This statue, the Augustus of Prima Porta, is a classic Roman sculpture of the Emperor Augustus Caesar. Carved in marble, the statue presents Augustus in the armor of Roman General, but posed and shaped in a way as to evoke the Roman gods. The Romans had a belief that the Caesars became gods upon their death, a belief fostered by the construction of temples by their successors.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue-Augustus.jpg

The famous mask of Agamemnon (c. 1500s BCE) was discovered in Mycenae in the 1800s. While early discoverers thought the mask belonged to the Greek King Agamemnon (see Homer’s Iliad and Aeschylus’s Oresteia), later scholarship revealed that the mask actually predated the historical Agamemnon by centuries. The Mycenaean civilization predated the Archaic era and was itself predated by the Minoan civilization.

(Image accessed through Wikipedia Image Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg)

The statue’s subject and pose is an often-copied one, with similar version appearing in famous paintings and sculpture gardens in Europe and beyond for centuries. The statue itself is thought to be based on an earlier Aphrodite sculpture in marble by the ancient Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. However, the direct progenitor of the Venus de Medici was made of the more lightweight bronze.

This statue, the Augustus of Prima Porta, is a classic Roman sculpture of the Emperor Augustus Caesar. Carved in marble, the statue presents Augustus in the armor of Roman General, but posed and shaped in a way as to evoke the Roman gods. The Romans had a belief that the Caesars became gods upon their death, a belief fostered by the construction of temples by their successors.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue-Augustus.jpg

The famous mask of Agamemnon (c. 1500s BCE) was discovered in Mycenae in the 1800s. While early discoverers thought the mask belonged to the Greek King Agamemnon (see Homer’s Iliad and Aeschylus’s Oresteia), later scholarship revealed that the mask actually predated the historical Agamemnon by centuries. The Mycenaean civilization predated the Archaic era and was itself predated by the Minoan civilization.

(Image accessed through Wikipedia Image Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg)

The statue’s subject and pose is an often-copied one, with similar version appearing in famous paintings and sculpture gardens in Europe and beyond for centuries. The statue itself is thought to be based on an earlier Aphrodite sculpture in marble by the ancient Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. However, the direct progenitor of the Venus de Medici was made of the more lightweight bronze.

Etruscan funerary monuments, such as this Sarcophagus of the Spouses, often featured couples and even whole families that represented the subjects in the afterlife. In order to last eternally and powerfully represent those whose remains were stored inside, these sarcophagi would be created from the earthenware material known as terra cotta. Terra cotta was not only immensely strong, but could also be easily painted to represent the subject of the work of art.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louvre-Lens\_-\_Les\_Étrusques\_et\_la\_Méditerranée\_-\_191\_-\_Paris,\_musée\_du\_Louvre,\_DAGER,\_Cp\_5194\_(Sarcophage\_des\_Époux)\_(A).JPG

Concern with the way the figure moves is the best answer. Greek sculptures evolved to look like a living, breathing figure. The contrapossto style, while looking more natural, also makes the figure appear to be in motion, or capable of movement. By focusing on how the figure moves, artists more accurately depicted how it is. The emphasis is on external function, not internal, evolving to focus on not only how the figure moves through space, but also through time, as late Greek statues focused on the process of aging. Either way, an increasing realism across the chronology of Greek sculpture directly correlates to a heightened concern with movement.

Etruscan funerary monuments, such as this Sarcophagus of the Spouses, often featured couples and even whole families that represented the subjects in the afterlife. In order to last eternally and powerfully represent those whose remains were stored inside, these sarcophagi would be created from the earthenware material known as terra cotta. Terra cotta was not only immensely strong, but could also be easily painted to represent the subject of the work of art.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louvre-Lens\_-\_Les\_Étrusques\_et\_la\_Méditerranée\_-\_191\_-\_Paris,\_musée\_du\_Louvre,\_DAGER,\_Cp\_5194\_(Sarcophage\_des\_Époux)\_(A).JPG

The term "clipeus" means round shield in Latin. This type of portrait was sometimes used to depict rulers or notable figures in Hellenistic and Roman art.