• 48 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Roman Art Ideas

Press the button for one real piece of Roman art to draw or make, with a checked fact.

Roman Art Ideas

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  1. A tile-by-tile fish in two colors on a ruled gridA tessera is one tile of a mosaic, usually square. Rule a grid and color one square at a time.

Next step More patterns to drawReal things from the past to draw

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Mosaics 12

  • A bird outlined by a wormlike row of tiny tiles Opus vermiculatum lays tesserae to stress the outline around a subject, often light against dark.
  • A floor of cut marble shapes fitted edge to edge In opus sectile, marble and other materials were cut thin and inlaid to make patterns.
  • A floor that looks littered after a feast The Unswept House, an ancient mosaic design, shows a floor covered with fish, fruit and scraps of food.
  • A guard dog on a doorstep with a two-word warning A floor mosaic in Pompeii shows a chained dog over the words CAVE CANEM: beware of the dog.
  • A knot pattern as the border of a floor mosaic Knot patterns first appeared in the third and fourth centuries AD, in Roman floor mosaics.
  • A pebble mosaic: a coil of round stones in two colors In early antiquity, mosaics were formed from naturally colored pebbles before cut tiles were used.
  • A small fine picture set into the middle of a bigger floor Small fine panels called emblemata were set in as the highlights of larger floor mosaics.
  • A tile-by-tile fish in two colors on a ruled grid A tessera is one tile of a mosaic, usually square. Rule a grid and color one square at a time.
  • A wave-scroll border running around the edge of a floor The Vitruvian scroll, also called the wave scroll or running dog, is a border pattern like waves.
  • Doves perched on the rim of a bowl, one drinking A mosaic from Hadrian's Villa shows doves on a round bowl; one drinks while the others sun themselves.
  • Five tiles in a row: the usual Roman mosaic colors Roman tesserae were cut from local stone, brick, tile and pottery: mostly blue, black, red, white and yellow.
  • Your initial pieced together from snipped paper chips Roman mosaics are built from geometric blocks placed together to make figures, motifs and patterns.

Wall painting 12

  • A face painted in wax colors on a wooden board Mummy portraits from Roman Egypt are naturalistic encaustic portraits painted on wooden boards.
  • A fake view of columns and sky on a blank wall The second style is also called illusionism: architectural features and trompe-l'oeil compositions.
  • A little landscape: a shepherd, a herd and a rustic temple Roman landscape painting showed shepherds, herds, rustic temples and country houses.
  • A painted garland sagging between two nails A festoon is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, of flowers, foliage or fruit.
  • A painted shelf of everyday things to eat Wall paintings at Pompeii take eatables among their everyday subjects.
  • A portrait of a man and a woman holding things to write with A fresco from Pompeii, made about 50 AD, shows a man and a woman holding objects that stand for literacy.
  • A wall laid out as one big picture between two small ones In the second style a layout inspired by stage sets grew up: one large central picture, a smaller one each side.
  • A wall of flat color divided by thin leafy columns The third or ornate style, popular around 20 to 10 BC, used slender columns of foliage.
  • A wall painted to look like blocks of colored marble The first style of Roman wall painting is marked by its trick-of-the-eye imitation of marble.
  • Four walls of one room covered in a garden view Frescoes of garden views were found at the Villa of Livia and are now in a museum in Rome.
  • One wall strip showing all four styles side by side The four styles of Roman wall painting are called structural, architectural, ornamental and intricate.
  • Painted columns splitting a wall into zones In the second style, painted columns divide the wall-space into zones and pass as solid things.

