Greek statues in blasting colors

We still find it difficult to imagine the buildings and statues in Greek and Roman cities in full blasting colors. In an earlier blog, Ancient Greece in full Technicolor, I marveled about the results achieved through sparse reconstructions.  

In recent years, in-depth reconstruction work has been done by the team of Prof. Vinzenz Brinkman. For more than 15 years, they analyzed the pigmentation of antique sculptures using digital methods, whereby the originals were left untouched. New technical photographic techniques using UV-light and –reflectography enabled them to disclose the painted parts of the statues. The chemical and mechanical transformations on the surface, which happened over the centuries, left areas where no pigment had survived. They applied the matching colors on copies of existing statues based on those discoveries. The results are absolutely mind-blowing. 

The earliest results were on display at the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt some 15 years ago, and the collection has traveled around the world ever since. Today, however, the artifacts have returned to Frankfurt, presented in a larger expanded exhibition.  

Since the first exhibition Bunte Götter in 2008, the number of colorized reconstructions has doubled and includes some antique bronzes in colored versions. Over 100 objects from international museum collections can be admired in their “original” colored version. Besides, another sixty artifacts from recent years have been added to the collection, including some pieces from the 19th century. A selection of 22 graphics completes the exhibition. It is a genuine and unique opportunity to submerge oneself in antiquity from an entirely different point of view.  

It is noteworthy that rather than merely coloring their sculptures, the Greeks and Romans managed to expand the formal and narrative structure of the objects.  

The exhibition Bunte Götter – Golden Edition. Die Farben der Antike will run until 30 August 2020 at the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt.

[Pictures from Liebieghaus Museum in Frankfurt]