Pengpai News reporter Huang Song compiled
Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman marble sculptures give people a sense of sacredness and solemnity, they are beautiful and intellectual. Their beauty has never given people the feeling that it is not five-color decoration, but when did we have this perception?
The Paper learned that from July 5, "Chrome: Ancient Colorful Sculptures" was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York. The exhibition is painted in an original and vibrant form and reproduces 14 ancient Greek and Roman statues, including the Sphinx, as well as more than 40 other ancient sculptures and pottery. They are in the bright exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum of , and they are talking to ancient sculptures polished into pure white by time.
In the exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum, the color-reconstructed " Greek Woman" looks out of place among the white marble sculptures. The colored replica of the Sphinx in the "Color" exhibition is the result of extensive collaboration between the Liebieghaus Skulptureenshammlung and the Metropolitan Museum. Other reconstructions of the exhibition were created by antiquarians of the Frankfurt Sculpture Museum Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, the couple has been studying color systems for more than 40 years. Their leading "Gods in Color" exhibition has been ongoing around the world since 2003, and its replicas have been collected by several museums.
In the exhibition hall of the Metropolitan Museum, the Sphinx (right) in 530 BC was exhibited together with the reconstruction
exhibition name "chrome" (chrome) is an academic term that means "five-color", which specifically refers to the sculpture being covered with oil color. The exhibition presents new discoveries of ancient colors surviving in the Metropolitan Museum’s collections, explores ancient color practices and materials used, and explores how colors help convey their meanings, and how ancient multi-color sculptures were viewed and understood in later generations.
Instead of grouping these colorful reconstructions into a separate exhibition hall, the Metropolitan Museum scattered in the museum’s iconic Greek and Roman halls, and expounded through the exhibition halls on the scientific process of the real color generation of the statue.
Sphinx, marble, ancient Greece, 530 BC
Take the "Spindles" as an example. This "Spindles" from 530 BC originally stood on a tall monument in the exhibition hall. There are a large number of traces of yellow, red, black and blue pigments left on it, and there was a palm and vortex (spiral curly) pattern on the front of the column. " Sphinx " is a mythical creature that has appeared in various forms in art in the Eastern Mediterranean region since the Bronze Age. Ancient Greeks depicted it as a winged woman, as the patron saint of the dead, its image often appears on tombstones.
Given that the original color of the marble sphinx has been relatively well preserved, through scientific analysis, UV and infrared photos, virtual color photos and archaeological comparisons, it is possible to fully reproduce the elegant design from more than 2,500 years ago with bright and precious natural colors. The details of the information that are almost lost, such as how to subdivide feathers, may be the last step in the original painting process.
Metropolitan Museum of New York Greek and Roman exhibition hall
Another example is that Caligula (Caligula) was the Roman emperor in the 1st century AD. He was 25 years old when he was in power, but died in assassination only for 3 years, 10 months and 8 days. After that, his monumental sculptures were destroyed. The marble statues in the Metropolitan Collection record the image of the young monarch, but the scabs on its surface indicate that they were once buried in a watery environment and the marble surface is currently well preserved. But luminescence imaging technology has identified the Egyptian blue on the back. Although its purpose is not yet known, Egyptian blue is usually mixed with white and pink pigments to be used for the flesh color of Roman portraits; plus black, it will be used to indicate shadows.
Marble bust of Emperor Gaius (Caligula), Rome, 37–41
Researchers used various scientific methods to conduct extensive analysis of rich color traces.The investigation found that there was a pink color between the lips and lower eyelids, a mixture of iron oxide and chalk on the neck under the right ear, and the hair, eyelashes and pupils were drawn with carbon black extracted from burnt bones, which could be a sketch mark on marble. Brinkman also studied another portrait of Caligula in the Frankfurt Sculpture Museum and applied the vaguely visible colors on it to the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Collection.
Caligula in the exhibition hall
Caligula color reconstruction
To determine the color of ancient statues, the Brinkmans merged scientific and art history research. For example, when reconstructing ancient Greek archer statues, they used ultraviolet and oblique light to determine the patterns originally drawn on their surface, and then used technical photography to observe the archer's color.
After that, they studied in-depth clues in art history - a Persian knight from Acropolis , which was well preserved, helped the Brinkman and his wife determine the color of the archer. After the research team studied Greek pottery and schitese textiles similar to the archer's clothing pattern, golden spots were also placed on the replica.
Brinkmann's team of color reconstruction Greek archers
Metropolitan Museum of Greece and Rome Art Curator Seán Hemingway (grandson of writer Hemingway), believes that most ancient Greek and Roman statues have traces of original multicolor. For ancient Greek and Romans, the white and solemn marble is not considered a finished draft, but a blank canvas. So, why do these brightly colored statues make the audience feel uncomfortable after they are reconstructed?
Fragments of the marble stele (tombstone) of the infantry, ancient Greece, about 525-515 BC, actually a white marble statue, is a concept of the Renaissance. Now I don’t know why this concept has been formed. But during the Renaissance, sculptures with remnants of color were also found. And Renaissance people should also be able to read the fact that there is color on the sculpture in the relevant text.
The goddess standing, ancient Greece, about 525-500 BC, but during the Renaissance, the aesthetic standards of white antique marble were formed, which may be the supreme visual code that was wanted to convey politically. This concept was until the 18th century, when archaeologists excavated marble sculptures in Pompeii's ancient city , retaining the color due to the cover of volcanic lava. This gradually changed people's understanding. In the 19th century, the multi-colored issue began to be discussed publicly due to public acceptance, but by the early 20th century, the color issue on ancient Greek marble was suppressed to some extent, which may be related to the ideological tendency.
Marble statue of a member of the royal family, Rome, 27 BC-68 BC
Although the colors of ancient sculptures have been studied for nearly half a century, Brinkmann is certainly not the first to observe the colors of ancient sculptures. In a small exhibition hall dedicated to exhibitions, a 1919 watercolor depicts the appearance of a statue in the Acropolis in Athens after it was discovered and before it was exposed to the sun.
Emil Gillellon (1850–1924) Watercolor painting of limestone sculptures in the Acropolis of Athens
Although, the colors of the replicas in the exhibition hall made some visitors feel out of place. With extensive scientific explanations and lifelike replicas, the "Color" exhibition has given new insights to ancient statues. "We believe that reappearance is the most powerful education to allow the public to gain a different understanding. At the same time, 'white purity' is a misunderstanding. Our research is a process of constantly approaching the truth, and we have no time machine and we can never find the complete truth," Blinkman said.
Bronze statues such as Roman Quirinal (boxer) reconstructed by Brinkmann,
Maybe the exhibition will eventually change our view of ancient sculptures-they are not original white, but colorful and vibrant artistic expressions.
Note: The exhibition will last until March 26, 2023. This article is compiled from "Hyperallergic Magazine" and "The Metropolitan Exhibition Brings Back the Color of Ancient Sculptures" (Elaine Velie/text) and Metropolitan Art Museum official website.
Editor in charge: Gu Weihua
Proofreading: Ding Xiao
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