Comparisons

• Tetrarchs, Venice
• Head of Constantine, Rome

This statue of the four Tetrarchs emphasizes their roles as united, powerful rulers rather than their individual characteristics. In contrast, Constantine’s head incorporates personal facial features into the pattern of the idealized ruler. These differences are appropriate to the types of rule, since the concept behind the tetrarchy was a solidarity which Constantine destroyed in his civil war to control all Roman territory under his single leadership.

Key Topics

Art and architecture used as projections of power over the past three millennia. 

• Conquerors: Assyrians and Persians used architecture and decorative art to emphasize their superiority over subject peoples.

• Cult of divine kingship: ancient Egyptian rulers reinforced their authority by claiming to be gods, and pyramids reflected their individual importance.

• Divine kingship in Africa: expressed in naturalistic portraits on bronze in Benin, ceremonial stools in Asante, and ndop statues in Kuba.

• Technical advances: the ancient Roman use of concrete and the arch resulted in various new forms projecting imperial authority.

• Continuity: medieval Germans adopted Roman practices to assert legitimacy, and the Normans produced the Bayeux Tapestry to justify claims to the English throne.

• Divine approval: early Southeast Asian dynasties commissioned monumental religious art to enhance authority.