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

Colored Casts of Statues

The Lion from Loutraki The lion was, most probably, set up ca. 550 B.C. as a guard of a tomb. The original is exhibited today in Copenhagen, together with a second similar grave lion. In Antiquity it was placed in such a height, so that the gaping jaws would have been visible as one approached. The reconstruction of the paintwork proceeds from surviving traces on the original and its companion, as well as evidence from other sculptures-Red paint is present on the tongue and the lips; there are also traces of blue on the mane and yellowish-brown ochre on the lion's skin. A lion with a blue mane in early Greek sculpture is not uncommon: A water-spout from a building on the Acropolis in Athens is shown here (Photo below)	The Lion from Loutraki Research and interpretation of the original: Vinzenz Brinkmann Production and completion of the cast: Workshop of NY Karlsberg Glyptotek, Kopenhagen Painting using authentic pigments and binders: Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Blue: Azurite Red: Natural Cinnabar Green: Malachite Yellow: Ochre Cast: Stiftung Archäologie Original: NY Karlsberg Glyptotek, Kopenhagen The pores and the wrinkles on the nozzle were most probably depicted in red colour and are preserved now as shadows.
Akr 69. Lion Head Waterspout Marble lion head waterspout from the “sime” of the old Temple of Athena, just south of the Erechtheion. The lion head, its savage expression strikingly rendered, is vividly painted on the mane, jaws and eyes and framed by a painted palmette. Fragments of a second lion head and two ram heads from the four corners of the temple “sime” are preserved. Last quarter of 6th century B.C.	Informative photo compilation on the kore Akr. 674 (Acropolis Museum) coloring research.
Painted plaster cast of the kore Acr. 674 from the Acropolis Museum. According to the stamped signature on the base, it was manufactured by Ingrid Kjaer in 1901. The colors used are after an older aquarelle by Louis Emile Gilléron.	Same painted plaster cast of the kore Acr. 674 photographed from the back. To the left, another painted cast of the same statue, yet with limited use of colors
Kore Acr. 674: Details of her clothing at the front	Kore Acr. 674: Details of her clothing and hair at the back
Kore Acr. 674: Yet another photo of the heavily colored cast	Painted plaster cast of the kore Akr. 674 from the Acropolis Museum with limited use of colors. The limited use of colors and the simplified ornament clearly show that the restaurator did not have access to the colored reconstruction of Louis Emile Gilléron, shown in the previous photos. The plaster cast can be dated to the beginning of the 20th century, after the missing edge of the himation hanging from below the right elbow was completed.
Painted plaster cast of the kore Akr. 674 from the Acropolis Museum with limited use of colors. The clothing is strikingly less ornamented and colored than on the first cast (shown on the right).	Gods in Color: Informative Photo on the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” (inv. nr. Akr 679) Coloring Research One of the most beautiful Korai is the «Peplos Kore» from 530-520 B.C. Traces of red, blue, green and yellow paint have been preserved on the hair, the eyes, the belt, the garment's hem and on the patterns in the fabric. In ultraviolet light and under strong raking light details, not previously imagined, become visible. These reveal that the garment is, possibly, not a peplos at all. Under a shoulder cape she is wearing a long gown girdled with a belt. The gown opens where it is belted and we are given a glimpse of the dress underneath with circumferential friezes filled with figures which were incised before being painted. Her innermost garment is a chiton reaching to her feet. This is the attire of a goddess, and what we are looking at is, in fact, not a kore but a goddess: possibly Artemis or Athena, as both were worshipped on the Acropolis. The second reconstruction shows Artemis with bow and crown.
A cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis Examination and interpretation: Vinzenz Brinkmann Restoration οf breaks: Alfons Neubauer, Cristiph Bergmann Gilding: : Sylvia Kellner Painting: Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Authentic natural pigments applied in tempera-technique: Blue: Azurite, Green: Malachite, Red: Natural Cinnabar, Brown, Yellow: Ochre Painted casts: Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Stiftung Archäologie Original: Athens, Acropolis Museum, inv. nr. 679	A cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena Examination and interpretation: Vinzenz Brinkmann Restoration οf breaks: Alfons Neubauer, Cristiph Bergmann Gilding: : Sylvia Kellner Painting: Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Authentic natural pigments applied in tempera-technique: Blue: Azurite, Green: Malachite, Red: Natural Cinnabar, Brown, Yellow: Ochre Painted casts: Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Stiftung Archäologie Original: Athens, Acropolis Museum, inv. nr. 679
Another photo of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis	Another photo of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena
Photo of the bust of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis	Photo of the bust of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena The cast reconstructed to show goddess Artemis is also visible
Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis Detail of the dress coloring	Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena Detail of the dress coloring
Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis Dress coloring (front)	Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena Dress coloring (front)
Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis Dress coloring detail (front)	Cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena Detail of the dress coloring front
Photo of the back and hair of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Artemis	Photo of the back and hair of the cast of the Athenian Acropolis “Peplos Kore” shown as goddess Athena
Akr 599. Cuirassed torso from the Athenian Acropolis (Informative photo compilation) This torso comes from the statue of an archer or chariot driver set up around 470/60 B.C. in the Sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis. The muscles have been rendered with the taut naturalism characteristic of the Early Classical "Severe Style" The sculptures on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia are close parallels. In Antiquity a metal cuirass was modelled on the musculature. The sculptor therefore just carved the lower edge of the armor. The rest of the body would have appeared naked had it not been for the sculpture painter. The armor was painted on, as was the clothing underneath. Ultraviolet and raking light reveal a short chiton, whose pattern of leaves was incised before painting began. Warriors with such thin transparent costume can be seen in contemporary vase painting. The garments are often left open so that the genitals are visible. No traces of paint have been preserved. We have only the weathering relief and the UV photographs to work with. But we do know that the colors became more "delicate" in the Classical Period, mixed with white; and that yellow ochre was used to represent bronze. The second reconstruction shows an alternative reconstruction with a more limited color scheme and a gilded cuirass.	Akr 599. Cuirassed torso from the Athenian Acropolis White marble. About 470 B.C The piece depicts most probably an archer. Below the corslet he wears a closefitting chitoniskos, on which traces of a painted floral decoration survive.
Painted Cast of Cuirassed torso from the Athenian Acropolis (Akr 599); the first coloring hypothesis. Examination of original, documentation and interpretation: Vinzenz Brinkmann. Making of plaster copy: The Acropolis Museum workshop Gliding: Sylvia Kellner Painting (using authentic pigments and binder): Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Blue = Egyptian Blue Red = Cinnabar Green = Malachite Yellow = Ochre Skin color = Madder, Ochre, Chalk Painted casts: Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Stiftung Archäologie Original: Athens, Acropolis Museum, Akr. 599	Painted Cast of Cuirassed torso from the Athenian Acropolis (Akr 599). The second of the two different coloring hypotheses. Examination of original, documentation and interpretation: Vinzenz Brinkmann. Making of plaster copy: The Acropolis Museum workshop Gliding: Sylvia Kellner Painting (using authentic pigments and binder): Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Blue = Egyptian Blue Red = Cinnabar Green = Malachite Yellow = Ochre Skin color = Madder, Ochre, Chalk Painted casts: Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Stiftung Archäologie Original: Athens, Acropolis Museum, Akr. 599
