Augustan and Julio-Claudian art

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Augustan and Julio-Claudian art is the artistic production that took place in the Roman Empire under the reign of Augustus and the Julio-Claudian dynasty, lasting from 44 BC to 69 AD. At that time Roman art developed towards a serene "neoclassicism", which reflected the political aims of Augustus and the Pax Romana, aimed at building a solid and idealized image of the empire.

The art of the age of Augustus is characterized by refinement and elegance, adapted to the sobriety and measure that Augustus had imposed on himself and his court. During the principality of Augustus, a radical urban transformation of Rome began in a monumental sense. Suetonius recalls that:

Rome was not up to the grandeur of the Empire and was exposed to floods and fires, but he embellished it to such an extent that he rightly boasted of leaving the city he had found made of bricks of marble. In addition to that, it also made her safe for the future, as far as she could provide for posterity."^[1]

Still influential was the Greek sculpture from the 5th century BC, of which many works remained. This continuation of neo-Atticism influenced architecture, craftsmanship, and painting. Emblematic works of this era are the Ara Pacis, the Via Labicana Augustus, and the Augustus of Prima Porta.