Ara Pacis is a monument and former altar dedicated to Augustus's military campaign triumphs in, what is now, Spain and France. Also, it is representative of Roman peace during the time. In fact, Ara Pacis means Altar of Peace. The numerous reliefs of plants and flowers on the altar is meant to show the fertility of the Augustan empire. Ironically, the Ara Pacis was primarily an open-air altar for blood sacrifice associated with the Roman state religion. The men and women on the sides of the altar are supposed to represent different screens of the sacrifice. The people, such as lictors, priests, members of the Imperial household, including women and children, attendants are dressed in proper clothing and their solemn faces are somehow meant to be a symbol of peace. There are also fragments depicting scenes from myth. Overall, the altar itself is beautiful but it is what you would expect from a piece of Roman architecture. Until you learn that it was used to sacrifice God-knows-what, then you feel dirty and curious to know more.
A diptych is a painting or artwork that is two flat pieces hinged or attached together. Below is a diptych that has a blend of the principles of art: balance, harmony, and gradation. The balance comes from the use of the same colors, brush strokes, and intense disproportion of the characters. The harmony is that they are clearly from the same universe and they compliment each other. The painting plays around with gradation: small eyes to large ones, warped head shapes, light colors on the face compared to the dark background. Triptychs are the same as diptychs, but instead of two pieces of artwork, it's three. Below is a triptych that follows the same principles of art. The fact that the three pieces are connected by universe and interact with each other means that the artist is using harmony. The painting has balance because of the way the artist set up the two adults to be beside each other. It also has gradation because of the use of dark and light colors surrounding the peo
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