Meaning of colours in antiquity

In the present article, we study more issues of color semantics and symbols. Our research is based on the analysis of mainly Daghestani folklore and ethnographic materials and colour characteristics of traditional textiles, including carpets.
We examined two methods of gathering evidence about associations of colours in the minds of people. The first is to use some kind of psychological tests. The second is to use ideas incorporated in folklore and folk literature,
as handed down through generations of narrators and listeners. During this process, successive narrators have unconsciously filtered the material to ensure its relevance to their audience. This is clearly an indirect method: nobody actually answers the questions from today’s experimenter, so any colour associations must be inferred
from the context. Colours in oral tradition were considered, not in isolation, but rather in contrasting pairs or in sequences. It was found that a specific colour could have different associations in different conditions, and that generally the associations were more abstract than concrete. In surviving woolen rugs and felts and silk embroideries, colours appear to be linked with availability of dyes or decorative preferences rather than symbolism.

The study of colour has become familiar territory in recent anthropology, linguistics, art history and archaeology. Classicists, however, have traditionally subordinated the study of colour to form. By drawing together evidence from contemporary philosophers, elegists, epic writers, historians and satirists, Mark Bradley reinstates colour as an essential informative unit for the classification and evaluation of the Roman world. He also demonstrates that the questions of what colour was and how it functioned – as well as how it could be misused and misunderstood – were topics of intellectual debate in early imperial Rome. Suggesting strategies for interpreting Roman expressions of colour in Latin texts, Dr Bradley offers new approaches to understanding the relationship between perception and knowledge in Roman elite thought. In doing so, he highlights the fundamental role that colour performed in the realms of communication and information, and its intellectual contribution to contemporary discussions of society, politics and morality.

Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome was nominated and longlisted for the 2011 Warwick Prize for Writing.

Most studies of global commodities trace the flow of exotics into Europe.  Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum, was one of the few European commodities to find markets in eighteenth-century Asia.  This paper reconstructs the nodes of the early-modern ‘coral network’ to Qing China (1644 - 1911), via East India Company records.  This allows us to understand the some of the mechanisms through which a sought after Chinese ‘curiosity’, reached the imperial court.  Red coral was incorporated into a range of imperial artefacts, from court necklaces to miniature landscapes.  The distance that coral travelled was one factor behind the cultural value ascribed to it.  In addition, coral’s colour, form and provenance allowed multi-layered, long-standing associations to be projected upon it. 

In China, shanhu, entered complex local tribute-giving, focused on the imperial court. Red coral was incorporated into tribute gifts crafted in Guangdong’s workshops by officials for their emperor.  Further, coralline gifts were presented by European embassies eager to secure trade advantages in the tea, silk and porcelain markets.

The ‘coral network’ connected fishermen, merchants, naval captains, officials and craftsmen with the Qing court.  Each playing a role in the transformation of red coral to precious imperial treasure.

V každé kultuře se v postavení garantů společenského řádu objevují zcela specifické dílčí skupiny obyvatel, jejichž úkol je v mnohém odlišný od většinové společnosti. To se nutně musí projevit v odlišném oděvu, který je nositelem snadno rozlišitelných vnějších symbolů odkazujících ke stupni hierarchické podřízenosti. Jen tak je možné dosáhnout skutečné životaschopnosti velkých organizovaných celků. Pro
dnešního člověka je asi nejpochopitelnějším příkladem hodnostní systém zavedený v ozbrojených složkách, reprezentující výkonný rozměr státní autority. A nemůžeme vynechat různá církevní společenství. Během staletí se na půdě křesťanského světa
v rámci nábožensko-rituálního prožívání života vyvinul zcela specifický systém a řád barev s morálními a symbolickými konotacemi, které člověk dnešní doby používá podvědomě. Ke správnému „čtení“ tohoto typu neverbální komunikace je nutné znát kulturně-antropologické pozadí židovsko-křesťanské tradice, jež měla zcela zásadní vliv na utváření euro-amerického moderního civilizačního modelu. Jednotlivé
kapitoly se na pozadí historických souvislostí věnují příslušným barvám, jejich symbolice a rozdílnému užití v profánním světě a v bohoslužbě.