Portrait of Caligula (Informative collection of photos) The original portrait of the Emperor Gaius Julius Augustus Germanicus, called Caligula (37-41 AD.), bears traces of paint, which have been analysed: Between the lips and along the eyelids lake of madder has been used lightened with white. The pigment is obtained from the roots of the madder plant. Under the left ear the skin color has been preserved: this is a mixture of ochre and chalk with egg as binder. The hair, the eyelashes and the pupils all have traces of "boneblack", made from carbonised bones. The black paint was only used as an ‘underpainting’. It is visible through the skin color. The black paint produces deeper shadows in the hair. The hair color has not been preserved; it seems that it was dark brown. There is indirect evidence for the use of golden ochre as underpaint. This gives depth to the hair color and facilitates a natural transition from the hair to the skin. The application of the paint in succesive layers has resulted to a final shadowing effect.	Portrait of Caligula: Colored Cast Pigment analyses: Heike Stege, Irene Fiedler, Ursula Baumer, Doerner lnstitut, Munich Digital marble copy:Conservation Centre Liverpool. National Museums on Merseyside Painting (using authentic pigments and binder): Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann White = Lead White Brown = Ochre Skin color = Madder, Ochre, Chalk Black = Burned Bone Painted cast: Stiftung Archäologie Original: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Kopenhagen
Portrait of Caligula: Colored Cast	Bronze Head of a Victor: Informative collection of photos on the relevant research
Bronze Head of a Victor: Attempt of Reconstruction	Bronze Head of a Victor: Attempt of Reconstruction
Bronze Head of a Victor: Attempt of Reconstruction The original bronze head (ca. 20 AD.), as can be taken from engravings and descriptions, originally was furnished with colored eyes made of semiprecious stones and silver. The hair band, lips and eye brows still preserve remains of gilding. In fact, similar kinds of this 'colorful' treatment such as by inlays of colorful or precious metals were not uncommon in ancient times. The Greeks tried to avoid the natural patina on the objects by covering it with a lacquer of asphalt and treating it regularly. However, already in Roman times most of the Greek bronzes should have had a dark patina. Even an artificial patination was known, for instance by means of sulfur.	Bronze Head of a Victor: Attempt of Reconstruction At the reconstruction on display only the eyes and the gilding might be certain. However, the red-brown coloring of the flesh and the black of the hair are possible, through hypothetical solutions. It is possible that about 70 % of all ancient sculptures were made of metal. Their polychromy may have been limited to certain areas, as in the example. Examination: Hagen Schaaf, Raimund Wünsche Reconstruction: Olaf Herzog Copy & Original: Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek
Gods in Color: Theseus Raping Antiope, Temple of Apollo-Daphnephoros, Eretria Originally, the marble sculptures of the west pediment of the temple of Apollo-Daphnephoros in Eretria, showing combating, dying or abducted Amazons, were painted with strong natural pigments. Indeed, there are no traces of colors remaining at the kneeling Amazon with bow and arrow which was brought to Rome already in ancient times and is now exhibited in the Capitoline Museums. However, there are obvious traces of the original painting, on the other fragments that were left in Greece. By using UV-and raking light marks of the weathering of the original pattern can be made out. The marble surface of the sculpture of Antiope, who is depicted being abducted by Theseus, has a weathering that allows the recognition the pattern which was originally painted on the collar of linen worn by her. Obviously the whole collar was adorned with swastika-meanders in a diagonal order. The free squares in between were filled with Macedonian stars. Since, in fact, no pigments of the coloring itself were found on the sculpture the choice of colors for the reconstruction on a plaster cast cannot be totally free of doubt. The relief of the weathering of the surface clearly shows the position and size of the individual elements.	Gods in Color: Theseus Raping Antiope, Temple of Apollo-Daphnephoros, Eretria The reconstruction shown in this and the previous photo only represents a part of the whole coloring of the composition of the pediment. All other elements of the garments were colored as well. For sure, Antiope's legs did not stay naked either. Most probably she would wear a kind of tights. Research and interpretation of the original: Vinzenz Brinkmann Painting (using authentic pigments and binder): Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann Plaster cast: H. Scharpf Blue = Azurite Red = Cinnabar Green == Malachite Yellow = Ochre Painted cast: Stiftung Archäologie Original: Eretria, Greece. Archaeological Museum
A 747. Corner-slab fragment of a coffer decorating the ceiling of the temple of Athena at Sounion. White marble. About 450 B.C. Preserved is a part of the painted decoration. In the central square, encased in a larger one, two of the originally eight rays of a star or a sun are discerned. The triangles between the squares are decorated with a floral pattern. Outside the squares is a decorative ribbon with shallow holes, indicating the use of compasses.	Proposal of color reconstruction of the slab of a coffer (no. A747)

• 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