User:青巷忧颜/sandbox

Research Project: Prima Porta Augustus

Below is what I researched on Prima Porta Augustus

Location within the villa

The statue of Augustus of Prima Porta was discovered within the Villa of Livia, however little is known about the exact discovered place in the villa. Suggested sites are the underground complex, a placement near a staircase, the villa’s atrium, or in a ​laurel grove on the south-east ​​corner of Prima Porta hill. Scholars have stated that the last one is relatively unconvincing compared with the first three.

The theory that Augustus's statue is found in the underground complex of the villa is based on a hypothesis that Augustus holds a laurel branch instead of a spear in his left hand.. Scholars have noted that if this hypothesis is correct, then Villa of Livia must have been decorated with laurel groves and that the reason of the decoration is the omen of the gallina alba.

Recent excavations have discovered the remnants of pots used to plant laurel on the edge of the Prima Porta hill in front of the underground complex, which Reeder believes suggests the possibility of the existence of laurel groves in the villa and makes it likely that the statue was located in the underground complex. She rationalized this by stating that per Suetonius, Augustus had a fear of lightning and often hid in 'an underground vaulted room', which she theorizes was likely the underground complex, particularly as during the time of Augustus laurels were thought to provide protection from lightning.

Scholars who disagree with the theory have argued that although the pot remnants could have been used to plant laurel, such pots were also used for other plants such as lemons. They also state that according to a 1891 drawing made 25 years after the first excavation, Prima Porta Augustus was found at the bottom of the staircase leading to the underground complex, not the complex itself. Alan Klynne and Peter Liljenstolpe have further noted that the statue could have been brought to the basement from another location such as the atrium, where it would have stood on a rectangular structure that stands right on the axis against the south wall of the atrium. As visitors would enter the atrium from the fauces at the northeastern corner, the statue would be the first thing that they would see and that they would view it from the left, which fits Kähler's idea that it should be seen from this position. When the visitor walked across the atrium their eyes would meet with Augustus's right hand, thus "receiving" the address that Augustus made.

The story of gallina alba narrates that after Livia married Octavian an eagle dropped a hen with a laurel branch onto Livia's lap, which the religious authorities of Rome took as a sign of blessing. The plant was ordered to be planted with great religious care at what is now known as the villa surbana, where it grew into a grove. According to Jane Clark Reeder, when Julio-Claudians experienced military success they would take a laurel branch from the villa.

An underground garden room featuring naturalistic wall paintings is located within the villa. The pictures depict serene and peaceful scenes with flourished botanicals, which Rosemary Barrow and Michael Silk state illustrate the peace that Augustus brought to Rome, which they believe corresponds to the "Pax Augusta" presented on the statue's cuirass. They further note that as both Prima Porta Augustus and the wall paintings try to express the same theme of peace, and the villa was a place for public display, the statue was a way for Augustus to spread his reputation as a protector of peace. (This is my own theory. I did not add this to the main space.)

Further Analysis

The statue of Prima Porta Augustus is believed by scholars to likely be a second-century marble copy of an original bronze sculpture and dates to the reign of Tiberius.

It was a common practice in Augustan Rome to collect honorific statuary at individuals' villa, however scholars have stated that the viewership of Prima Porta Augustus added another significance to the sculpture. Barrow and Silk have argued that the sculpture was a way for Augustus to express male superiority under the patriarchic social structure and that the location of Caelus above Tellus on the cuirass implies that the societal position of women was inferior to that of men. They further note that although Livia was born into an aristocratic family, her marriage to Augustus restricted her role as a mother and Augustus' supporter and that her subjection to Augustus was further consolidated in her daily observations of Prima Porta Augustus in the villa.

They have also noted that despite this, by placing the statue in her villa Livia was trying to establish her own authority, as the villa was a place for public display rather than a private collection. As such, the viewership was not limited to her and were considerable challenges to Livia, since she would need to fulfill the principle of decorum while also expressing her own influence. Barrow and Silk further wrote that the statue had two purposes; it demonstrated the divinity and military prowess of Augustus to the multitude and identified Livia as Iulia Augusta, a widow of an emperor who claimed divine lineage.

Bruce Cole has noted that the outfit Augustus wear makes the body ambivalent, as he is both "clothed" and "naked" at the same time.  He wears a military armor to cover up his body, however his visible nipple, muscle structure, combined with his exposed legs, allow the audience to behold his body through the armor. Cole has noted that the statue has a mixed feeling of "Greek" and "Roman" due to Augustus standing in contrapposto, causing his posture to mirror that of Dorophros of Polyklioties, or the Spear Carrier. In response to this observation Barrow and Silk have pointed out that the statue's feet are placed further apart than that of Dorophros and Spear Carrier and the angle of his head is also positioned differently. Michael Squire feels that it is also unlikely that Augustus holds anything in particular in his right hand since his finger is extended rather than clenched. Instead, he reaches his right hand out in the air, which Barrow and Silk believe seems to make an oratorical address is a distinct Roman characteristic.(I feel this might feel a little repetitive compare with the information written in the section "iconography," therefore, I left this paragraph in my sandbox. Since the article has a good amount of information on the formal analysis of the statue, I think it is better for me to focus on the grounding.)

Comments - Sarah Hujber

There seems to be some information about the Villa of Livia at the beginning of the article, "The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863 at the villa suburbana (Villa of Livia) owned by Augustus’ third wife, Livia Drusilla in Prima Porta, near Rome. Livia had retired to the villa after Augustus's death in AD 14", so I think that you could either put in bullets 2-5 there or created another section titled "Villa of Livia". That might be better because you have a lot of information and it seems long to be in the introduction.

You could also replace the sentence I quoted with your first bullet point.

The section "original" looks like it has the information you wrote in the first bullet point of "Formal Analysis and Controversies" but there is no source so you could change the wording and add the source.

You can add, "The outfit Augustus wear makes the body ambivalent.  He is both "clothed" and "naked" at the same time.  He wears a military armor to cover up his body.  However, his visible nipple, muscle structure, combined with his exposed legs, allow the audience to behold his body through the armor" into the first section of "Style" and the next part of the bullet point can be added in the second paragraph.

This entire paragraph, "Despite the accuracy with which Augustus' features are depicted (with his somber look and characteristic fringe), the distant and tranquil expression of his face has been idealized, as have the conventional contrapposto, the anatomical proportions and the deeply draped paludamentum or "cloth of the commander". On the other hand, Augustus's barefootedness and the inclusion of Cupid riding a dolphin as structural support for the statue reveals his mythical connection to the goddess Venus (Cupid's mother) by way of his adopted father Julius Caesar. The clear Greek inspiration in style and symbol for official sculptural portraits, which under the Roman emperors became instruments of governmental propaganda, is a central part of the Augustan ideological campaign, a shift from the Roman Republican era iconography where old and wise features were seen as symbols of solemn character. Therefore, the Prima Porta statue marks a conscious reversal of iconography to the Greek classical and Hellenistic period, in which youth and strength were valued as signs of leadership, emulating heroes and culminating in Alexander the Great himself. Such a statue's political function was very obvious—to show Rome that the emperor Augustus was an exceptional figure, comparable to the heroes worthy of being raised to divine status on Olympus, and the best man to govern Rome" in "Style" does not have a source so if any of yours can work for this I would add them!

I think that all of these are useful, but I would focus on the information about the Prima Porta being found in the Villa of Livia because the article completely lacks that.

The information you have and research you did is really good!