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Article · 2014

"Precious colours" in ancient Greek polychromy and painting: Material aspects and symbolic values

H. Brecoulaki

Revue archéologique 2014(1)

An article on uncommon pigments in Greek polychromy and painting from the Bronze Age to Hellenistic times, covering their material properties, use and possible social or ritual meanings.

Brecoulaki surveys uncommon pigments in Greek painted objects and artworks from the Bronze Age to Hellenistic times, combining recent material analyses with ancient written sources to ask how a pigment's properties, availability, cost and colour associations shaped its use. The sections run from Early Bronze Age Cycladic material through Aegean wall painting and Archaic and Classical sculpture and painting to Hellenistic figural painting, and a conclusion weighs pigment value against colour symbolism.

The evidence

The material includes pigment traces on Cycladic marble figures and vessels, pigment containers and tools, wall paintings, painted panels, sculpture, marble vessels and funerary furnishings. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence supply recent analyses, which Brecoulaki sets beside descriptions of pigments and painting practice in ancient texts.

In the Early Bronze Age Cyclades Brecoulaki associates azurite in funerary settings with nearby copper-ore sources and possible ritual use, while cinnabar is uncommon in the Aegean palette. Murex purple appears in selected Bronze Age wall-painting motifs and backgrounds, and analyses at Pylos found copper-based greens in fragments from the Throne Room and vestibule, mainly in floral motifs (pp. 4–13).

Later examples are the Amathus Sarcophagus and the Pitsa panels, which the article dates to the sixth century BC, and painted marble vessels in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, assigned to the second half of the fifth century BC. Marble pyxis 11363 has lapis lazuli in a charioteer's garment and in a mixture used for the horses, and the couch from the Tomb of Philip II at Aigai carries conichalcite, cinnabar, purple and Egyptian blue (pp. 14–27).

The argument

A pigment's value, Brecoulaki argues, depended on its physical qualities and source and also on the function and social setting of the object. Rare or costly colours could mark wealth or ritual use on selected artefacts, whereas representational painting used colour for pictorial effect, with restricted palettes and with bright pigments mixed to give flesh tones of lower intensity (pp. 27–31).

Purple backgrounds and garments in some Macedonian tomb paintings may be associated with elite status, ritual or narrative emphasis, and she observes that the evidence does not establish a single explanation. Proposed symbolic meanings are read as depending on context and not as fixed meanings for particular hues (pp. 31–33).

What it records

  • The Amathus Sarcophagus was coloured with azurite and Egyptian blue.p. 15
  • Kythnos, Siphnos and Seriphos would have been the closest sources of copper ores for Cycladic azurite.p. 5
  • Azurite was identified inside Cycladic marble vessels and bone containers.p. 5
  • Green minerals including pseudomalachite, chrysocolla, atacamite and paratacamite were identified at Pylos in fragments from the Throne Room and vestibule.p. 13
  • Pararealgar formed the yellow beads of a pendant on a Pitsa panel.p. 17
  • Lapis lazuli occurs in the deep blue garment of the charioteers on marble pyxis 11363.p. 20
  • An organic colourant was identified in the purple decoration of marble pyxis 11372, though murex purple remains a possibility.p. 24
  • Conichalcite on the couch in the Tomb of Philip II at Aigai was applied pure and in a very coarse grain size.p. 27
  • Murex purple is abundant on the battle-scene backgrounds of the Amazon Sarcophagus from Tarquinia.p. 31

Where to read

  • Azurite and cinnabar in Early Bronze Age Cycladic contextspp. 4–7
  • Purple and mineral green pigments in Aegean wall paintings, including Pylospp. 8–13
  • The Amathus Sarcophagus and painted panels from Pitsapp. 14–18
  • Lapis lazuli on marble pyxis 11363pp. 19–22
  • Purple, gold and conichalcite on Classical and Hellenistic artefactspp. 24–31
  • Conclusions on pigment value and colour symbolismpp. 31–33

Contents

  • Introduction3
  • Colour and Material Evidence from the Bronze Age4
  • Azurite and Cinnabar in Cycladic Culture4
  • Purple and Natural Green Copper Minerals in the “Palette” of the Aegean Painters8
  • Colour in the Archaic and Classical Periods14
  • The “Revital” of Cinnabar and Azurite in Sculptural Polychromy14
  • New Evidence for the Use of Colour in the 6th Cent. BC Painted Panels from Pitsa15
  • The First Historical Use of Lapis Lazuli as a Painting Material on Attic Marble Vessels19
  • Purple, Gold and Other Unusual Materials, as Signs of Luxury on Artefacts from the Classical and Hellenistic Periods24
  • Figural Painting and Representational Colour in the Hellenistic Tradition27
  • Conclusion31

Objects published here

6
  • Amathus Sarcophagus, Amathus (p. 15)
  • Painted panel with a pendant bearing pararealgar beads, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Pitsa, 16466, fig. 8 (p. 17)
  • Painted panel with female figures outlined in cinnabar, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Pitsa, 16467, fig. 7 (p. 16)
  • Marble pyxis with a battle scene, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, 11363, fig. 9 (p. 19)
  • Marble pyxis with a floral motif and seated figures, National Archaeological Museum of Athens, 11372, fig. 12 (p. 24)
  • Chryselephantine couch with conichalcite paint, Tomb of Philip II, Aigai, figs. 14–15 (p. 27)

People, places and institutions

People

  • Homerepic colour descriptions discussed
  • Theophrastosancient pigment descriptions discussed
  • Plinyancient pigment use and properties
  • Vitruviusancient painting instructions discussed
  • Dioscoridescinnabar and painting practice
  • Pausaniascinnabar-coloured statues described

Institutions

Places

  • Amathusfindspot of the late Archaic sarcophagus
  • PylosBronze Age wall paintings analysed
  • CycladesEarly Bronze Age pigment contexts
  • Syrosazurite containers in tombs
  • Naxosazurite offerings and mineral evidence
  • Glawall-painting pigment evidence
  • Therawall paintings with purple pigment
  • Delospainted vessels and sculptures discussed
  • Pitsasixth-century painted panels
  • AianiArchaic polychrome pottery
  • Aigaipainted tomb furnishings and paintings
  • Aghios AthanassiosMacedonian tomb paintings discussed

Also named: Kythnos, Siphnos, Seriphos, Knossos, Palaikastro, Tiryns, Abai, Isthmia, Ceri, Kition, Mount Helikon, Demetrias, Pella, Lefkadia, Tarquinia, Aristotle, Posidippus of Pella, Dionysos, Aphrodite.

Extent 19 figs; French summary p. 3; bibliography pp. 33–35

Early Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRomanSculptureTechnologyCraft ProductionIconographyReligion and Cult

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