Side with Augustus
original south side
Processional Frieze - Area with Agrippa
The processional friezes of the Ara Pacis seem to provide the first instance in which the family appears together in Roman art, a common theme in later Roman art. Here, on a state monument, women and children join men in a public ceremony.
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The figures to the right, behind Agrippa in the procession, are thought to be family groupings, though the identification of individual figures is debated. Even the major female figure immediately behind Agrippa is thought by some to be Livia, by other Julia. The slab at the far right of this photo was clearly not originaly joined wth the Livia/Julia slab. photo July-Oct. 2008
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"Plate 2 - Procession on the Southside". This double-page spread, published in 1907, shows the condition at that time of the 3 slabs (then in the Uffizi), including the late 18th c. additions by Carradori. These include reconstructed noses on Agrippa and other fgures, plus a head and lower leg and shoe on the background figure at the right edge of the center slab. Note also that the 2 farthest right slabs were not joined in these photos. Some of these late 18th c. additions have been retained, some removed, on the frieze as now seen in the museum. Scanned from Karl Dissel, Der Opferzug der Ara Pacis Augustae, nebst drei Tafeln; Hamburg, 1907, pl.2, center and right sections. Reproduced with appreciation. |
The complexity of the juxtaposed figures is most evident when seen from the side. photo Oct. 2008
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Agrippa, his body partially overlapping 3, perhaps 4 other figures. photo Oct. 2008
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Agrippa, seen near-profile. photo May 2010
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Agrippa seen nearly full-face. photo Oct. 2008
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Agrippa, a portion of his toga covering his head. He is presented as a distinguished but aging man with slightly puffy flesh, creased brow, cheek and neck. Zooming in allows us to see more clearly the crows feet incisions at the corner of his eye and various tool marks on the surface. photo May 2010
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Previously identified as Gaius Caesar, most scholars now consider that the necklace and long hair of this child indicate that he is non-Roman, probably an eastern barbarian prince, one of the hostages of empire. photo Oct. 2008
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Throughout the frieze the hands are varied, impressively evident here, every hand individualized and expressive of its function. Note also the hand stretching the cloth from within. photo Oct. 2008
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The importance of this woman, usually identified as Livia or Julia, is conveyed by her dignified, frontal, foreground stance and the spatial pocket she controls. The woman in the background, with hand on the child's head, is thought to be his mother or a nurse. photo Oct. 2008
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A near full-face view of Livia / Julia, her added nose removed. Scholars agree that incised irises such as these indicate late antique recarving of the eyes, presumably after the original paint had worn off. photo Oct. 2008
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Livia or Julia seen near profile. photo May 2010
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Lower portions of Agrippa, his foot projecting near center of photo, and figures on either side - severe angle view. photo May 2010
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Lower portion of Agrippa seen from below. photo May 2010
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At the center of this photo is the vertical division between these 2 incorrectly joined slabs. Conlin (1992) has shown that the original fragment, in the center of this photo, suggests that the shoe was a type of male footwear, indicating that the adjoining figure, on the missing slab between these 2 slabs, was a male (the incorrect join of these 2 slabs is obvious if one looks at the photo at top-left on this page - incorrect join obvious at upper-right). photo May 2010 |