In each culture, there occur very specific subgroups of citizens in the position of guarantors of social order whose task is in many ways different from the majority society. Such a role is necessarily expressed also by different garments that primarily display easily distinguishable external symbols referring to the degree of hierarchical subordination. Only in such a way it is possible to achieve real viability of large organized communities. The ranking system established in armed forces, which represent an executive dimension of state authority, is probably the most understandable example to modern man. Various religious communities cannot be omitted here. Over the centuries, an entirely new system and order of colours with a variety of moral and symbolic connotations, which people today already use quite  ubconsciously, has developed, in fact, on the ground of Christian world within the religious--ritual experience of life. Correct „reading“ this type of nonverbal communication necessarily requires knowledge of the cultural-anthropological background of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, which had a crucial influence on the formation of Euro-American modern civilization model. Individual chapters are devoted to the relevant colours, their symbolism and differences in the use in profane world and in worship on the background of historical context.

A systematic look at colour on the four worlds of the Qabalistic Tree of life, it's historic evolution and meditational use, especially in terms of energy circulations between Da'ath and Yesod in the Body.  Presentation to Servants of the Light,  Convocation of the Lodges: Gathering of the Lights 18-20 November 2011.  Slides, notes and visual meditations downloadable from the Tree In Colour website, created by the author can be found on an updated website called The Luminous Tree https://echtrai.org

The focus of that site is stories from and about the Tree of Life including a systematic look at colour in the Four Worlds of the Qabalistic Tree, its history and meditational use. The Golden Dawn Colour Scales and Colour in Medieval Jewish Kabbalah area among the topics addressed.  Launched 4 Nov 2021.

Introduction In one of the fables ascribed to the archaic poet Aesop (6 th c. BCE), 'The peacock and the crane,' 1 a peacock, very proud of its gorgeous tail, mocks the simple color of the crane (χροιὰν), claiming that he the peacock is wearing gold and purple (χρυσὸν καὶ πορφύραν φοροῦσα) like a king. To this mockery, the bird replies: 'Yes, but I can fly very high in the sky and sing among the stars, while you can only walk below, among other birds and cockerels.' The end of the story proves the crane right, since it is said that 'it is better to be renowned and in poor garments than to live taking pride in richness but without honor.' This Aesopic fable, which was probably quite popular among the Greeks, denounces the excessive display of brilliant and luxurious colors as opposed to more simple ones: poikilia is visually attractive and seductive, but can also be superficial and vain. 2 In this perspective, choosing to describe the attire of the proud peacock by two specific colors, gold and purple, as the very symbols of wealth and power, is significant. It reflects economic as well as symbolic values and the social prestige attached to both substances: gold and purple are emblematic of the notions of beauty and splendor in Ancient Greece – as in many other ancient societies. Anthropologists, historians and archaeologists 3 have tried to understand why certain substances could be endowed with specific values and highly esteemed as 'symbols of excellence' 4 and, therefore, credited with a kind of social 'agency.' 5 Careful attention has been recently paid to the role played by the physical and aesthetical (in the etymological sense, that is, relative to the field of sensations) proprieties of such symbols. Several scholars have stressed that the vividness and the brightness of a color must be taken into account, since the chromatic appearance of the surfaces resulted in some materials differentiated from others as being more precious and valuable. 6 Many studies have been devoted to gold and to purple as status symbols in the Ancient world, but usually each color has been dealt with separately. 7 My approach here will be slightly different; this paper seeks to shed light upon the strong connections between gold and purple in the ancient Greek mind, by showing that it is precisely because they share common chromatic characteristics that they were associated. To put it in another way, I will analyze why golden and purple were both considered by the Greeks as the best colors. In so doing, I adopt a more anthropological approach, since I will deal mainly with written sources (literary and epigraphic texts), which offer insight into the field of representations and social imaginary, rather than realia and artefacts. 8 In particular, attention will be given to the meanings and uses of the adjectives khruseos, 'made of gold, golden', and porphureos or harlourgos, 'purple, purple-colored.' First, I will address the multiple values attached to gold and purple by the Greeks, taking into account the way in which the metal and the dye could be obtained and physically associated by craftspeople in order to achieve a brilliant chromatic effect. Then, by analyzing the contexts in which these colors were used together, I will tackle two main issues: first, their ritual uses and role in the cult of the gods, as a manifestation of eusebeia (piety); secondly, the close relationship established between these colors and the realm of luxury and power.

