Lmst

A painted #Etruscan terracotta cinerary urn lid with a reclining woman.
Found in Chiusi, dating 150-120 BC.
On display at Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe.

#Polychromy #archaeology

Marble of a Different Color: New Discoveries on the Parthenon Sculptures ~ New research offers clues about the original colors used in the Parthenon and its statuary.

https://wildhunt.org/2023/10/marble-of-a-different-color-new-discoveries-on-the-parthenon-sculptures.html

#Athena #BritishMuseum #archaeology #Greece #parthenonmarbles #museums #pagan #polychromy

5th c. BCE small Greek terracotta naiskos (shrine) with the god Hermes and two goddesses or 'nymphs'. They all have large shield fibulae pinning their clothes at their shoulders. Clear remains of the original pigments. #polychromy #archaeology

From Tanagra (Boeotia, Greece)
Altes Museum, Berlin

A small terracotta naiskos (shrine or temple, usually funerary), with three figurines facing forward. Hermes, on the left wears a dangerously short white unbelted chiton with a large shield fibula (pin) holding the garment together at his right shoulder. Two other figures are identical women, each wearing a colorful peplos, which reach to the ground. It seems to be striped in red, blue and possibly white pigments. They each wear large upside-down conical hats (like Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series) and they have shield fibulae at each shoulder, ho,ding up their garments. All three figures stand on a stepped platform within the shrine, which is missing its pediment.

5th c. BCE, from Tanagra, Boeotia, Greece
Altes Museum, Berlin (TC 6678)

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The #gravestone of a boy named Herakleides. After it was broken, one segment of the #stele was somehow protected from weathering - on it we can still see the painted lower half of the boy, with his little dog jumping up at him. 4th century BC, Museum of the Royal Tombs, Vergina

This is a really good example of how much we lose when #pigments fade (or are scrubbed) away. #polychromy

the part with pigments preserved - legs of a boy, the shoes, and a dog

Of course, I'm always thrilled to see little remnants of #polychromy, and here you can see traces of once-vibrant red pigment in the letters. I also have to wonder if anything was written on the tag (usually seen with a bust) below the figure of Fortunatus, now lost. 🤷‍♂️ 5/

Extreme closeup of some of the inscribed letters, showing faint remains of red pigment. Photo: my own

Closeup of the 'tag' below the figure of Fortunatus (in fact, he's standing on it, as if it were a pedestal). Normally seen below Roman busts, this kind of tag has a name, but I've forgotten it. But it could easily have had a painted inscription, now lost. Photo: my own

An extremely large 2,300-year-old funerary building and a large cache of mummies - and mummy portraits - has been discovered in the Fayum province of #Egypt. It apparently covers the Ptolemaic and Roman eras. I love the tempera portrait, below. Very sweet. #polychromy

A so-called Fayum mummy portrait, one of several recently discovered in the Fayum province of Egypt. It depicts the head and upper torso of a Roman era woman, her light brown hair pulled back, with rosy cheeks and a smile on her face. She wears dangling earrings and a double strand necklace/choker, twisted gold bracelets and a double-finger ring. In her right hand, she holds a floral garland, in her left, a bottle of scented oil (I think), both funerary objects. She's wearing a orangish-brown tunic with two black (and maybe gold) clavi (vertical stripes). Her brown eyes are very large. Painted in a fairly naive style in - I think - tempera. Photo by Mohamed Samah

Today is the 2,012th birthday of the beautiful Bythinian lover of the emperor Hadrian, #Antinous. Here, he appears as a priest of Attis, lover of Cybele (found in the sanctuary of Cybele/Magna Mater).

Also, visible remnants of red pigment in the hair. #polychromy

Head of the youth from Bythinia, Antinous, lover of the emperor Hadrian, who was deified after his tragic death in the waters of the Nile. He's always easy to recognize, with his curly hair and beautiful features. His head is encircled by a crown with effigies carved in relief portraying Nerva (or Trajan?) and Hadrian, suggesting that he's depicted here as a priest of the Imperial cult/priest of Attis.

Late Hadrianic period (AD 130-138). Found in the Campo della Magna Mater in Ostia in 1869. There are visible traces of red pigment in his hair. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

Closeup of the left side of the head of Antinous, where red pigment can easily be seen in his curls.

Lekythos figurine in the form of Aphrodite in a shell. The almost airbrushed technique in the pinks is remarkable.

4th c. BCE. From the necropolis of Phanagoria, a Greek colony on the Taman peninsula, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. #polychromy

Hermitage Museum

An ancient Greek lekythos (a vessel used to store oil used for religious or funerary purposes) with the upper torso of a golden-haired Aphrodite, being born from a large shell. The use of a range of pinks is truly remarkable, as the painter used a delicate technique, very like sfumato or airbrushing. Photo: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

This Etruscan roof tile is late 6th c. BCE, and can be seen at the #MetMuseum in NYC (1997.145.2a). #polychromy #archaeology 2/end

Closeup of woman's face on the roof tile. A white-painted face with very large eyes. The necklace can be seen here, with pomegranate and amphorae-shaped dangly bits.

#SarcophagusSaturday I'm often asked if the Romans painted their spectacularly carved sarcophagi. Yes, they certainly did, as you can see from the red pigment remaining on this 3rd c. CE beauty with a Dionysian procession. ALT for more. #polychromy 1/

An early to mid-3rd c. CE sarcophagus with a thiasos scene (Dionysian procession). The god Dionysus-Bacchus sits in his chariot, at left, pulled by two centaur, who are whipped on by Cupid. One centaur carries a sacred pine bough, while the other a krater full of wine.Maenads and aulos-playing satyrs dance ecstatically. The fat Silenus, riding in another chariot on the right, seems to have brought a wicker tray of figs. Two Pan figures can also be seen in the procession. Capitoline Museums. Photo: my own

A fancy pitcher for your tomb! Configured in the shape of a sphinx. Note the bright pink under the figure, in addition to yellow, red and black pigments. Polychrome tempera, made in Apulia (?). #polychromy

Second half of the 4th century BCE. Museum of Rescued Art, Rome.

Sometimes a humble object from antiquity references metallic polychromy from larger sculptures. This cup in the form of a head (probably Bacchus) uses deep yellow to suggest gold or bronze, the reddish brown resembles copper, and the green simulates patinated bronze. #polychromy

1st c. BCE lead-glazed terracotta Roman cup in the shape of the head of Bacchus, god of wine. Made in Asia Minor and signed by its maker, Likinnios. The skin is a deep brownish-yellow, replicating gold gilding or polished bronze; the reddish brown on the small, plump lips, irises, eyelids, eyebrows and hair resembles copper; the green on the two leaves sticking out of the god's hair at the temples resembles patinated bronze. Getty Villa Museum. Photo: my own

Today's sessions at the International Round Table on #Polychromy in Rome makes me think about the *meaning* of the gilding of sculptures. This 2nd c. CE fragment of a gilded sculpture can only be the deified Alexander the Great. Gold on the hair, skin = divinity.

#polychromy

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