Watercolor journey with the course Roman Architecture by the Yale University
I continue the painting with the course Roman Architecture + the city of Rome with Yale’s course Roman Architecture https://www.coursera.org/learn/roman-architecture.
The Hellenization of late Republican temple, Roman Architecture. 2-4.
The Temple of Portunus is located in the former of the Forum Boarium, nowadays it is on the Piazza della Bocca della Verità, very popular place of the Mouth of Truth from the movie Roman Holiday with stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
It used to be a major commercial area along the banks of the Tiber in antiquity. In the Republican times here was a small port nearby from the side of the Tiber and market, where a lively livestock trade was carried on.
My painting is about the Temple of Portunus; the reference was my husband’s photo from our trip to Rome several years ago. From a distance the impression is that the whole building was made out of stone. The temple of Portunus by Tiber with their columns encircle the structure but is engaging into the wall. It characterizes the Ionic order, called spiral volutes. Greeks’ ionic capitals created for this type of column decoration like a hairstyle, the front parts of them with curls (ionic cymatium) and fruit garlands, and flutes were drawn along the entire trunk, descending like folds on the dress of bride ;) This is another example that Roman architects looked at Etruscan and Greek precedents, decided what they liked and mixed it up the way it best represented their own culture and religion. Another revolutionary step of Roman Architecture for this Temple was using roman concrete construction inside of the podium. This is the reason why Temple of Portunus is one of the few ancient buildings that have managed to stay intact until today.
In the middle ages the temple of Portunus was recreated to a Christian church, and this is another reason why it has been perfectly preserved. In this course the Professor showed the 19th century painting of the temple of Portunus with some architectural changes by this time. Nowadays we can see that the Temple was renovated closer to the original design of the structure, very important for the future preservation of Roman architecture.
In the ancient Roman mythology Portunus was considered the god of doors, keys and honeycomb, the guard of entrances and exits. I would like to go back and visit not just the outside and inside and I see everything with my own eyes. And I hope that the ancient god Portunus will open the door of its Temple for us.
All roads lead to Rome- Alain de Lille
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:)
Painting – Temple of Portunus, Rome, Roman Architecture
Year of construction – between 120 and 80 BC
Address – Piazza della Bocca della Verità, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Tools used for my painting Watercolour siena, burnt siena Van Gogh, perm red light, lemon yellow, viridian Cotman Charvin ochre rouge + violet-Cotman dioxazine purple, Derwent, Albert Durer and Faber Castell watercolour pencils. Paper Acquarello watercolour album. Fabriano, grana grossa rough watercolour album, 22×30 cm (9 ×12 in.)
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