PREFACE Colour as a universal aesthetic category has dominated the thoughts of a large number of scholars and scientists from the ancient times till nowadays. Colour has been studied and discussed by chemists, physicists and biologists, theologists, philosophers and psychologists, art experts, literary critics and linguists. Colour has a particular function not only in the spheres directly related to it, like fine arts and architecture, but in fiction as well. While discussing the peculiar and "strange" character of colour vision, the most popular points to consider are the thoughts of ancient philosophers on the one hand and fiction on the other. However, scholars are basically concerned with the identification of the meaning and use of colour terms and the degree of their correspondence with the modern perception of colours. But on what concerns particular observations by individual scholars, purely literary or conceptual aspects of colour use are not substantially studied. Therefore, our ideas on the principles and opportunities of colour use are incomplete and insufficient. The aim of the present work is to fill this gap. The book targets on the following objectives: identification of colour function and systemic study of the colour phenomenon in the writings of the ancient tragedians (in complete surviving pieces, and not in fragments). The analysis of chromatism in a particular text poses a whole set of questions connected to colour: what is the colour, who uses it, where, when and why. The present book attempts to answer these very questions. As an outcome, the book intends to determine: what are the colours the tragedians use, which words are used to convey the colour senses, which structural forms prevail-simple or compound, which parts of the dramas have more colour terms-chorus parts or dialogue. These are the commonly applied criteria for the lexicological analysis of drama; however, a similar investigation focusing on colour has not yet been carried out. Aeschylus', Sophocles' and Euripides' writings enjoy ever-increasing interest since the ancient times. Scholars usually study the tragedies in terms of their linguistic and artistic properties, socio-political and religious-mythological aspects, as well as the vision of the playwrights. The style of the tragedians has become the object of profound and important researches; however, the colour phenomenon as represented in the writings has so far escaped close consideration, although colour is to be regarded as an intrinsic 1 The author would like to thank Mrs. Helen Tatishvili and Mr. Yorgos Voudiklaris for the English translation of the summary.

H. Meller/F. Knoll/J. Filipp, Rot − vom Leben bis zum Tod. Prähistorische Rötel- und Hämatitfunde aus Mitteldeutschland. In: H. Meller/C.-W. Wunderlich/F. Knoll (Hrsg.), Rot − Die Archäologie bekennt Farbe. 5. Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 4. bis 6. Oktober 2012 in Halle (Saale). Tagungen Landesmus. Vorgesch. Halle 10 (Halle [Saale] 2013).

(Colour illustrations for CD-ROM version you can see after black-white variant)
Colour combinations in the costume of peoples in the Iranian World reveal their traditional character: red, white and blue, with rarer use of yellow, black and green. It reflects ancient Iranian colour symbolism rather than the contents of dye-stuffs. The influence of the Achaemenid Empire on other Iranian peoples includes the use of multi–coloured and, partly, striped fabrics and continued into the period of the Sasanian Empire when the concept of decorating cloth with medallions. Multi-coloured fabrics are not typical for Iranian costume and the costume of many other Iranian peoples in the Parthian period, which can be explained through Greek aesthetic influence.

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.

