- Portrait of Tetrarchs
The Portrait of Four Tetrarchs is a sculpture group of four Roman emperors, wedged into a corner on the facade of
San Marco inVenice ,Italy .The
Roman Empire was ruled by atetrarchy (a group of four rulers), instituted by EmperorDiocletian in293 . The tetrarchy consisted of two Augusti (senior emperors) and two Caesars (younger emperors). The empire was territorially divided into a western and eastern half. After Diocletian and his colleague, Maximian retired in305 , internal strife erupted among the tetrarchs. The system finally ceased to exist around313 .The Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs symbolizes the concept of the tetrarchy, rather than depicting four personal portraits. Each tetrarch looks the same, without any individualized characteristics. The group is divided into pairs, each embracing, which unites Augusti and Caesars together. The overall effect suggests unity and stability. The very choice of material, the durable
porphyry (which came fromEgypt ), symbolizes a permanence of the kind reminiscent of Egyptian statuary and the earlyKouros figures.The figures are stout and blocky, far from the verisimilitude or the idealism of the earlier periods. The figures are stiff and rigid, their attire is patterned and stylized. Their faces are repetitive and they seem to stare in a kind of trance. This tendency toward the abstract and the symbolic perhaps coincides with the atmosphere in
Rome , when the people desired order out of chaos. This shift in artistic style point towards the style of theMiddle Ages .History
The statues probably originally decorated the columns of the porch of the "Philadelphion" in
Constantinople . They were plundered by the Venetians when the city was sacked during theFourth Crusade and brought to Venice. In the 1960's, the missing heel part was discovered by archaelogists in Istanbul close to theBodrum Mosque . This part is housed in theIstanbul Archaeology Museum . As of 2008, there are no requests by the Istanbul government to have the statues restituted.External links
* [http://www.byzantium1200.com/capitolium.html Reconstruction of Philadelphion where Tetrarchs used to stand]
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