posted
Metropolitan Museum has an ongoing exhibition about color on ancient statues.
quote: Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color, which opened on July 5th, disabuses us of old ideas about the blank whiteness of antiquity, but that’s hardly its only intent. As it does today, color “helped convey meaning in antiquity.” The colors of ancient statues were not simply decorative surfaces – they were integral to the presentation of these works. Now, color can again be part of how we understand and appreciate classical statuary. And the full acceptance of polychromy in major collections like the Met can begin to put to rest false notions about a classical devotion to whiteness as some ideal of perfection
Reconstruction of the marble funerary stele of Phrasikleia, found in the ancient city of Myrrhinous (modern Merenta) in Attica
Reconstruction of the so-called Chios Kore from the Athenian Acropolis
Reconstruction of a marble archer in the costume of a horseman of the peoples to the north and east of Greece, from the west pediment of Temple of Aphaia on Aegina, Variant C.
Reconstruction of a marble archer in the costume of a horseman of the peoples to the north and east of Greece, from the west pediment of Temple of Aphaia, Variant C 2019 Vinzenz Brinkmann Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung (Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project)
The nose and the right foot have been restored in the 3D-Scan (Alexandra Bongartz, Ralf Deuke)
Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
marble stucco on PMMA, natural pigments in egg tempera, tin, wood, gold leaf
The color values for the reconstruction were determined through comparative study of the technical photography, the well-preserved color on a statue of a Persian rider from the Athenian Acropolis, and the surviving pigments on other fragments from the same pediment. Although the archer’s attire reflects that of famed horsemen from areas north and east of ancient Greece, he may represent the mythical Trojan prince Paris, who abducted Helen and thus caused the Trojan War...
The excavators of the fragments of the pedimental sculptures of the temple of Aphaia at Aigina found many remnants of blue and red paint, but no pigment from the garment of the archer has survived. Paint rendering the skin (a mixture of madder and red ochre) can also be documented on several other warriors and therefore is assumed to have been used on all the figures of the west pediment....
The traces of pigment on the fragments still in the storerooms of the excavation at the sanctuary in Greece could be examined in 2017 using newer techniques of ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis spectroscopy) and visible-induced infrared luminescence imaging (VIL), enabling a more precise identification. These new results led to a higher degree of precision in the new reconstruction of 2019.
The color values for the reconstruction were determined through comparative study of the technical photography, the well-preserved color on a statue of a Persian rider from the Athenian Acropolis,
Statue of a rider. The "Persian or Scythian Rider" Inventory number
Ακρ. 606
The statue was discovered close to the Erechtheion in 1886. Found in many fragments it was reassembled and restored.
The rider is dressed in a short chiton decorated with leaf-like motifs in green, red and blue colour with a yellow outline. His and tight-fitting trousers are decorated with colorful diamonds whose size diminishes downwards, signifying the elasticity of the fabric. On his feet he wears red boots, on which bronze pins for securing the laces can still be seen. He is an archer, as seen from the drilled holes on his left thigh, once used for attaching the quiver, a pouch for arrows. The holes in the horse's forelocks were also used to insert fixed bronze tufts of horsehair, which made the mane's appearance even more impressive.
The statue's conventional name "Persian" or "Scythian" rider is due to his attire which is of Eastern provenance. In Athens, during the 6th cent. BC, lived a few hundred mounted Scythian archers. They were employed as mercenaries, essentially policemen, to maintain public order. However there is another possibility. A ceramic plate, now in Oxford, bears the image of a similar rider and the inscription "Miltiades Kalos", meaning Miltiades is handsome. This has led to the hypothesis that this is a statue of the Athenian general Miltiades who later won the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In his youth, Miltiades spent much time in Thrace, near the land of Scythians. He had fought them on the side of the Persians, defending the military and commercial interests of the Athenians in the Black Sea region.
posted
In the case of the statue of Phrasikleia it seems they found original pigments on the statue itself
quote:Reconstruction of the marble funerary stele of Phrasikleia
Vinzenz Brinkmann. Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
The colors in this reconstruction of an ancient Greek marble statue of a young woman were identified on the original with the help of ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. These techniques revealed numerous pigments: red and brown madder lake, red and brown ocher, and lead white for the eyes, skin, and hair, as well as red and yellow iron oxide, orpiment, and cinnabar for the dress. Certain ornaments had been gilded or perhaps covered with a lead-and-tin foil.
