New images and scientific research by a team including an academic from King’s College London have revealed traces of the original paint used to decorate the Parthenon’s sculptures, showing that they were in fact once brightly coloured.

The Parthenon sculptures on display at the British Museum, originally from ancient Greece, have been admired for centuries for their white sheen, but new evidence has finally proven that they were not always that colour.

A team of researchers from the Royal Museum, the British Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago used digital imaging techniques and scientific tools to examine the sculptures at a microscopic level and discovered “rich amounts of preserved paint” indicating that the sculptures are original. painted in various colors, designs and patterns.

Their research was published today in the journal Antiquity.

“Even if the surfaces were not clearly prepared for the application of paint, they were integrated in the concept of carving and color. The Parthenon artists were sympathetic to the intended final polychrome sculpture by creating surfaces that resembled textures similar to the textures of the objects presented. … The artists used these mimetic surfaces to achieve the final effect.” likely,” says Dr. Will Wootton, professor of classical art and archeology and chair of the Department of Classics.

The researchers used visible luminescence imaging of the Parthenon marble in the British Museum. This method was developed by Dr. from the Art Institute of Chicago. Developed by Giovanni Verri, it is a non-invasive method that allows the detection of microscopic traces of a pigment called Egyptian blue, revealing the smallest details. Paint residues in the smallest detail.

Egyptian blue is an artificial pigment composed of calcium, copper and silicon; It was already in use in Egypt around 3000 BC. B.C. and was almost the only blue pigment used in Greece and Rome.

Small traces of white and purple pigment were also found on the statues. True purple pigment was highly prized in the ancient Mediterranean and was produced from shellfish, but Parthenon purple apparently was not.

Paint does not hold up well over time, especially when exposed to the elements for centuries; Therefore, when ancient Greek sculptures were examined, most of the colors had been worn away. This meant that many people believed that only white marble was used in ancient Greek art.

In addition, during historical restorations, traces of persistent paint were often removed to restore the statue’s supposed original “whiteness.” This made it difficult to understand and reconstruct the original statue types.

“The Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum are considered one of the pinnacles of ancient art and have been studied by various scholars for centuries. However, no trace of color has been found and little is known about how they were carved,” Dr Wherry said.

The carving of the statues shows that there was no obvious technical intervention between the surface treatment of the marble and the application of paint. Instead, it shows that sculptors focused on reproducing the intended form (e.g. wool, linen, leather, etc.) rather than creating a specific surface to which paint would adhere, for example by pressing or rubbing.

These preliminary results suggest that painting the Parthenon sculptures was a more difficult task than previously imagined. This supports the view that colors, as well as the carving of ancient Greek statues, were important to their creators and target audience.