Arch of Septimius Severus
In the Roman Forum (A.D. 203), a yet further stage in the development of what might be termed impressionistic sculpture can be seen on the arch. It is easy to dismiss the groups of ill-proportioned two-dimensional figures with their heavily drilled hair and clothing as naive and degenerate products, representative of sculpture in decline; but as the figures of the Seasons or the Victory spandrels on the same Arch-or indeed the magnificent contemporary figured sarcophagi commissioned by private patrons-amply demonstrate the sculptors of the period had not forgotten how to carve naturalistically; they were merely searching for a new and different means of expression. In this they paved the way for the transition to late antiquity, and ultimately, through Byzantium, to the cathedral sculpture of medieval Europe. (Boardman, 1986)