"This richly decorated statue stood on the tomb of a girl named Phrasikleia. She wears a crown of lotus buds and holds a single bud in her left hand. The epigram on the base tells us that she died young, before she could marry.
The famous sculptor Aristion of Paros signed the work. With the help of ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis spectroscopy) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), traces of a numbers of colors on the flesh and clothing could be identified: red and brown madder, red and brown ocher, lead white for the eyes, flesh, and hair, as well as three different reds and yellows (red and yellow iron oxide and orpiment for the garment). Wherever the underside of the fabric is visible - on the sleeve and the lower hem - a dark red pigment (hematite) was deliberately used. Gold leaf and lead tin foil that gleams like silver were applied to the dress and the jewelry. Metal rosettes and shiny yellow swastikas (painted with orpiment and gold ocher) were scattered over the entire garment. Additionally, stars appear on the back of the garment, evidently intended to represent a constellation.
The reconstruction made in 2010 follows the incised patterns and colors that were identified by scientific analysis. But after the latest discoveries by the conservators in the Athens National Museum, the red ocher of the robe has been mixed with cinnabar, giving the color an even more intense effect. The polish of the skin was based on contemporary Egyptian mummy portraits and was done using agate, while a shimmering lacquer (gum arabic) was applied to the irises of the eyes. In 2019, gilding was added to the volute ornament of the belt and precious stones were inserted into the round depressions that are still preserved."
posted
They seem extra content with the reconstruction of the sphinx
quote:Reconstruction of a marble finial in the form of a sphinx
Vinzenz Brinkmann
Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
The original color on the marble sphinx is unusually well preserved. Scientific analyses, photographs with ultraviolet and infrared light, false-color photographs, and archaeological comparisons allow an almost complete reconstruction of the elegant designs in luminous and precious natural colors. Information is missing regarding additional detailing, such as fine lines subdividing the feathers, which may have been the final step in the original painting process.
"The figure of a sphinx, which originally crowned the so-called Megakles stele in The Met’s collection, is depicted in a squatting posture with the buttocks slightly raised and the face turned towards the viewer of the tomb monument. Colors are remarkably well preserved. Some consolidation had been executed in 20th century with a material that produces a visible luminescence when exposed to UV light.
The reconstruction is based on the scientific and archaeological research of the staff of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project Frankfurt am Main. Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann and Vinzenz Brinkmann were responsible for the execution of the color reconstruction.
Please see the Met Perspectives essays on the main exhibition page for further information about the scientific research and the process of reconstruction."
posted
Figure 1. Marble stele with a youth and little girl, and a capital and finial in the form of a sphinx (11.185a–d, f, g, x). (A) Overall view; (B) Marble capital and sphinx. Greek, Attic, ca. 530 BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
posted
A head from Roman time where the color pigments were relatively well preserved
quote:Study 1 of the color scheme of the so-called Treu Head
Vinzenz Brinkmann
Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
A Roman head carved of Parian marble has played a fundamental role in the history of ancient polychromy studies since the late nineteenth century, when German archaeologist Georg Treu published his investigations of its preserved color. Once set into a statue of the goddess Minerva or Venus, the head retains extensive pigment traces, including those used for flesh tones, which are rarely found today. More recently, conservation scientist Giovanni Verri and his colleagues analyzed the surviving paint using noninvasive imaging techniques and other analytical methods. The results informed the two reconstructions of the head’s ancient polychromy exhibited here; each presents a distinctive interpretation of the original painting processes and preserved color.
"The so-called Treu Head in the British Museum, which probably represents a goddess, was found in Rome in the 1880's. The head is finished and painted only on the front side, because it was inserted into a larger-than-life sculpture, which was made of a different material.
