Le Gravitas...

Many ask what "gravitas" means. I encountered it in an art history class I took. It is used for someone or something that has a certain power, a weight, strength and/or determination. All of these attributes are seen, not experienced any other way. Our context was the sculpture of ancient Rome and Greece. The Aulus Metellus, the Young Warrior, Constantine the Great, the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustus of Primaporta are all examples of this. Below are two examples of what I'm talking about.

Doryphoros (or "Spear Bearer") by Polykleitos,

Roman copy after the original bronze of c. 450-440 BCE.

Marble, height 6'6": tree trunk and brace strut are Roman additions.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy.

Augustus of Primaporta.

Early 1st century CE

(perhaps a copy of bronze statue c. 20 BCE).

Marble, height 6'8". Musei Vaticani, Braccio Nuovo, Rome.

 

Basically, I hope to have the strength and mental toughness to see the realization of my goals. To be passionate about what I do and love it. That's it.

 

 

Pictures and information from Art History, Volume One, Revised Edition; M. Stokstad, Prentice Hall Inc., 1995. Pages 195 and 247