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Reexamining the Visual Impact of the Togate Body: Deviations and Codified Representations
Bello, Erin Cameron
Bello, Erin Cameron
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Abstract
In this paper I will examine the full bodied togate form in free standing statuary and monumental group sculpture as means of visual agency and demonstrative authority in Roman public spaces. The ideal of the gens togata has framed the scholarship around both statuary and reliefs of the togate statue body and has served to eliminate the narrative beyond a codification of sartorial symbols as indication of status and achievements. The previous discourse surrounding the togate statue body focused on the literature of ancient historical writers that connect it to a national costume and the Republican and Imperial ideal citizen, which correlates the depiction to the object it depicts. The toga undergoes two large upheavals and several smaller transitions stylistically, thus creates a visual format that remains successful in the continuity and micro-deviations. The visual dialogue of the togate consists of the juxtaposition and tension between the face and body, male and female depictions, and between other togate statue bodies. The authority of the statue relies on the object’s reception among others of similar appearance while maintaining a sense of individuality, communicating through the expectation of the viewers in appearance and style. Through an expanding examination of the togate statue body as means of an actual garment, an object, an ideal, and a codified language in and of itself, this paper seeks to examine the visual impact of these statue types among themselves and the public landscape of the Roman world.
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Master of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Fall 2021.
Date
2021
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Keywords
Ancient Roman citizenship, Rome (Empire), Rome Republic, 510-30 B.C.
Citation
Bello, Erin Cameron. "Reexamining the Visual Impact of the Togate Body: Deviations and Codified Representations". Master's Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2021.