The Polychromy of Longobard Stuccoes

Arte medievale 2008:2, 9-24, 2011

Journal of Art Historiography, 2011

The polychromy of medieval sculpture in Northern Europe is addressed in five of the articles in Circumlitio, which together form an important part of the editors’ project to bring the study of the coloured surfaces of sculpture out of the realm of technical reports and into the mainstream of sculptural scholarship. The five articles comprise surveys of techniques and materials (Harald Theiss) and of the field in general (Stefan Roller), and case studies of a major monument, Sluter’s Well of Moses at the Chartreuse de Champmol (Susie Nash), the raw material of the dyestuff madder (Dieter Köcher) and the reconstruction of the polychromed surface of a fourteenth century St George at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum,in Nuremberg (Arnulf von Ulmann). In his review, the author discusses some of the historiography of polychromy, examining in particular the treatment of Italian sculpture, whose study is not the focus of Circumlitio, giving context to the essays at hand within the wider field.

2023

Liz James for inviting me to contribute to the Byzantium on Display panel at the 21st Byzantine Congress in London in 2006 and address the aesthetics of marble and coloured stone. The text was published in extended form in Arte medievale, 2012 Valentino Pace for providing me with the opportunity to speak about the polychromy of the stucco saints in the Tempietto Longobardo, at the L'VIII secolo, un secolo inquieto convegno at Cividale in 2008, published in 2010 Marina Righetti for accepting a longer article on the Tempietto stuccoes, 'Colour and Context', in Arte medievale 2008 [2011]

Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 2019

This paper investigates various aspects of the polychromy of the Landsberg Madonna by Hans Multscher. First, partially polychromed ivory and marble sculptures are taken into consideration as possible models for the Landsberg Madonna’s specific polychromy. This study demonstrates that the material of these sculptures is meaningful in terms of both iconography and medieval color theory. It argues that the Landsberg Madonna imitates these materials by transforming their different white hues into polychromy, and that by doing so, white receives qualities of color. Finally, it shows that the 1961 – 1967 restoration of this sculpture followed an idealistic concept of unpainted pure substrate material, which disguises more than reveals the special status of the work’s original polychromy.

This article explores the significance of paint and pigment traces for understanding the aesthetics and artistic composition of ancient marble architectural and statuary sculpture. It complements the pioneering technical and reconstructive work that has recently been carried out into classical polychrome sculpture by approaching the subject from the perspective of the cultural history of colour and perception in the ancient world. The study concentrates in particular on the art of imperial Rome, which at the present time is under-represented in the field. By integrating visual material with literary evidence, it first reviews some of the most important pieces of sculpture on which paint traces have survived and then assesses the significance of sculptural polychromy under four headings: visibility, finish, realism and trompe-l'oeil. Finally, it considers some of the ways in which polychromy can enrich our understanding and interpretation of the Prima Porta statue of Augustus.

Zwischen Kunsthandwerk und Kunst: die 'Schedula diversarum artium', 2014

Antike Kunst, 2017

Zusammenfassung: Die Toga wird als eines der symbolträchtigsten Klei- dungsstücke der Antike betrachtet. Wir kennen sie vor allem von Bildern und aus Schriftquellen. Ausgehend von diesem allerdings ziemlich lückenhaften Quellenmaterial wurde die Toga bezüglich Farbe, Dekor und Kontext, in welchem sie korrekterweise getragen wurde, in unter- schiedliche Typen aufgeschlüsselt. Obwohl solche Typo- logien von Kunsthistorikern und Archäologen gern als Hilfsmittel zur Darstellung ihrer Interpretation verwen- det werden, haben sie auch ihre Grenzen, gerade wenn es darum geht, zu verstehen, wie die Kleidung in der Antike wahrgenommen wurde. Die Autorinnen verschieben in ihrer Arbeit den Fokus auf die Oberflächentextur und die Überreste originaler Bemalung auf Togen oder Tuni- cen von Statuen und untersuchen die Farben als einen wichtigen, bisher oft übersehenen Aspekt in der Vermitt- lung des Dresscodes. Die Polychromie von Togastatuen verbunden mit dem aus antiken Textilien gewonnenen Wissen (zum Beispiel über Faserqualitäten und Färb- stoffe) führen zu einer Vielfalt von neuen möglichen In- terpretationen der antiken römischen Toga. Die Unter- suchung gelangt zu einer Reihe von neuen Informatio- nen, die inskünftig berücksichtigt und mit dem bisherigen Wissensstand zur antiken Toga verglichen werden müs- sen. Résumé: Considérée comme l’un des vêtements les plus emblé- matiques de l’antiquité, la toge nous est principalement connue au travers des sources écrites et iconographiques. Ces sources étant assez fragmentaires, la toge a fait l’objet d’une typologie basée sur la couleur, la décoration et les contextes sociaux dans lesquels elle était de mise. Bien que ces typologies élaborées par les historiens de l’art et les archéologues servent encore régulièrement à fonder leur interprétation, elles ont aussi leurs limites, surtout lorsqu’il s’agit de comprendre comment l’habillement était perçu dans l’Antiquité. Les auteurs de l’article ont concentré leurs efforts sur la texture superficielle et sur les restes de peinture originale conservés sur les toges et les tuniques des statues. Elles étudient les couleurs en les considérant comme un aspect important, souvent négligé jusqu’ici, de la médiation du code vestimentaire antique. Confrontée aux données issues des dernières avancées de la recherche sur les textiles antiques (par exemple sur les qualités des fibres et sur les colorants), la polychromie des statues de personnages en toge offre diverses possibi- lités nouvelles d’interprétation. L’article livre une série d’informations dont il conviendra désormais de tenir compte, en les comparant aux données sur la toge antique actuellement disponibles. (Traduction Jean-Robert Gisler)

Ancient and medieval sculpture was normally painted and at times gilded. Today most of the original paint is lost, but scientific methods have made it possible to trace even slight remains of paint no longer visible to the naked eye. Hypothetical reconstructions of polychromy have been displayed at many recent exhibitions in Europe and the USA and documented in a growing number of publications. 1 While the proposed reconstructions obviously are open to discussion and revision, the colouristic 'revelation' invites further art historical considerations on perceptual and aesthetic aspects of sculptural polychromy. The history of ancient art therefore needs to be revised and rewritten in the light of new research. 2 In the ancient world, colour was an integral part of sculpture, and to combine sculpted and painted form was common practice throughout antiquity. In Egypt and the Near-East, sculpture in soft and hard stone and wood was normally painted. The Egyptian material still retains much colour, while Assyrian and Achaemenid reliefs tend to have suffered heavier losses. 3 This polychrome tradition was continued in the Greek and Roman world. Since marble is a fine and expensive material, it may surprise modern viewers that the antique artists chose to cover it wholly or partly with paint. But in Greece, the terms chros and chroma embrace the 1 Recent publications include: Vinzenz Brinkmann and Raimund Wünsche, eds, Bunte Götter.

2016

Ph.D. thesis published in two volumes; the main thesis and the acompanying appendices. Academic advisors: Jane Fejfer and Jan Stubbe Østergaard. Available for download at The Royal Library. National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen: http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/157036944/Ph.d._2016_Skovmoeller.PDF