The social man creates or borrows practical procedures, and with them specific phrases. Unfortunately present literature often separates these phrases from the techniques in which the same phrases are used. This is the case of the colour term 'azure' and 'lapis lazuli' that denotes today an aggregate of minerals from which the pigment ultramarine 'blue' was extracted in the course of the Middle Ages. The present work collects well-established pieces of information from a multidisciplinary standpoint with the aim of highlighting the various social utilisations of ground lapis lazuli, or better, its 'blue' mineral called lazurite. New data is extracted from the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, and Medieval Latin manuscripts (MSS) devoted to colour making. The oldest Western use of the pigment ultramarine 'blue' preceded of about seven centuries the first three 13th-14th century recipes, which describe the production of the pigment from lapis lazuli. This enormous time gap requires a new interpretation of the social mechanisms that transmit practical arts. Available chemical data refutes the hypothesis of a single mining supply source for archaeological findings of lapis lazuli, and new evidence demonstrates also that the phrase ultramarine 'blue' is strongly misleading. The term 'blue' became a basic colour term most likely in the early 15 th century England. Instead, the Medieval Latin word 'lazurum' and the corresponding Vernacular terms drew from lazurin, a 9 th century A.D. transliteration of the Greek λαζούρ (lazour), attested since the 4 th century A.D. The latter stemmed from the Persian colour term lājvard, which denoted lapis lazuli and other 'blue' substances. This study paves the way for the study of the intricate social utilisations of an 'azure' pigment that was successively called ultramarine 'blue', and on the first linguistic evidence of the term 'azure'.

Abstract
Les saints, tant vivants que dans l’au-delà, forment un sujet actuellement très apprécié des études concernant l’Antiquité tardive. Dans le domaine iconographique, l’ensemble le plus magnifique de saints est représenté par les quinze portraits de martyrs en mosaïque conservés sur la coupole de la Rotonde de Saint-Georges à Thessalonique. Étrangement, le discours contemporain de l’iconographie hagiographique néglige largement ces images exceptionnelles. La raison en est probablement de l’incertitude de leur datation. Pourtant, qu’on les place dans les dernières décennies du ive siècle, aux alentours de 450, ou au début du vie siècle, ces mosaïques fournissent une importante information sur l’origine et le développement de la représentation des saints. Cet article pose le problème de la genèse de l’image individualisée du martyr, en particulier la question de son rattachement à une tradition authentique liée à son portrait funéraire. Une des caractéristiques distinctives des images du monument de Thessalonique est la variété des représentations : les portraits des martyrs sont nettement individualisés, différenciés par âge, chevelure, barbe, traits physiognomoniques, couleurs, etc. Toutefois, indépendamment de la question de l’origine et de l’authenticité de ces portraits, les couleurs particulières des tesselles utilisées pour rendre les chevelures et les yeux montrent que, dans la Rotonde, les mosaïstes ont donné la priorité à une esthétique de “lumière colorée’, principe qui leur a permis de représenter la beauté idéale des hommes saints dans l’au-delà.

Few instances of material evidence for ancient colour restorations have been documented over the last 20 years, during which time the scientific approach to the study of polychromy has been defined. This article presents eight new cases of ancient restoration of colour from the Roman Imperial Age. By combining observations in visible and UV light and video microscopy with a micro-stratigraphic approach, MA-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and contextual archaeological data, we have observed evidence which could suggest an aesthetic change in the use of colour between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE: from polychrome and multitone effects to the use of monochromatic, flat, and uniform colour finishes

BECAUSE THE SUN ITSELF IS EMANATING THE COLOR LT PURPLE.

EUPHORIA REALLY IS A HUGE DEAL. 

