The Revelation...

Sorry kids, I let it slip my mind that I had one more post to make this weekend concerning my less than beloved Roman Emperors series (sorry Commodus, maybe next round).  Our final entry is the painting I did of Titus Flavius Domitianus, better known as Domitian, twelfth emperor from 81-96 AD.  Domitian is another tricky one in terms of reputation, and this is what fascinated me about him.  Roman historians and Judeo-Christian tradition has him marked down as awful tyrant and persecutor, but modern scholarship has found that though he was no doubt an absolute autocrat, he was less the insane tyrant than another victim of posthumous slander.  In other words, he ticked off the Roman aristocracy and they're the ones that paid to get the histories written.  And yet, he was the one that banished John to Patmos where he wrote the New Testament's most infamous book, The Revelation.

This painting came about because of a conversation I had with the great Barron Storey at a show he participated in here in Los Angeles.  Barron, in addition to being a great artist and illustrator, was the professor to a great many of the artists and illustrators of whom I've been enamored of since my youth.  After a conversation about the French Revolution and a variety of historical topics, Barron asked if I ever included my studies in my work.  The answer was a timid "not really", but the question stuck in my mind.   Then I recalled my fascination with the conflicting points of view on Domitian, and felt I had struck upon something that begin to fill that gap.  So I searched for photos of the few remaining contemporary busts of Domitian, and pieced together a portrait. However, due to the conflicting views between past and present, I left the chips and cracks to the bust on his flesh, and the tarnish soiling his cuirass.

A Horse, A Horse...A Senate for My Horse...

Of course my final sketch of a less than beloved Roman emperor had to be Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, now better known as Caligula, who ruled from 37-41AD.  While he started out as a welcome relief to paranoia driven tyranny of his predecessor, Tiberius, we now know him for having upped the excess marker for royal living...at least we think we have, there are few surviving contemporary sources from his reign, and Romans had something of a habit of excessively denigrating the excess of those rulers they didn't care for. So whether he actually romped in the sack with his sisters or put his horse in public office, we may never know, but we do know that he made enough people to be murdered by his own guards.  The name Caligula means "little boot", a nickname he earned from his father Germanicus' soldiers who had him made an unofficial mascot and dressed him in a miniature uniform.

Either later today or this weekend, look for a post on my latest painting which also features a less than beloved Roman emperor.

A Nice Relaxing Bath...In Blood...

Today's less than beloved Roman emperor is one Lucius Septimius Bassianus, now better known as Caracalla.  Ruler from 198-217AD, Caracalla was known for four things: killing his co-ruler brother Geta, massacres and persecutions, eventually being assassinated while taking a leak on the side of the road, and the elaborate baths he had built that lasted until the 6th Century when they were destroyed by the more body image conscious* Ostrogoths.  The nickname of Caracalla referred to the style of Gallic cloak that he favored and would NOT have been a name you'd ever call this guy in person.

(*pure speculation on my part...)

...While Rome Burned...

To celebrate the piece I showed at the Hive Gallery over the weekend, which we'll get to some time this week, I thought a week of Roman emperors would be appropriate...particularly the ones with a less than stellar reputation.  We'll kick things off with Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, commonly referred to as Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire from 54 to 68 AD before committing suicide while on the run from rebel forces supporting Galba, the following emperor. A rule of tyranny and extravagance, when a great fire destroyed much of Rome, Nero himself was blamed, even though modern historians believe he wasn't in the city at the time and spearheaded organizing the forces that put it out.  To allay suspicion that he had started the blaze to clear land for his new palace, Nero blamed a relatively new religious "cult," The Christians, but his punishment went to such excess that it only worsened his reputation.  Also, he's the only emperor I've seen the rocked the weird neck-beard.

Five in One...One in Five

Today's sketch is from a marred statue believed to be of the Roman emperor, Pertinax.  Pertinax was a high-ranking military and senatorial figure when he took the purple, but when he tried to reign in the excesses of the Praetorian guard following the crazed and destructive reign of Commodus...they, uh...had him killed.  This sparked off a power play that saw five emperors come and go in a single year until things finally settled down under Septimius Severus.  It was during some research that I came across the image on which this is based and loved the Jonah Hex-esque maiming of the marble figure's features.