Roman Portraiture: Etruscan Art

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Roman portraiture based itself in the Etruscan art, it also had influences of the period of the Hellenistic Greek sculpture and “masks mayorum”; masks of wax applied to the face of the deceased. The materials used in the Roman portrait were typically bronze and marble. Roman portraiture can be described as alternately “veristic” commonly associated with the Roman Republic portraiture. It meant that there was an interest in a faithful reproduction of the immediate visual and tactile appearance of the subject. Or there was “classicizing”, a nod to the Hellenistic greek period. Specifically the Roman Republic, 509-527 BCE, sought to emphasize certain aspects of representation to legitimize their authority, such as sculpting advanced age or