Funny enough, those cartoonishly massive eyes were a major feature of Late Roman imperial iconography. The Emperor is more than a mere mortal man, and he is always watching…
Ah, okay. I looked at half a dozen pics of Constantine and was teetering between the eyes being stylized or them actually being a physical feature of the man.
The Emperor is more than a mere mortal man, and he is always watching…
Not bad!
And come to think of it, maybe the original graphics creator chose Big C specifically as a critical object of Marcellinus’ quote and attitude. I haven’t quite seen that approach before in quote-graphics, but it has some legs, I suppose.
You can see some early whitewashing in the portraits of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, wherein they were given somewhat ‘idealized’ and smooth features, even if still in the tradition of Roman portraiture. Emperor Claudius, who was something of a traditionalist who idealized the republic, revived the more realistic portraiture in full. Vespasian, also something of a throwback (though arguably more concerned with PR than ideology) also leaned heavily into these republican traditions.
This was called verism in portraiture - the portrayal, or even emphasis, of physical flaws. As an expression of ROMAN MANLINESS (you aren’t VAIN like some WOMAN, are you!?), as an emphasis of age (marking you as a PROPER Roman head of household, full of experience and wisdom, and not some young stripling!), and of traditional republican values - emphasizing that the man depicted is only a man, not some perfected godlike creature. A fellow citizen, the kind of person you could meet walking down the street - and may want to recognize if you do!
Well damn, that guy doesn’t look like Derek Jacobi at all!
verism
Wow, that’s all rather fascinating. Thanks for explaining. Respect to such Romans +1, and respect to contemporary (et al) portraiture -1, I guess.
Speaking of coins, I collected them as a lad, and still have most of them, but in retrospect I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t aim for more global variety, including ancient coins. Indeed, various Roman and Roman-era coins are surprisingly affordable last I checked. Unfortunately at the time, I was rather enamored of the USA, and mostly stuck to such numismatic issue. Whereas in more recent years my respect has, uh… well, nuf sed on that, anyway.
And come to think of it, maybe the original graphics creator chose Big C specifically as a critical object of Marcellinus’ quote and attitude. I haven’t quite seen that approach before in quote-graphics, but it has some legs, I suppose.
That might be! I just felt the need to make the clarification upon seeing it, since that depiction of Constantine, in particular, is extremely famous.
And… that’s what I get for not researching the pic properly.
Edit done on the post. Better?
Yep!
Funny enough, those cartoonishly massive eyes were a major feature of Late Roman imperial iconography. The Emperor is more than a mere mortal man, and he is always watching…
Ah, okay. I looked at half a dozen pics of Constantine and was teetering between the eyes being stylized or them actually being a physical feature of the man.
Not bad!
And come to think of it, maybe the original graphics creator chose Big C specifically as a critical object of Marcellinus’ quote and attitude. I haven’t quite seen that approach before in quote-graphics, but it has some legs, I suppose.
Check out this coin of Constantine I, straight-up proto-anime XD
Compare and contrast this deeply realistic depiction of Emperor Vespasian some ~250 years earlier:
Impressive, really. I can’t remember too many times a powerful leader’s image didn’t get white-washed due to one reason or another.
You can see some early whitewashing in the portraits of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, wherein they were given somewhat ‘idealized’ and smooth features, even if still in the tradition of Roman portraiture. Emperor Claudius, who was something of a traditionalist who idealized the republic, revived the more realistic portraiture in full. Vespasian, also something of a throwback (though arguably more concerned with PR than ideology) also leaned heavily into these republican traditions.
This was called verism in portraiture - the portrayal, or even emphasis, of physical flaws. As an expression of ROMAN MANLINESS (you aren’t VAIN like some WOMAN, are you!?), as an emphasis of age (marking you as a PROPER Roman head of household, full of experience and wisdom, and not some young stripling!), and of traditional republican values - emphasizing that the man depicted is only a man, not some perfected godlike creature. A fellow citizen, the kind of person you could meet walking down the street - and may want to recognize if you do!
Well damn, that guy doesn’t look like Derek Jacobi at all!
Wow, that’s all rather fascinating. Thanks for explaining. Respect to such Romans +1, and respect to contemporary (et al) portraiture -1, I guess.
Speaking of coins, I collected them as a lad, and still have most of them, but in retrospect I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t aim for more global variety, including ancient coins. Indeed, various Roman and Roman-era coins are surprisingly affordable last I checked. Unfortunately at the time, I was rather enamored of the USA, and mostly stuck to such numismatic issue. Whereas in more recent years my respect has, uh… well, nuf sed on that, anyway.
Tiny mouth? ✅
Huge, watery eyes? ✅
Rounded facial / head features? ✅
Booyah!
That might be! I just felt the need to make the clarification upon seeing it, since that depiction of Constantine, in particular, is extremely famous.