Scratching the surface of Ancient Greek and Roman painted statues

When you think of an Ancient Greek statue, is the picture above what springs to your mind? If you're like most people, you imagine classical sculptures more like Apollo Sauroktonos, below. (I picked him as my unpainted example because of the cool lizard he's about to catch.)

Archaeological research shows, however, that the Romans and Greeks preferred their statuary to wear all the colours of the real world they mimicked so well. The minimalist look we know springs from thousands of years of weathering, not to mention the cleaning efforts of restorers and curators. Marble sculptures with visible remains of colour were found in the 19th century but neglected during the 20th, according to the Stiftung Archäologie (Google translation here).

Modern scientific techniques have a lot to offer in reconstructing the original appearances of these works of art. For example, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy can reveal the chemical nature of pigments that have been absorbed into the stone. Raking light (light shone across the surface at an oblique angle) shows up changes in surface texture and structure. This is useful because painted patches of stone may have protected by the wax or egg base of the paint, and so have weathered differently from the other parts. Meanwhile, reflected ultraviolet light imaging shows fine surface details that can be hard or impossible to see in visible light.

In the photo above, you can see a UV image of the cape of a statue of Athena from the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina (image from here). To the left is a reconstruction by the Stiftung Archäologie.

The Stiftung's work has been on display since 2003 in the travelling exhibition Gods in Colour (Bunte Götter). Here is the English-language gallery guide (PDF) from its stop at Harvard. It can currently be seen in Vienna, until September 2013. I wonder if I can find the excuse for a trip this summer...

As a fan of historical fiction, I find this work fascinating. It completely changes my vision of Roman and Greek cities. In comparison to the icy and dignified white marble figures we know now, these sculptures make the artists seem much more relatable.

My favourite discovery, though, is that the mysterious figurines made by the Cycladic civilisation were also coloured. Mind you, the mystery is not cleared by the revelation that some of them were covered in apparently randomly-placed eyes.

These two pictures are from Elizabeth Hendrix's article Painted Ladies of the Bronze Age (PDF), which has much more detail on the science of colour reconstruction and the significance of the Early Cycladic figures. It includes this paragraph:

The examination the figures in the collection of the Metropolitan and in other museums makes it clear that most, if not all, of them were covered with strong colors in patterns that are not always comprehensible to viewers today. When recognizable anatomical features were painted in locations that make sense to us (such as the mouth centered below the nose), we are prepared to see the traces of the painting in those areas. It is a greater challenge to accept similar evidence for asymmetrical designs or familiar shapes in the "wrong" locations (such as several eyelike almond shapes on one side of the face). It may well be that symmetrical patterns have been retained more often since they are easier to recognize, thus inspiring more care on the part of the handler, whether curator, dealer, owner, or restorer.

There are more stunning pictures and more information on the coloured gods at Archaeology.org, Harvard Magazine and ColourLovers. (Via.)