Arches, domes and aqueducts 12

  • A cut-away floor with hot air moving under it A hypocaust heated a building by circulating hot air below the floor of a room.
  • A molding of egg shapes and darts by turns Egg-and-dart is an ornament of egg shapes alternating with V-shaped elements.
  • A road cut across: a curved top and a ditch each side Major Roman roads were stone-paved or graveled, cambered for drainage, with ditches alongside.
  • A roadside stone post with a number cut into it A milestone is a numbered marker on a route. Roman road builders used them widely.
  • A Roman amphitheater seen from the outside The Arena of Verona is an ancient Roman amphitheater. An opera season is still held in it each summer.
  • A round arch of wedge stones with the keystone shaded A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch, placed last, that locks the others.
  • A tall column wrapped in a spiral picture strip The carved frieze of Trajan's Column, dedicated in 113 AD, winds around the shaft 23 times.
  • A triumphal arch with one big opening and two small ones The Arch of Constantine in Rome, dedicated in 315, is 21 m high and has three bays.
  • A tunnel roof shaped like half a barrel A barrel vault, or tunnel vault, is one curve carried along a distance: half a cylinder.
  • An aqueduct of single and double arches across a city The Aqueduct of Segovia has 167 arches, some single and some double, standing on pillars.
  • An early concrete dome built over the cold pool of a bath At Baiae the so-called Temple of Mercury has a 21.5 m dome, the oldest known surviving dome made of concrete.
  • The oldest bridge in Rome with its reflection below The Pons Fabricius, built in 62 BC, is the oldest bridge still standing in Rome.

Statues, busts and coins 12

  • A bow-shaped Roman brooch for pinning a cloak at the shoulder A fibula is a brooch for fastening garments, typically at the right shoulder, built on the safety-pin principle.
  • A bronze rider on a horse, larger than life The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome is bronze and stands 4.24 m tall.
  • A bust with every wrinkle and crease carved in Verism was a highly realistic Roman style of portrait that showed facial imperfections in detail.
  • A cameo: a pale profile raised on a darker stone A cameo has a raised image, cut in stones such as onyx where two contrasting colors meet.
  • A clay oil lamp with a scroll each side of its spout Early Roman lamps made in Italy had scroll-like ornaments, called volutes, beside their nozzles.
  • A coin design: your profile with your name around the rim The denarius was the standard Roman silver coin from about 211 BC.
  • A dark blue glass vase with white figures around it The Portland Vase is Roman cameo glass of about AD 1 to 25: violet-blue glass under white.
  • A figure wrapped in a toga, one long curved cloth The toga was a roughly semicircular cloth, 12 to 20 feet long, draped over the shoulders and body.
  • A giant marble head and foot left over from one statue The Colossus of Constantine survives in pieces: a marble head about 2.5 meters tall and feet over 2 meters long.
  • A glossy red bowl with the maker's stamp on its base Terra sigillata is fine red Roman pottery with a glossy surface; makers stamped the vessel's bottom.
  • A marble emperor standing taller than a real person The Augustus of Prima Porta, discovered in 1863, is marble and stands 2.08 meters tall.
  • A signet gem with a tiny animal carved into its face An engraved gem, or intaglio, is a small gemstone carved with an image on one face.

How it works

Roman art is good to copy because so much of it is pattern and structure: floors of small square tiles, walls painted to look like marble, arches locked by one stone. Each idea here comes with one checked fact.

Read the full guide

Roman art easy to draw: start with a grid

A mosaic is made of tesserae, single tiles that are usually square, so squared paper does half the work. A tile-by-tile fish in two colors on a ruled grid and Five tiles in a row: the usual Roman mosaic colors are both Easy, a choice under More filters.

Four ways the Romans painted a wall

Roman wall painting is sorted into four styles: structural, architectural, ornamental and intricate. The first imitates marble. The second paints columns and views that trick the eye. The third, popular around 20 to 10 BC, is called ornate. The Wall painting group draws on them.

Questions and answers

What is a Roman mosaic made of?

Small blocks called tesserae, cut from local stone, with brick, tile and pottery added for color: mostly blue, black, red, white and yellow. In early antiquity mosaics were made from natural colored pebbles.

How does a Roman arch stay up?

With a keystone: the wedge-shaped stone at the top of the arch. It is the last piece placed, and it locks all the other stones into position so that the arch can bear weight.

What Roman art can a class make as a project?

A paper mosaic: your initial pieced together from snipped paper chips needs only colored paper and paste. The coin design, your profile with your name around the rim, is one circle and some lettering.

Did Roman portraits look like real people?

Many did. Verism was a highly realistic Roman style, used mainly for portraits of politicians, in which facial imperfections were shown in detail.

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