Monuments of Rome: Italian Mosaic Table

LessonPlan

1. Introduce the Italian Mosaic Table to your students. Tell students about the table and introduce the Roman monuments using information from About the Italian Mosaic Table.
2. Have each student chose one Roman monument depicted in the Table.
3. Using magazines, books and the Internet, each student will research their monument.
4. Each student will complete the Monuments of Romegraphic organizer by answering the following questions.
   1. What is the name of your monument?
   2. When was it built?
   3. Who built your monument?
   4. Where in Rome is your monument located?
   5. What was the function or your monument? Has this changed?
   6. What is the historical/religious/political significance of your monument?
   7. Does your monument look the same today as it did when it was built? What changed? Why?
   8. Why do you think this artist chose to depict your monument on on the Italian Mosaic Table?
5. Using the graphic organizer, students will write two to three paragraphs about their monument.
6. Each student will find or draw a picture of their monument to accompany their summary.
7. Finally, students present their monument to the class. You can put their summaries and photographs on a bulletin board in the order of the table, in relation to a map or Rome or organized by topic (ie. Roman Forum, temples, etc.).
8. As a class, discuss ways in which Roman government, art, etc. still influences contemporary practices. Government structure, architecture- point out how so many of our government’s buildings incorporate the dome, columns, pediments, etc. St. Peter’s is still the center of the Catholic church.

Extension Activity

Book a fieldtrip to the Crocker Art Museum (free for students in Sacramento County). During your visit, look closely at the Italian Mosaic Table in person. Also, see if you can find similar architectural elements in the Crocker Gallery and Crocker home. Columns, pilasters, acanthus leaves, etc.

MONUMENTS OF ROME

 

Artwork

 
About the Italian Mosaic Table, 19th century

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This Italian mosaic table was probably purchased by Margaret Crocker, the widow of Judge Edwin Bryant Crocker, as a souvenir of an 1881 trip to Europe . During the 19th century wealthy tourists, traveling to Rome and Florence , often purchased such souvenirs of their travels, much the same as we today purchase postcards and other souvenirs of our travels. The Renaissance Revival table belongs to a style popular from 1865 to 1885. Renaissance Revival is characterized by massive scale, boldness, and self-confidence. Its ornamentation derived from classical architectural sources: cartouches (oval or oblong shapes), medallions (round or oval decorations), sculpted portrait heads and columnar forms.

A mosaic is a decorative object made from pieces of hard substances fitted together. The materials of mosaics have differed little throughout history. The earliest mosaics were made of clay or stone fragments. In time these became cubical in form and were called tesserae. Glass tesserae were used in the ancient world for mosaic works.

The design is created by embedding tightly fitted cut and painted stones. The scenes of the tabletop mosaic show the famous sites of Rome , including the Forum, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. In the center is St. Peter's Square, separated from the outside scenes by a border of classicizing leaf forms. Above the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral is the scene of the Pantheon, one of eight such Roman sites separated by richly decorated fictive green columns on pedestals. From the Pantheon are the following: a Triumphal Arch (perhaps the Arch of Constantine), the Capitol, the Forum with the Arch of Septimius Severus to the left, the Colosseum, the round Temple of Vesta with its surrounding columns, Castel Saint Angelo, and a circular tomb, perhaps the tomb of Cecilia Metella. The eight tourist sites are bordered by a Greek-key design in green, red and yellow. Part of the pedestal is a sculptural group of a wolf and two small children.

According to Roman legend, the twins Romulus and Remus founded Rome. Their Uncle Aemulius was afraid that the boys would overthrow his rule when they became older. To prevent this, the uncle had the infants thrown into the Tiber River . A she-wolf found them and, instead of killing them, took care of them and fed them with her own milk. Later, as young men, Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome on the spot where the she-wolf had cared for them. Since the tabletop displays the tourist sites of Rome , it is appropriate that the table's pedestal shows a scene relating to the founding of the city.

Context

About the Roman Forum

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The Forum is just one of the Roman sites depicted in this table. The Forum was the core of ancient Rome. It served as the political, religious and economic center of the city from the 7th century BCE and was abandoned at the end of the 4th century CE. The importance of the Forum is indicated by the presence of many of the central political, religious, and judicial buildings in Rome : the regia – the residence of the king, the curia – meeting place of the Senate, and the comitium and rostra – the public meeting places. Major temples and sanctuaries were located there as well, and commercial and judicial activities (trials and lawsuits) took place in the basilicas of the Forum. In time monuments, such as triumphal arches, were constructed to honor famous military leaders and emperors. The Forum was in a constant state of building activity, alternating with damage and destruction brought about by various conflicts. Most of the buildings on the Forum were destroyed completely in 410 CE when the Ostrogoths of Alaric sacked Rome . From then on many of the buildings served as quarries for other construction sites throughout the city. Today the area of the Forum is under constant excavation to learn about the Roman past.

About the Colosseum

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The Roman Colosseum is the ancestor of every sports stadium in existence today. The Roman Emperor Vespasian (69 – 79 CE) commissioned this arena to satisfy the public's desire for entertainment, and it soon became a public symbol of the power and organization of the Roman Empire . Built over a period of 12 years, it held 50,000 spectators in four ascending levels of seats. The seating reflected the hierarchy of Roman society. The Emperor and his followers sat in elevated ringside seats, while in the upper levels sat slaves, foreigners, and women. The 12-year construction schedule required shift work, prefabrication, modular building, elaborate machinery, and a skilled workforce – the same as today's large construction projects. It has been calculated that the construction of only the external walls would have required 292,000 cartloads of stone. There was also an immense fabric awning that could be winched into position to shade spectators from intense summer heat. In addition to animal / human and human / human combats, mock naval battles were also held in the Colosseum. Sections of the floor were removed and the arena flooded with water to a depth of five feet. After games were no longer held there, the stones of the Colosseum were used as a source for building materials.

About the Pantheon

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The most well-known and well-preserved Roman temple is the Pantheon, built under the reign of Emperor Hadrian (76 – 138 CE). The huge, circular domed structure was added to a portico (porch) from a preceding temple, formed by a triangular pediment supported by eight columns. The Pantheon was constructed as a temple dedicated to all Roman gods. The dome represented the heavenly vault, illuminated by the central source of the sun. The sun itself shines through the 26-foot diameter window at the peak of the dome, open to the sky – the only source of light in the Pantheon. The height of the dome above the floor is equal to the diameter of the dome itself – the Pantheon thus could contain a perfect sphere inside. It was built in only four years. The Pantheon was made possible by the Roman development of concrete, made of lime mixed with volcanic soil. Concrete allowed builders to span large spaces with domes and vaults. The two bell towers, seen one on each side of the triangular pediment on the mosaic table, were added in the 17th century and demolished in the late 19th century. They were never part of the original building. Because the Pantheon was transformed into a Christian church in the 7th century, it was spared the fate of the Forum and Colosseum and did not become the source of building materials.