In this gallery talk, led by guest lecturer Lindsay Alberts, we will explore the ways in which sculpture changed throughout the seven centuries that constituted the Roman Empire.  Although we often describe “Roman art” as if it were one constant style, in reality the priorities and goals of the patrons of ancient sculpture varied widely across the 700 years during which Rome dominated the Mediterranean.  We will explore examples in the Roman galleries from the major periods of the empire, from the hyper-realistic portrait busts of Republican Rome to the perfectly idealized figures of the Augustan age to the psychologically introspective art of the Antonines and the late empire.