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A Colourful Past Part1 |
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Recent exhibition Gods in Colour: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity reconstructs a number of important Greek and Roman works challenging the popular notion of classical white marble sculpture, illustrating that ancient sculpture was far more colourful and complex than is often thought. The exhibition constitutes the first large-scale effort to recreate the original appearance of ancient sculpture. The ancient use of marble needs to really be considered in relation to the local nature of the stone, rather than the displays we see in museums today. In 21st century Athens you will find it cheaper to clad a home in marble than wood, quite an adjustment for the uninitiated visitor. So too with the ancients of Greece and Rome, where marble was a relatively cheap raw material that was simple to work. As such it could be employed to recreate the more artistically received works in Bronze and especially Chryselephantine (wood finished with ivory and precious stones. Whilst marble could capture the essence of shape, its bare surface would be regarded as quite bland in comparison to the burnished metals and colours of precious stones and ivory, so to complete the illusion paint would be liberally applied to almost every sculpture.
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The Alexander Sarcophagus 320 BC. This earlier work demonstrates the common use of pigment in Greek sculpture which in turn would influence that created in and for Rome. Here naked Greeks fight the vividly coloured and clothed Persians. Reconstructed from the original in Istanbul Museum. |
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Fragment of an Archaic Period horseman (early 6th Cent. BC) showing exceptional preservation of pigment detailing complex costume. Acropolis Museum, Athens. |