Influence of Roman Art in Modern Life

Art was a huge component of the Roman way of life. They used paintings and enormous murals made of small stone called mosaics to decorate their houses, shops, and temples. The statues of the Romans were either carved out of marble or cast in metal. Marble was costly and needed a great deal of talent to cut. Thus it served as a status symbol. Bronze was considerably more distinguished since it was more expensive.

The influences of Roman art in modern life can be found in banks, government buildings, and even tiny houses. They often appear in porches with Doric columns or a mosaic shower floor derived from a Roman original, either from the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum.

Ancient Greek sculpture had a significant effect on Roman sculpture, and it was exceedingly realistic, meaning it sought to appear as natural and real as possible. As a result, reliefs covered most temples and major government structures. Reliefs are marble panels with highly carved backgrounds that allow the figures to stand out virtually three-dimensionally.

These panels presented stories and portrayed events from Roman mythology and history. Roman-style reliefs have had a significant influence throughout Christian history. Reliefs depicting events from the Bible can be seen in many of the world's most prominent and influential churches. Statues were created to glorify Gods, heroes, and actual people in Roman civilization.

Ancient Roman literature has had a significant impact on much of modern literature. Poets like Ovid, Virgil, and Horace wrote works that have lasted for centuries during an era popularly known as the "Golden Age of Roman Poetry." Ovid's Metamorphoses influenced authors like Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, and Chaucer. The ancient Romans intrigued Shakespeare, evident in his plays, notably Antony, Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar.

The ancient Romans spoke Latin, which expanded worldwide as Roman political authority grew. Latin served as the foundation for a collection of languages known as the "Romance languages." French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan are among them. The English language has several Latin root words. The Latin alphabet is the basis for the English alphabet. In addition, a significant amount of Latin is still employed in today's legal system.

Despite being significantly inspired by ancient Greece, the Romans improved upon borrowed Greek art and ideas. The Romans continued to utilize columns like the Greeks, but the shape grew more beautiful, intricate, and less structural. The ancient Romans built curved roofs and large-scale arches to hold greater weight than the Greeks' post-and-beam structure. The gigantic bridges and aqueducts built by the Romans were built on top of these arches. Large amphitheaters, such as the Colosseum, were also created by the game-loving ancients. The core idea that the Romans devised is the circular form and tiered seating that we see today in sports stadiums.

The Romans created cement with volcanic ash and volcanic rock, a strong construction material. The usage of this ash, according to modern experts, is the reason that monuments like the Colosseum are still standing today. Underwater buildings built by the Romans proved to be much more durable. When seawater reacts with volcanic ash, crystals form and fill the concrete fractures. Modern builders strengthen concrete with steel to make it as long-lasting as this. As a result, scientists are studying Roman concrete today to replicate the ancient master builders' achievements.

Creative Directors & Responsibilities

Creative directors conceptualize and direct creative projects from start to finish. They chart the creative course by overseeing the overarching vision and story in marketing, advertising, filmmaking, and other creative projects.

Creative directors work in a variety of fields. They work at film studios, periodicals, marketing, advertising firms, charities, and private enterprises. For example, there is a creative director at the White House. The creative director is often saddled with brainstorming sessions, supervising creative decisions, and generating project ideas. A creative director determines a project's creative vision and brings it to life through digital, print, and film installations.

One of the goals the creative director seeks to achieve is to ensure that the creative appearance and feel are consistent. They accomplish this by providing the visuals, messaging, interaction, and correctly executing motion designs. As the creative team leader, the creative director maintains a consistent visual style throughout a project or film. Among others, their responsibilities involve collaboration ranging from effective team leadership to taking instructions from other directors working on the same project.

Often, the creative director's job entails establishing an aesthetic direction and keeping all media production up to date, whether it is the new fashion line's debut or ensuring that the marketing assets correspond with the intentions of an impending film release. Hence, the job description differs from one project to the next.

Being a creative director encompasses various art and design disciplines, including graphic design, costume design, and fine art. However, the work of a creative director might entail managing more significant campaign objectives such as deliverable timetables, budgets, and client relationships.