Extraordinarily rich traces of paint are preserved on the skin and hair, more than any other ancient marble sculpture. In 2010, Giovanni Verri and Thorsten Opper of the British Museum did a thorough investigation of the pigments and the painting techniques of the head. The initial studies for a reconstruction were carried out based on the results of their research.
On the highly polished marble surface of the work, traces of large areas of pigment applied evenly over the skin have been preserved. A black preparatory drawing outlined the eyes, iris, and pupils and defined the eyebrows (as can be seen in the left side of the face in the study). The eyes were rendered with a glowing mixture of lead white and Egyptian blue, the tear ducts in pink madder. The color of the iris has not been preserved. Intense remains of Egyptian blue are in the upper part of the eye white, they could indicate a painted shadow. Such bluish shadows can often be observed in the eyes of terracotta statuettes. Madder lake was also employed for the nostrils and the interior of the mouth. For the rosy colored skin a complex mixture of calcium carbonate, hematite, goethite, and Egyptian blue was used. The upper and lower eyelids are modeled with madder lake. Highlights, applied with white calcite, are preserved on the right cheek. Black lines of shading sit at the corners of the mouth. The hair was painted yellow, with a painterly modeling of the strands in red ocher (as can be seen in the right side of the face in the study reconstruction). Both the color palette and stylistic features correspond to contemporary panel painting, aiming to achieve a strikingly naturalistic effect. As important as the comparison with the painting of the mummy portraits is for the understanding of the color remains of the Treu head, there is one very serious difference to be noted: This is the painting of a three-dimensional object, which must take into account the shadows cast by natural light. These shadows also change, for example, with the course of the sun.
It is remarkable that the Treu Head was not cleaned following its discovery, as was the usual practice at the time. As a result, the clear evidence for an evenly applied skin tone over the entire face is of central importance for our basic understanding of the polychromy of ancient statuary."
Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
Experimental study 1, 2014 (2022 recreated after loss in 2021):
Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann
marble stucco on a plaster cast after a 3-D scan, natural pigments (chromatographically calibrated) in egg tempera
H. 37 cm.
Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung (Liebieghaus Polychromy Research Project), Frankfurt am Main, inv. Dep.64
Scientific methods employed:
Optical stereoscopic microscopy (10–50x, Zeiss and Olympus),
Raking light imaging (Schott KL1500)
Visible-reflected imaging in black and white (VIS)
Visible-reflected imaging in color (VIS)
Photomicrograph (with microscope or macro objectives)
For further methods see: Verri, Giovanni, Thorsten Opper and Thibaut Deviese. 2010
Scientific evaluation:
Vinzenz Brinkmann, Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, Heinrich Piening
Pigments employed for the study:
red: red iron oxide, hematite, cinnabar; pink: madder, calcite; yellow: yellow iron oxide, goethite; white: lead white, calcite; blue: Egyptian blue; black: soot; skin tone: calcite, yellow and red iron oxide, Egyptian blue
quote:The "Treu Head": A Virtual Color Reconstruction
Giovanni Verri
Using a combination of analytical techniques, conservation scientist Giovanni Verri, with Thorsten Opper, Thibaut Deviese, and Lorenzo Lazzarini, studied the preserved color on an ancient Roman head at the British Museum. This digital reconstruction presents the researchers' key discoveries and Verri's interpretation of the original painting techniques, linking Roman practices with those used for contemporary panel-painting in Roman Egypt.
quote:Description Marble insert head from a statue of Venus or Minerva, with traces of black and red paint on the eyebrows and eyes, and yellow paint on the hair and brow. The flesh is stained pink.
Production date 140-150 (circa) (circa)
Findspot Excavated/Findspot: Esquiline Hill (said to be from) Europe: Italy: Lazio: Rome (province): Rome (city): Esquiline Hill
The head is remarkable for the rich pigment traces it preserves and needs to be handled with great care. It is a key piece for any discussion of ancient sculptural polychromy.
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic