Mary’s Landscape Art Info

The height of its glory, the Roman Empire stretched from Spain to southern Russia, from England to Egypt and included all the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They were awestruck by the Greek influence prompting the poet Horace to note, “Conquered Greece took her rude captors captive”. Shiploads of Greek marbles and bronzes were sent to decorate Rome and when there were no more originals, the Romans made copies

The Roman forte was managerial skills, organization, law and engineering. They used concrete extensively and invented the arch, the barrel vault (an extended arch forming a cylindrical roof), and the groin vault (two barrel vaults of the same height at right angles). These enabled the Romans to build roads, bridges, aquaducts, and sewers wherever they went.

For the Romans, the landscape paintings were architecture.  Their most famous buildings are the Parthenon, the Colosseum and the Panthenon.