THE DARK AGES

[@josefmaster1188]

both Constantine and Diocletian creates the bases for the middle ages, both destroyed the political and religious sistems of the classic era, like Cassius Dio said "From a Kingdom of Gold to One of Iron and Rust"