Roman Empire

===Portraiture===
{{Main|Roman portraiture}}
{{Multiple image
 | width = 125
 | footer = Two portraits {{Circa|130 AD}}: the empress [[Vibia Sabina]] (left); and the ''[[Antinous Mondragone]]''
 | image1 = Busto de Vibia Sabina (M. Prado) 01.jpg
 | image2 = Antinous Mandragone profil.jpg
}}
Portraiture, which survives mainly in sculpture, was the most copious form of imperial art. Portraits during the Augustan period utilize [[classicism|classical proportions]], evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toynbee |first=J. M. C. |date=December 1971 |title=Roman Art |journal=The Classical Review |volume=21 |issue=3 |doi=10.1017/S0009840X00221331 |pages=439–442 |s2cid=163488573}}</ref> Republican portraits were characterized by [[verism]], but as early as the 2nd century BC, Greek [[heroic nudity]] was adopted for conquering generals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zanker |first=Paul |title=The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus |date=1988 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |pages=5ff}}</ref> Imperial portrait sculptures may model a mature head atop a youthful nude or semi-nude body with perfect musculature.{{Sfnp|Gagarin|2010|p=451}} Clothed in the toga or military regalia, the body communicates rank or role, not individual characteristics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fejfer |first=Jane |title=Roman Portraits in Context |date=2008 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |page=10}}</ref> Women of the emperor's family were often depicted as goddesses or divine personifications.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Portraiture in painting is represented primarily by the [[Fayum mummy portrait]]s, which evoke Egyptian and Roman traditions of commemorating the dead with realistic painting. Marble portrait sculpture were painted, but traces have rarely survived.{{Sfnp|Gagarin|2010|p=453}}