{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "regarding reconstructions of painted classical sculpture (specifically inspired by this post but tangential enough to its main...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/667890340110467072/", "html": "

elucubrare:

ortusnigenad:

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regarding reconstructions of painted classical sculpture (specifically inspired by this post but tangential enough to its main point that i didn\u2019t want to add it in a reblog):

there are exhibits of sculptures painted \u201cthe way we can prove they were painted in antiquity\u201d, and they are bad. they present sculptures like this:\u00a0

or the technicolor augustus of the prima porta:

and we KNOW romans understood depth and shading!\u00a0

if these reconstructions were in an archaeological journal, and simply presented in order to present what base colors we can scientifically determine, that would be one thing. but they are in public exhibits imputing to impart the actual aesthetic appearance of ancient sculpture, and for a number of reasons that\u2019s doing a huge disservice both to the ancient world and to the viewing audience. and it\u2019s INCREDIBLY easy to fix! even just presenting examples of roman frescoes (as above) could help audience members to superimpose the actual aesthetics onto a base-painted sculpture, but it\u2019s insane not to take it the half step further \u2013

like just BARE MINIMUM concept: have a miniature painted with the\u00a0\u201cbase colors\u201d that we can accurately reconstruct so people have a sense of where we got the science, and then have one or several statues \u2018fully\u2019 painted by artist-archaeologists (or just modern artists with archaeological guidance), using ancient techniques, to show what they might actually have looked like. there has to be a way to balance archaeological accuracy with, like, representing the actual\u00a0classical world to the general public in a nuanced way. we aren\u2019t talking about statue reconstructions in academic papers - we are talking about exhibits open to the public and the work needs to reflect that and, like, essentially never does.\u00a0

i expanded this post on request and can\u2019t easily retype my tags but i do want to put into this post that this does actually impact the world today; there has been work done on the way these sorts of reconstructions of the\u00a0\u201cactual\u201d classical frame the\u00a0\u201creal\u201d ancient world as barbaric & gaudy and in need of the\u00a0\u201crealer\u201d inheritors of the classical world (northern/western europe) in order to make it civilized and aesthetically appropriate, which is the same mindset behind the british museum\u2019s continued retention of the elgin marbles. and that makes these sorts of reconstructions\u00a0a failure - which is a shame, because classical polychromy and the color & sensory experience of the ancient world can be a really powerful educational tool for bringing the past alive!\u00a0

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adding OP\u2019s tags:

#most stagings of classical polychromy do an ok job at the former and a TERRIBLE job at the latter#and i think it\u2019s frankly irresponsible to stage some of these exhibits in the way they are often staged\u2026 as in prev tags i think hamilakis#has a lot to say about the \u2018classical\u2019 world being framed as barbarous and having-been-civilized by its reception by northern/western europe#like\u2026 if you\u2019re showing the ancient past in a way that makes people think \u2018man i\u2019m so glad these statues got scrubbed so they\u2019re nice to#look at\u2019 your exhibition has FUNDAMENTALLY failed and you should start over\u2026\u2026. man.#classics#polychromy

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Those look like Warhammer figures that were just basecoated

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