Original scientific paper

ARTS OR CRAFTS? DECORATION OF THE ANTIQUE MONUMENTS OF THE CITY OF PULA. SERGII ARCH

Kristina DŽIN ; Medulin

Abstract

The Colonia Pola was established in 46 or 45 BC as
one of Caesar’s colonies which was intended to serve as
a stronghold of Roman conquest of the Adriatic coast all
the way down to Greece. Pola was occupied, ravaged and
demolished after Octavian’s victory in the Battle of Actium
in 31 BC. Octavian Augustus soon restored Pula and
transformed it into an imperial city, which was bequeathed
with signs of the emperor’s benevolent reign.
During the third and second decades BC, the Sergii Arch
conceived as triumphal Roman memorial located at a
prominent site at the entry and exit to the city, at the axis
of the main thoroughfare (decumanus), It emerged through
a combination of public (city) and private (familial)
representation in the creation of a unique system of urban
fortification and decorative functions. The Pula arch was
commissioned and constructed by Salvia Postuma Sergi
with her own money, which she clearly and unambiguously
indicated with an inscription engraved in the middle of the
frieze (Salvia Postuma Sergi / de sua pecunia).
I. Figural and floral decorations of the arch’s loadbearing
structures
The pilaster-strips on the arch’s facade are decorated with
acanthus leaf. The picturesque wealth of the composition is
additionally enhanced by the tendrils which ennoble the
entire visual experience.
The surfaces of the pylons is decorated with grape
bunches and leaves. The central area of one of these is
filled in with a bird which gracefully pecks at the grapes .
This motif in the form of an acanthus is modelled on the
forms of Greek artistic traditions.
A large composite flower, was made in the middle
of the geometric form. The corners are decorated with a
stylized palmette whose archetypes can be found in the
Greek artistic world, while in this example it is rendered
very sculpturally.
A snake can be observed in the quadrilateral in the
middle of the vault of the spacious arch. The snake, is
engaged in battle with an eagle in frontal stance with wings
spread. Typologically, this scene of a snake and eagle has
a symbolic tradition in Hellenistic mythology. This is also
confirmed by the fact that the Sergii Arch was erected for
the express purpose of glorifying the Sergi family.
Winged sphinxes resting on their hind paws were later
revived with Late Hellenism both in sculpture and pottery,
so that it can often be encountered on Roman monuments
as well, particularly on sepulchral monuments and
sarcophagi.
The griffin underwent a long-term and diverse
typological metamorphosis both in the Orient and in
Greece. In iconographic terms, from the Augustan era to
the end of Late Antiquity, the griffin served to decorate
honorary reliefs, altars, sarcophagi, tombs, numerous
frescoes and mosaics.
The hippocampus, with the head and hind of a horse
and extended in a long sinusoid fish tail. On the Sergii
Arch, the hippocampus has two large fins instead of hind
legs, with a third, much smaller fin which curls toward the
back. This articulation of the hippocampus, like the griffin,
reflects the unrestricted creative imagination of the artist
who worked on the reliefs of the panelled vault of Pula’s
triumphal arch.
Dolphins close the series of “marine animals” so wellknown
in Greek art on funereal monuments, on which
they always certainly represent the journey of the deceased
to some divine islands, while more rarely they exclusively
symbolize the sea.
Among the many real animals on the arch, there is
a bob-tailed dog and two long-tailed cats moving left.
Their bodies are rigid in what can be interpreted as an
aggressive stance. In typological terms, such images are
present in the sculpture and painting of the Roman era,
and they are associated with sepulchral monuments with
a symbolic character.
Spandrels with Winged Victory are motifs which in the
figural arts can be found in Greek art. This is a scheme
which shows the goddess Nike with wings spread and a
crown in her hand, and it symbolizes victory. The Pula
example is most similar to the goddess Nike crowning
Athena on the frieze of the so-called Gigantomachy from
the Great Altar in Pergamum.
However, on the Sergi Arch the stylistic interpretation of the figure with a limited baroque accent typical of the
Pergamum art style of the second century BC is the most
important. Based on these facts, the Pula-type Winged
Victory may be strictly associated with the Pergamum world
of Asia Minor via Greek iconographic influences.
The Corinthian capitals of the Sergii Arch have two
specific features. First, the external curls are covered with a
long acanthus leaf which passes over the edges, and second,
the abacus is composed of thin touching edges and an
oval base.
There can be no doubt that the cut of the acanthus leaf
on the Pula capitals of Corinthian type belong to the pre-
Augustan era, while some details of the rendering reflect the
Hellenistic influence of Asia Minor, considerably different
from the “official” Roman rendering.
II. Ornamentation of the trabeation and attic
The garlands held up by the Erotes and bucrania on
the sides of the frontal frieze of the Pula triumphal arch
are presented in the form of flowers and branches which
are held at the ends by Putti and by the bucranium in the
middle. Such composition is unique among the decorations
of the honorary and triumphal arches of the time.
Since Pula’s triumphal arch dates to the proto-Augustan
period, it constitutes a transition in which the bucrania and
Erotes with baroque elements of the Hellenistic sculpture of
Asia Minor were simultaneously applied. A composition of
Selene enshrouded in a robe which flutters in the wind,
riding a biga chariot pulled by two galloping horses. It is
precisely such compositions on the Pula triumphal arch
which drew their inspiration in the pictorial depictions of
the Greek tradition. The position of Selene and as well as the
horses pushing forward, the airy quality of the heavy robe
fluttering about the body of the goddess, all accentuate the
plasticity and tension of the bodies, indicating a quality that
expresses the influence of the Hellenistic artistic conceptual
sphere of Asia Minor.
The motif of the irregularly placed weapons on the surface
of the frieze of the triumphal arch also has its precedents
and conceptual origins in the Hellenistic world. With regard
to the inscription and the dating of the monument, this is
the first example of such a composition in the Italic zone
of the Roman era.
In crafting an architectural creation of the first
generation of such Roman triumphal arches in Pula,
the builder, notwithstanding any political or social
preoccupations, was exclusively consumed with a minutely
assigned task within limited urban confines and guided by
the spiritual and visual essence of Hellenistic and Oriental
architectural expression.
The Pula triumphal arch, constructed to commemorate
the members of the Sergi family, is a spiritual expression
of the Hellenistic influence on construction and artistic
decoration. The artistic experience of the triumphal arch
indicates the explicit specificity and sublime personality of
an engaged architect and artist of Hellenistic provenance.
The urge to unite the majesty and power of the Empire in
a segment of official special-purpose architecture, in an
honorary and memorial stone arch, made it possible for a
workshop to evoke the atmosphere of the Graeco-Hellenistic
tradition by applying the models and combinations of
forms in stone.

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

85447

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/85447

Publication date:

1.11.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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