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The Sculptures and Mosaics of the Baths of Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla are architectural awe in Rome that traces their origins to III century AD (Lusnia, 338). They are some of the most attractive sites in Rome due to their impeccable architectural designs and construction methods. Additionally, the baths boast an intricate display of different forms of art. They are well-preserved to date, even though their use by the public ceased in the 6th century. The estimated capacity the baths could accommodate was 1,600 people. The expert use of brick and carving of arches are some of the art forms that make the Baths popular to date. For the Romans, the baths were useful as a communal area of interaction since they allowed people to hold meetings, communicate, act and work within the Baths. The art within the Baths of Caracalla is especially something to behold, as it was significantly inspired by the cultures of Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Greece.[i] The Mosaics, for instance, are the most instrumental pieces of art besides the architecture present in the representation of the Roman Culture in the Baths of Caracalla. In the current paper, the author reviews the art within the baths as the focus, presenting the major inspirations for the art, the significance of the art, and the artist responsible for the popular architectural art associated with the tourist attraction in Rome.

The baths were commissioned by Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, who was a Roman Emperor of Caracalla at the time. They were commissioned since they depicted Roman culture, and they were to serve the purposes of being more than just baths. Numerous people would be using the baths, which necessitated the need to protect spirituality and meditation. [ii] The baths were also constructed following a critical blueprint of construction used by all other Roman baths. As a result, the Baths of Caracalla were stipulated to be Roman property, which makes the commissioning critical to their existence.

Different art in the baths had varying significances. Just like the baths themselves, the art and paintings in the Baths represented the order and cleanliness of the Romans. Even though the artists drew their inspiration from different cultures, the art was directly related to the Romans and the things they held close to their culture as important values.[iii]

The baths were normal since most Romans would finish the day’s work in the early afternoon and head to the baths for relaxation (Breakey, 1200). They all shared the ritual of the baths despite their age, social class, profession, or economic status. The baths, and art in them, were a symbol of Rome since it was instilled in the normal lives of the Romans in their day-to-day lives. The Romans considered themselves cleaner than people from other nations since they had these baths. Each part of the baths had a different significance, and the visiting Romans had to visit each of the rooms at a time before proceeding to the next room. In each of the rooms, different art pieces were placed, and each had a different significance. For instance, the mosaic of the athletes within the Palaestrae of the baths represented exercise and physical activity in the courtyards of the baths.

One of the most prominent art architecture attributes of the Baths of Caracalla is the luxurious decorations of the baths. The sculptures were propped on the floor within the different areas of the baths, while others hung from specific areas developed for them on the walls. For some, the significance was tailored into the statue so that there were spouts at the base of the hanging sculptures, where water flowed out from.[iv] Each of the sculptures propped in the baths represented different mythical characters in the Roman culture. The sculptures were of people and sometimes, of scenes from different occurrences in Roman history.

Due to the architecture present in the Baths, their significance went beyond being places for the community to unite. The Baths of Caracalla were a form of custody for historical Roman people in the form of art. The baths housed these important cultures, which could be used to educate future generations of the Romans on their previous people, and used by the older roman bathers to describe their ancestry to the younger generations as they took baths (Squire, 320; Breakey, 1200).

In conclusion, Today, the architectural integrity of the baths of Caracalla is still undeniable. The external structures of the baths remain steadfast, even though a majority of the art either melted away or was moved. Additionally, the floor art mosaics in the baths remain, even though their original value and importance have been changed. For instance, the mosaic of the athletes has since been moved. Overall, based on an analysis of the art and architecture of the Baths of Caracalla, the conclusion is that these buildings held a major significance for the Roman community and remain a steadfast custodian of these cultures in Rome to date.

Notes

i. To develop the art in the Baths of Caracalla, the artists imagined how the daily lives of the people in these nations would be, and replicated these dictates perfectly into the mosaics and sculptures seen within the Baths of Caracalla.

ii. For the purpose of this paper, ‘spirituality’ relates to the process of communion and interaction that the Romans engaged in when they visited the Baths of Caracalla.

iii. Equality was a critical value of Roman culture that was not influenced by social or economic class. All Romans could meet at the baths and gossip, interact and relax. The art in the baths was all intriguing in ways that would often spark conversation among the bath users.

iv. See “Lusnia, S. (2019). Decoration and Display in Rome’s imperial thermae: messages of power and their popular reception at the Baths of Caracalla.”

Works Cited

Breakey, Neal. “David, Brutus, and Caracalla—A Sculptural Chronology of Anatomical Observation.” JAMA cardiology 5.10 (2020): 1200-1200. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2020.2852

Lusnia, Susann. “Decoration and display in Rome’s imperial thermae: messages of power and their popular reception at the Baths of Caracalla.” (2019): 338-340.

Squire, Michael. “Art and Archaeology.” Greece & Rome 66.2 (2019): 312-321. https://doi.org/10.1017/S001738351900012

DIRECTIONS

You will lead a bullet-point discussion on style, context, content, purpose of your chosen work and offer some insight into the use of formal analysis. During your discussion, you should not only introduce the basic facts of the work but give consideration to the following:

• Provenance: was the work commissioned and why? If not, why was it made? What were the artist’s intentions?
• What are the interpretations of the work?
• How do factors like the historical context, location, artist biography, shape the meaning of the work?
• Remember that in discussing style you may refer to a period, region, or personal style.

You may also include any other methodology for discussion that you think applies or is interesting, such as a psychological analysis, a feminist response, politics, science, etc.

You may choose any application to create your presentation, but it must be in the format of a slide show and saved as a .ppt or .pptx file. Your presentation must include both images and bullet points to explain your artwork.

This is an observational project. Your observations should be illuminated by the material from class, but outside research is required and should be utilized through the Research Resource link. Research findings must be properly cited and must be properly credited in your last slide. Please use MLA format.

(See https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html (Links to an external site.))

A typical project will spend the first 5 slides describing both the content and the form of the artwork in detail using at least 5 terms learned in class (ie. sculpture in the round, complementary colors, abstraction, etc.) and possibly providing some background about the artist (but not more than 1 slide).

You should address how the form and content are interacting (ie. Does the artist’s choice of medium enhance or detract from the narrative/subject or the message they are sending to the viewer?). The content includes the narrative or story that is conveyed in the artwork.

The rest of the project should be spent revealing new insights into the work that goes beyond the textbook. This is the essential findings of your research. In the next 5 slides, you should talk about the work’s context. You may want to talk about the work’s significance – how it may be a political statement or shows an innovative style, for example. Feel free to compare your work to other works from this time frame, by the same artist or others.

You can show historical photographs or diagram material that help to illustrate your points. Feel free to also incorporate videos into your slides.