Journal of Art Historiography (Dec 2011)
Looking for Colour on Greek and Roman Sculpture
Abstract
Review of: Vinzenz Brinkmann, Oliver Primavesi, Max Hollein, (eds), Circumlitio. The Polychromy of Antique and Medieval Sculpture. Liebighaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main, 2010. New scientific methods now being applied to the analysis of traces of pigments and gilding on ancient Greek and Roman marble statuary, and other marble artefacts, have the potential to revolutionise our understanding of the relationship between form and colour in antiquity. At present the enquiry is still in its infancy, but the papers delivered at a conference held in Frankfurt in 2008, reviewed here, provide a general introduction to the subject and to a wide range of work in progress.
