Sculpture: From Death Mask to Verism

In contrast to the Greek affinity for portraying idealized and somewhat vague but physically beautiful sculpture, the Romans early on took another path. Arising out of the tradition of creating wax casts of the recently decreased so their likeness would be preserved, rose the concept of verism- "an interest in the faithful reproduction of the immediate visual and tactile appearance of subjects" (Art History, Stokstad pg 168). These wax "death masks" would be painted to look like the original model, and then on special celebratory days and at funeral festivities, someone who closely matched the build and height of the deceased person would don the wax mask and attempt to imitate the dead person so that those in attendance could feel like they dead were still with them. This appreciation for the preservation of the likeness and therefore the essence of respected individuals  gradually transitioned into the commission of sculpted busts. Among the Patricians this practice became almost a display of wealth and lineage with some (as in the image below- Barberini Togatus) choosing to have themselves sculpted surrounded by the sculpted busts of their ancestors.

One of the most interesting aspects of this concept of verism was the tendency to strongly prefer the accurate and possibly even exaggerated details of a subject age such as wrinkles, sagging skin, jowls and puffy eyes. All of these were signs of a long life lived and therefore correlated with knowledge, wisdom and experience; all concepts that were highly regarded in Roman culture far more than youth or beauty. A great example of this detail being carefully rendered is in the sculpture of "A Middle Aged Flavian Woman"