National Archaeological Museum of Athens: Gods In Color

On January 29, 2007, a new Exhibition was opened to the public at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. After having made the rounds at a variety of Museums in Europe, “Gods in Color” has been on view in Athens until March 25th. However, thanks to our Album, visitors to our website will be enjoying it permanently! The 21 casts exhibited (in Ground floor Galleries 44 and 45) are of well-known statues (Cuirassed torso of the statue of an archer or chariot driver from the Acropolis Museum, Akr 599, the bronze head of a victor from Glyptothek München, the “Peplos Kore” from the Acropolis of Athens Museum, Akr. 679, the Lion of Loutraki, etc), of Tombstone Stelae (tombstone of Aristion, the one of Paramythion, etc), of Pediment sculptures (from the Athena Afaea Temple in Aegina, the East Frieze of the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi, parts of the so called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great) and specimens of real pigment used in antiquity. (Text and Photos: Michael Tziotis)

• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Coloring and Pigments
• Prehistoric Art
• Colored Casts of Statues
• Funerary Stelae (Tombstones)
• Temple of Aphaea at Aegina - Colored Reconstruction of the West Pediment
• Temple of Aphaea at Aegina - Colored Reconstruction of a Warrior's Head from the East Pediment
• The Sarcophagus from Sidon, the So-Called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great
• The Frieze of the Siphnian Treasury
• Original Statues with Traces of Color
• Six Figurines
• Calyx Crater
• White Ground Lekythoi

Prehistoric Art

Νο 3909. Marble head of a life-size statue. Parian marble. A masterpiece of the early Cycladic sculpture. From Amorgos. Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 B.C.)	Νο 3909. Marble head of a life-size statue. Parian marble. A masterpiece of the early Cycladic sculpture. From Amorgos. Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 B.C.)
Νο 3909. Marble head of a life-size statue. Parian marble. A masterpiece of the early Cycladic sculpture. From Amorgos. Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 B.C.)	6140(19). Marble female figurine of the folded-arms type (Spedos variety). Naxos, cemetery of Phyrrogon. Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 B.C.) (General view of Window)
6140(19). Marble female figurine of the folded-arms type (Spedos variety). Naxos, cemetery of Phyrrogon. Early Cycladic II (2800-2300 B.C.) Traces of the painted decoration are preserved mainly on the head; few traces on the body.	A. Cast of the marble figurine no 252, of the folded- arm type, shown in the previous photo. Spedos variety. Early Cycladic II Period (2800-2300 BC). Museum of Cycladic Art
B. Cast of the marble figurine no. 252 with a hypothetical reconstruction of its polychrome decoration. Museum of Cycladic Art.	B. Cast of the marble figurine no. 252 with a hypothetical reconstruction of its polychrome decoration on its back side. Museum of Cycladic Art.
B. Cast of the marble figurine no. 252 with a hypothetical reconstruction of its polychrome decoration on its back side (Hair details). Museum of Cycladic Art.	5936. Painted marble figurine representing the human body in extreme abstraction. From Sesklo (Magnesia). Middle Neolithic II (4800-4500 B.C.)
5936. Frontal view of the painted marble figurine shown in the previous photo.	Athens National Archaeological Museum: Exhibit 4575. A unique plaster head of a woman, possibly a goddess or a sphinx. One of the rare samples of the Mycenaean monumental sculpture. From the Cult Center in Mycenae, 13th century B.C. The main features of the face are emphasized with color. The red dot rosettes on the chin, on the forehead and on the cheeks are considered as elements of her divine nature.
5989. Head of an acrolithic statue (marble or limestone) painted with red pigment From Dimini (Magnesia). Middle Neolithic II (4800-4500 B.C.)

• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Coloring and Pigments
• Prehistoric Art
• Colored Casts of Statues
• Funerary Stelae (Tombstones)
• Temple of Aphaea at Aegina - Colored Reconstruction of the West Pediment
• Temple of Aphaea at Aegina - Colored Reconstruction of a Warrior's Head from the East Pediment
• The Sarcophagus from Sidon, the So-Called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great
• The Frieze of the Siphnian Treasury
• Original Statues with Traces of Color
• Six Figurines
• Calyx Crater
• White Ground Lekythoi