What classical Greek sculpture looked like

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, February 7. 2016

What classical Greek sculpture looked like

Continuing with the theme of painted architecture and sculpture, a reminder that Greek temples and sculptures were always painted and sometimes gold-leafed too. All flaked off except for microscopic residues.

The Roman admirers of Classical Greece did not get that memo, and the Renaissance sculptors didn't either.

Probably because of that historical error, much or most stone and metal sculpture has been unpainted since the Renaissance. To modern eyes, the Pieta would look pretty nasty if painted in lifelike colors but the Greeks would have figured it was waiting for the paint.

Parthenon Once a Riot of Color

Below, the likely appearance of the Parthenon frieze

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:22 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Well that may or may not be true in later stages of Greek culture (see the so called "Hellenic period"). Whatever the case, that particular sculpture is from the "archaic period", not the "Classical period" of Greek sculpture. In the case of Greece and its development, this is not antiquarian nitpicking--it is a meaningful distinction.

That being said, it certainly stands to reason that much public art was colored: after all the early Greeks were highly influenced by Egypt, particularly earlay on during their Bronze Age era.

Not so much in later eras though.

#1 hattip on 2016-02-07 15:13 (Reply)

Well put.

There are later classical-era sculptures with paint residue too - see the link

#1.1 Bird Dog on 2016-02-07 15:17 (Reply)

The ancient Terra Cotta warriors from Chin Shr Hwang Di's tomb in China were also painted. (Or "Qin Shi Huangdi, if you prefer that spelling)

Fortunately, a few have been unearthed with their painting intact.

Unfortunately, once exposed to air the paint dries out and flakes off. Sometimes it can takes weeks to dry out and fall off, other times it happens within just a couple of minutes, or even seconds!

No doubt, whether in the West or the East the ancients preferred colored art work instead of plain.

#2 charles on 2016-02-07 20:53 (Reply)

Slightly off topic. But, what exactly is going on in the upper tier of that fresco?

#3 rbm411 on 2016-02-07 21:40 (Reply)

Par-TAY!!!

#3.1 Sam L. on 2016-02-07 23:27 (Reply)

The same goes for Egyptian walls, columns &c. There's a bit of the original color in tombs, but also on outdoor monuments. For Egypt, 3000 or 4000 years in the desert kinda fades things.

#4 ZZMike on 2016-02-07 23:40 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, February 7. 2016

What classical Greek sculpture looked like