MASSIVE CHANGE - THE ENTIRE COLOR SPECTRUM!!! IT IS HAPPENING NOW.  AND IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE!!!  ANCIENT EARTH WAS LT. PURPLE!! 
https://www.livescience.com/1398-early-earth-purple-study-suggests.html

Alcuni colori vivi nell’opera dantesca possono essere analizzati a partire dalle tinte di pannilana che si importano d’oltralpe e circolano in Italia dal ’200 circa. Premessa la distinzione commerciale fra il perso francese (che ha un aspetto blu scuro in quanto si ottiene esclusivamente con la pianta tintoria del guado) e un prodotto d’imitazione noto come “perso fiorentino” (che tenta di raggiungere la profondità e scurezza del perso originale ritingendo in rosso basi nere), lo studio esplora la possibilità che i toni del “perso fiorentino” abbiano influenzato le formulazioni di Dante in particolare nel Convivio. Si vagliano altri vocaboli di derivazione tintoria quali “sanguigno”, “porpora” e “cupo”, legandosi a un altro panno d’imitazione detto “nero di perso”; poiché inoltre Dante poté vedere il perso francese a toni blu, si formulano ipotesi sui motivi per cui egli non sembri parlarne. Il saggio infine ricostruisce una precisa trafila tintoria nel canto di Francesca, secondo uno schema cromatico che è appassionato e tragico specchio della condizione morale dei dannati.

Some of the colours used in Dante’s poetry can be interpreted through the wool drapery trade and dyeing processes which were imported from France to Italy in the XIII century. Drawing on the distinction between French perse (a dark shade of blue which is exclusively obtained from the dye of the woad plant) and Florentine perse (a local imitation which redyes black wools in red aiming to achieve a similar darkness to French perse), this study suggests that the Florentine tones could have influenced Dante especially in the Convivio’s definition of perse. This work makes reference to some dyeing related words such as sanguigno, purpureo and cupo, also refers to another imitated colour called nero di perso. The possibility of seeing French perse through the whole Dante’s life leads to the question of why the poet does not seem to talk about it. Finally the study alludes to a metaphor of the dyeing process in Francesca’s canto, where the colour distribution is seen as a passionate and tragic mirror of the moral condition of sinners.

In the second half of the second century, or a little later, the Greek Artemidoros from Daldis in Asia Minor penned a work on dream interpretation, the Oneirokritiká. 1 Quite independently from the implications attached to dreams by modern depth psychology and neurology, this text furnishes us with a window into social and cultural configurations of meaning that prevailed at the time of writing. 2 Artemidoros is not primarily concerned with a dream's content, but instead emphasizes that the interpreter needs to have information about who the dreamer is (profession, origins, wealth, health, age), relegating information about the dream vision itself to second place. 3 Artemidoros therefore accords the dreamer's social status greater significance than the actual dream itself. 4

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD...

When comparing Greek literary and epigraphic sources, it is clear that the concept of brilliance and sparkle is not the same. The sacred inventories, by listing the offerings
deposited each year into the sanctuaries are not aiming to the shine or brilliance of the artefacts, but only to record all the dedicated objects. Nevertheless, the texts of Delos have the specific feature that they promote the gifts in various semantic and lexical ways. The concern of religious propaganda, specific to the sacred management of the island, thus enables offerings to regain on stone some of the sparkle that remained hidden at the back of a temple.

In the surviving fragments of the early Greek philosophers we find evidence both of the awareness of the emotional impact of colours on the observer depending on their luminosity (or the lack thereof) and of the suspicion that colours may constitute or, worse, be exploited as a deceitful covering of the truth (cf. Parmenides, Fragment 8, 39-41 DK; Empedocles, Fragment 23 DK; Gorgias, Fragment 11, 17-18 DK). This judgment about the ‘ambivalence’ of colours is clearly shared by Plato, as shown by his criticism of painting, and particularly of the technique of σκιαγραφία, in the broader frame- work of his discussion on mimesis. However, Plato is far from being immune to the charm of colours in nature as well as in painting. As a matter of fact, as I argue in this paper, it can be shown that Plato conceived the luminosity of certain colours (esp. ‘white’ and the colours of precious metals) as the sensible medium through which intelligible Beauty makes itself visible to the human eye.

This essay considers the architectural setting depicted in the famous Melozzo's fresco 'Sixtus IV Founding Vatican Library', through the analysis of ancient sources (Vitruvio, Isidoro di Siviglia) and contemporary sources (Francesco Patrizi), the author draws the reconstruction of the space where the figures are arranged.