Creative directors are often conversant with cinematographic techniques, the history of art, design methods, illustration, and literary genres, to name a few. Their ability to execute design thinking and envision project ideas make creative directors an integral part of the creative process.

Usually, creative directors start as photographers, designers, and writers, and sometimes they function in other junior-level creative roles before acquiring the requisite skills for the creative director role. In addition, creative directors work in management roles to hone their leadership and communication skills.

Creative directors are responsible for communicating with their team, corporate management, and clients. Therefore, they provide and accept criticism, manage several team members, and successfully share creative ideas that others can implement. In addition, they are often good public speakers, as they must give presentations regularly.

The responsibility of the creative director is sometimes mistaken for that of the art director. However, these roles are comparable creative leadership roles as their functions may overlap in smaller projects. Each, however, demands a unique set of skills and oversees a separate component of the project. Breaking these functions down into discrete jobs is an excellent way to make each stage of the process easier to manage.

The creative director oversees the overall and more significant concepts while the art director implements the specifics. Art directors get involved directly with implementing design concepts, whereas the creative directors conceptualize and oversee the bigger vision.

The Mind-Body Connection - Definition

The mind-body connection is the interrelatedness of mental and physical health. The thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors can influence the physical body and vice versa. The mind and the body constantly interact through a shared chemical language.

In ancient Greece, doctors understood the mind-body connection and treated their patients accordingly. A “knife” doctor, an “herb” doctor, and a “word” doctor would simultaneously see a patient. Until some 300 years ago, most medical systems considered the mind and the body as a whole.

In the 17th century, however, Western medicine started treating the mind and body as separate entities. Contemporary physicians and therapists rarely collaborate. The late 20th century saw a revival of the mind-body connection, and since then, researchers have amassed an impressive amount of evidence in its support.

Examples of how the mind can affect the body include chronic stress and the placebo effect. Human bodies can handle mental or emotional stress in small doses. People need stress to fulfill their responsibilities and remain safe in their environment. But human bodies cannot adequately handle prolonged stress.

Chronic stress can result from living in unstable or unsafe conditions, having money problems, or working excessively. Human bodies react to stress by releasing two hormones known as stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. Their role is to provide a short-term energy boost, commonly known as an adrenaline rush, so people can quickly overcome danger.

But if these hormones are released too frequently, they can have lasting negative effects. Adrenaline quickens the heart rate and breathing, raises blood pressure, and tightens muscles. Cortisol increases blood sugar or glucose, changes the body’s immune system responses, and suppresses the digestive and reproductive systems. Most symptoms of chronic stress have a physical expression, such as a headache, stomachache, muscle or chest pain, sleep disorders, and fatigue.

The placebo effect occurs when a patient’s symptoms improve after they take a “medication” that does not contain any ingredients that can produce such improvement. The patient must believe that the medication will work for the effect to occur.

While writing her New York Times bestseller Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself (2013), Dr. Lissa Rankin, founder of the Whole Health Medicine Institute, conducted extensive research on the placebo effect. She reported that patients in clinical trials who took sugar pills or saline injections or underwent false surgeries but believed they had taken a new wonder drug or miracle surgery showed improvement 18 percent to 80 percent of the time.

The opposite effect, “nocebo,” also can occur. Studies demonstrated that nearly 80 percent of medical students developed symptoms similar to those of illnesses they were studying. They worried they were sick or would get sick, and consequently, their bodies reacted by getting sick. Negative beliefs and emotions lead to the release of stress hormones, while positive beliefs and emotions help the nervous system relax and bodies heal.

Gut health is a relatively new medical field with the primary aim of achieving a healthy balance of gastrointestinal (GI) tract bacteria to improve digestion, nutrient absorption, and physical and emotional health. Often referred to as the “second brain,” the gut is lined with 100 million neurons. Researchers are continuously finding new connections between the GI system and mental health.

The gut produces 95 percent of serotonin and 50 percent of dopamine in the human body. Also known as the “happy hormones,” serotonin and dopamine are chemical messengers or neurotransmitters that regulate vital bodily functions, such as sleep, memory, metabolism, and emotions. Balanced GI microbiota and “happy hormones” may positively impact mental health.