Multicolored Beauty of Marble Parthenon: Scientists have found that statues were not really white
The former curator of the British Museum, where these sign marbles were stored, somehow confessed that they doubted whether they were once painted, after years of fruitless searches for traces of pigment, writes The Guardian. In focus, technology appeared its Telegram channel.
Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! But now an innovative study conducted by researchers from the British Museum, the Royal College of London and the Chicago Institute of Arts, with the help of innovative scanning methods, revealed a wonderful secret.
These scanning revealed the "wealth of surviving paint" on the marble of Parthenon, which indicates that the original painting of these sculptures was a much more complicated and sophisticated process than previously thought. Researchers found convincing evidence that some sculptures had complex patterns with human figures and patterns of palm leaves. It is noticeable that these patterns were intricately painted to match the folds and texture of marble fabric, which underlies the sculpture.
Instead of completely losing the pigment, the sculptures of the Parthenon can be "the best preserved examples of the surviving polychromy of the in the mid -fifth century BC. " Dr. Giovanni Verry, a conservation scientist from the Chicago Institute of Arts who headed the research, described their discovery. They used non -invasive visualization technique called luminescence induced by visible light to detect traces of pigment known as the Egyptian blue.
This ancient pigment, made of calcium, copper and silicon, was widely used in ancient times. Invisible to the naked eye, it emits a brilliant white glow while using this scan method. The traces of the Egyptian blue were found on 11 gable sculptures and one figure in the frieze, each of which was used in different ways. He secreted the goddess Irisa's belt, the snake -shaped legs of another figure called the Kecrops and even the ridge of the waves from which the sun god Helios rose on his chariot.
One of the most interesting discoveries is the statue of Diona, depicted by a lying on the rock drapes with his daughter Aphrodite. Researchers have discovered images of a pair of human feet running in the dion dress, along with other images that can be a hand and a leg, forming a "woven figurative design with human figures that appear and disappear between the folds of clothing.
" They also identified a pattern in the form of a palm tree, a stylized motif of palm leaves, which was widely used at that time. This new testimony calls into question the previous assumption that the figures of the Parthenon have been painted in muted clothing, perhaps in order to emphasize the complexity of the carving. In fact, polychromy could be as detailed. Dr.
Verry drew attention to the technical complexity of the combination of such complex patterns with the already complex drapery of figures, where the figures seemed to appear and disappeared in the folds. In addition to identifying these stunning paint patterns, researchers also used other scanning technologies to explore how the statues were cut.
They found that the sculptors used different techniques to depict different fabrics, with sharp flax tools and a smoother work for wool, while the skin was very polished. Despite these wonderful finds, researchers recognize that a detailed understanding of how artists used this paint remains unattainable. Dr. Verri stressed that the simple knowledge of the pigments used is not enough to reproduce the true look of sculptures.
This study not only made it possible to look into the past, but also expanded our understanding of ancient art. The marble of Parthenon, which was once considered pale and harsh, proved to be a hidden world of bright colors and complex details that are waiting for the study of future researchers and enthusiasts of art.