Septimius Severus is known as the principle and
primary agent in the decline and fall of the
Roman Empire. His firm and militant hand tore
out the final props of the Senate’s power, and
the last validation of its pride. After his
prosperous, though brief reign, Rome was
doomed to be terrorized by a succession of
worthless leaders and greedy soldiers, the
effects of which, she would never completely
recover from. But posterity seems to forget that
since the age of the Antonines, unruly senators
and apathetic emperors, dissolved by faction,
allowed the funds dedicated to the pursuit of
Roman art and public works to dissolve into a
tangle of bureaucracy and extortion. It was the
same hand that obliterated the senate that
restored the votive arts to their coveted place in
society, and the original splendor of their
craftsmanship.
In the words of Gibbon, “Severus was
passionately addicted to the vain studies of
magic and divination.” It was for this reason that
he so meticulously restored the funding of the
temples, the salaries of the artisans, and the
dignity of the artists. He was ever wary of under-
serving the Gods, and ever frightened of their
disapproval.
In this exquisitely subtle and detailed piece of
glasswork, we can clearly see the anxious piety
of the Emperor. His eyes glance upwards, wide
and mystified under the reach of a perplexed
brow. His cheeks are lined with infinitesimal
wrinkles, that curve around his lips and play into
his beard. Sometimes, rarely, a work of art both
beautiful and sensitive, crafted with masterful
skill, causes us to expand our perceptions of the
world that created it. In the presence of great art,
blending talent and vision, we marvel at the
infinite heights to which the imagination aspires.
We wonder who shaped it and for what patron,
what pride each felt in the finished object, what
emotions it stirred in others. This miniature
portrait of sea-colored glass is such a treasure.
Carved with superb detail, majestic yet with a
trace of apprehension, it possesses the
emotional power of works on a much larger
scale. Its perfection suggests it came from an
imperial workshop; perhaps the gift of the
emperor himself to some favored courtier. A
masterpiece of the glassmaker's art, it delights
and awes the senses today as it surely did when
Rome was in her glory.
- (GF.0250)
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