The Association for the Study of Marble and Other Stones in Antiquity is a worldwide group of scholars whose interests relate not only to the study of the use of decorative and building stones in the ancient world, their conservation, preservation and polychromy, but also in approaching these studies through interdisciplinarity and the sharing of information between those from different backgrounds and approaches.  It does this primarily through the, roughly triennial, peripatetic congresses of which so far there have been twelve, and the comprehensive proceedings which follow.

The following data-sets have been compiled in the course of my own doctoral research at the University of Oxford, where a consolidated listing of the papers from each set of proceedings was compiled into a bibliographic database.  It should therefore be noted that, aside from being a member of ASMOSIA, this is not an official document, and should not be taken to represent the views of that organisation. It is, of course, noted that there will be mistakes, omissions and errors, all of which, it is hoped, may be corrected by sharing this work with colleagues both within ASMOSIA and beyond.  It is anticipated that future versions of this work may extend the relatively simple consolidated bibliographies presented here by adding subject and other forms of analysis to the corpus.

A journey through 5,500 years of history of the color blue, its general use, its production, its symbolism and application in art, architecture and daily life.

In particular, the use of blue in historical shipbuilding will deepen the subject. A comprehensive arc is spanned here from the ships of antiquity to the first half of the 19th century, structured according to the navies of the individual European nations and other cultures. Food for all those who have already dealt with the controversial subject of the colour blue in shipbuilding.

In addition to artefacts, many sources from texts and documents, architecture and art are used. This results in 18 pages of source and literature references that speak for themselves. Good, varied and continuously coloured illustrations underline the corresponding text information.

Not only interesting for those interested in historical shipping.

Book as hardcover edition with 200 pages of high-quality colour printing and thread binding.

More details: www.modellbau-muellerschoen.de

I deal first with the issue of what was the Greeks and Romans’ chromatic experience as it emerges from the linguistic evidence, showing that colors were actually perceived, and they emotionally affected people, in degrees of light and darkness rather than in terms of hue. Then I claim that this assumption also underlies both ancient theories on color and vision (Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, and the Peripatetic De coloribus) and the various aesthetic judgments to be found throughout ancient literature on the beauty and emotional power of (mainly brilliant) colors. Polychromy in sculpture and the painters’ practices of mixing pigments are taken into consideration as well, along with the  relevant comments by ancient authors.

In the early Byzantine mosaics in the Rotunda at Thessaloniki, some tesserae are arranged so that the colours blend optically. This method, which has its scientific origin in Greco-Roman optics, is related to the principles of nineteenth-century pointillist and divisionist painting. Based on observations in situ and subsequent studies of digital photographs, I discuss two instances of optical blending, namely its use in the interwoven decoration (tablia) of the soldier saints' cloaks, and in the wings of angels. In order to explain the colouristic effects, I bring into the discussion the phenomena of contrast and assimilation and recent neurobiological research on luminance. It is concluded that by means of the colour blending technique, the artists achieved astounding results with respect to hue, luminance, texture, three-dimensionality and variety.

In the long quest for the true meaning of ancient colour terms, poetry has often been perceived as an unreliable source. Although scholars have been more sensitive to the complexity of colour use in ancient verse in the last decades, the key role of poetry in ancient conceptions of colours has yet to be fully recognised. As shows the example of adjectives referring to purple dye, the significance of colour terms often lies in the poetic tradition. The ancients themselves considered Homer as the highest authority regarding colour. In Roman elegy, colour semantics are the product of a rich intertextual dialogue with earlier Greek verse. This very process of creative imitatio may have played a significant role in the emergence of abstract, modern colour categories.

