Roman Gaul

Statuary

[Gallo-Roman Statue of Media and her children] 1. Gallo-Roman statue of Media and her children, 1st c. A.D. (Arles: Mus. Lapid). While this statue reflects the Romano-Hellenistic influence in Gallia Narbonensis, it is more a reflection of plebian tastes, an interest in the emotional contradiction represented by the story of Media. Her simple, emotional stance conveys that she is at once both a threat to and a protector of her children. Instead of pure surface form, the message is also conveyed by the linear play of drapery folds.
[Gallo-Roman limestone statue of Touget, the South Gallic hunting deity] 2. Gallo-Roman limestone statue of Touget, the South Gallic hunting deity. 1st c. A.D. (S. Germain en Laye Mus.) The style is Aquitinian Romano-Gallic, plebeian. Technique and figure style is provincial Roman, including the Roman cloak, but the deity holding the rabbit is a local subject.
[Gallo-Roman limestone statue of a lion and gladiator] 3. Gallo-Roman limestone statue of a lion and gladiator, 1st. c. A.D. (Chalons s. Saone: Musée Denon). 1.10 m. high. Shows a plebian taste for private experience rather than public life, the emotionally charged rather than the cold abstractions of official ideology. A stiff awkward pose, rather than the harmony of Graeco-Roman classicism.

Minor arts

[Bronze portrait bust of Gallic chieftain] 1. Bronze portrait bust of Gallic chieftain, 1st c. A.D. (Berne: Hist. Mus.) The Gallo-Roman provincial style reflects a mix of Roman, Mediterranean, and La Tène traditions. Because it is distinct from the political ideological art associated with Imperial government and reflects personal tastes, we speak of it as plebeian.
[Celtic and Celto-Roman stelae] 2. On the right is a pre-Roman Celtic votive object from Montbouy. On the left is the Celto-Roman funerary stele of Popaeus Senator. 1st c. A.D. (Matrei [Tyrol] in situ.) The stele reflects an adaptation of a classical function to an older local Celtic tradition by placing a provincial Mediterranean head on a plinth rather than a statue, even though the stele is associated with the top elite.
[Gallo-Roman glass cups] 3. Glass cups. The bull cup is c. 200 A.D., while the other cups are end of 3rd c. Danish gravegoods.

Stone relief

[Fragment from a Gallo-Roman stone frieze showing the Labors of Hercules] 1. Fragment from a Gallo-Roman stone frieze showing the Labors of Hercules, Vaison-la-Romaine, 2nd c. A.D. (Avignon: Mus. Lapid.) 0.62 m. tall. A child-like expressive simplicity reflects provincial plebian tastes. The ideology of the virtuous hero acquiring supernatural strength yields here to simple narrative, and the artist apparently is not too familiar with the details of the story.