In frühen Studien zu den Farbenbezeichnungen in der Antike galt oft die Dichtung als
unzuverlässige Quelle. Auch wenn die Forschung mittlerweile die Komplexität des Themas Farbe in der antiken Dichtung erkannt hat, wurde der Dichtung als Schlüsselrolle bei der Farbkonzeption bislang wenig Beachtung geschenkt. Dabei belegen beispielsweise Adjektive, die sich auf den Farbstoff Purpur beziehen, ihre Bedeutsamkeit in der poetischen Tradition. Bei den alten Griechen wurde Homer höchste Kompetenz in Bezug auf Farbe zugeschrieben; in der römischen Liebeselegie lässt sich Farbsemantik als Produkt eines intertextuellen Dialogs mit den früheren griechischen Dichtern verstehen. Das Verfahren der kreativen Nachahmung könnte eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Entstehung abstrakter, moderner Farbkategorien gespielt haben.

It is axiomatic that colour is about more than just lightwaves hitting the retina. In ancient philosophical circles, colour was often described as the primary object of vision: it was the external ‘skin’ that existed at the surface of an object, and what made the object visible or ‘sensible’ to a viewer. And yet, Greco-Roman literature is riddled with examples of colour categories that do not make sense simply in visual terms: from Homer’s ‘wine-dark sea’  (oinops pontos) to ‘whey-coloured’ (orōdēs) skin in Hippocratic medicine, from blushing (rubens) faces to the honey-coloured hair (mellei crines) and marbled skin of coveted girls in Augustan elegy, and from the saffron garments of decadent easterners to the expensive fishy-smelling purple robes of the late-antique imperial court, colours appealed not just to sight, but also to smell, touch and taste. This chapter uses arguments and ideas explored in my recent monograph Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome (Cambridge University Press, 2009) to suggest that colours in pre-modern societies such as Greece and Rome, because of their close ties to specific objects and phenomena (rather than just parts of the spectrum), were frequently synaesthetic experiences which appealed to multiple senses and mobilized more than just eyesight. The chapter draws upon case studies from a range of genres and contexts (Homeric epic, artistic ekphrasis, philosophical epistemology, political rhetoric, elegy and late antique legislation) to demonstrate not only that colour was a multi-sensory experience, but also that the nature of this experience was a central preoccupation of ancient thought in several areas of activity in the Greco-Roman world.  An understanding of this principle, then, can do more than just help us to translate and understand difficult Greek and Latin colour terms: colour was a basic sensory unit of information through which ancients experienced and evaluated the world around them, and the collaboration of the senses in these experiences suggests an approach to perception, knowledge and understanding which could be very different from that employed in the modern west.

El tejido antiguo, desde el período creto-micénico al Bajo Imperio romano, alcanzó unos niveles técnicos nunca igualados en tiempos posteriores. Los hilos confeccionados con delicadísimas fibras de lana o seda salvaje (y pronto de seda cultivada venida del oriente) a los que se unían los increíblemente finos hilos de oro (con o sin alma de ese tipo de fibras) eran el signo identificador de la riqueza y el poder de la reducida alta clase social homérica y posteriormente greco-romana.
Las clases emergentes del periodo imperial romano pretendieron acercarse externamente a la estética propia de la aristocracia y, al mismo tiempo, a diferenciarse de la plebe. El deseo entre los advenedizos de emular lo que no eran fue tan grande que las imitaciones de materias de lujo llegaron a convertirse en una práctica común en ese período, lo que promovió las prohibiciones de ciertos materiales. Pero, pese a ello, tintes como el obtenido de la púrpura marina (la renombrada purpura de Tiro) se imitaron en Mesopotamia, Grecia y Egipto durante el período helenístico y romano, alcanzando el fenómeno cotas elevadísimas en época imperial romana. Asimismo, los finos hilos de oro de 20-24 quilates utilizados por la aristocracia a precios exorbitantes se fabricaban con materiales de menor valía. Las fibras eran teñidas en color amarillo o eran recubiertas con metales dorados (incluso fabricados con fina piel dorada) para imitar el oro.
La presente monografía analiza críticamente los papiros y tratados alquímicos del Egipto romano que prescriben cómo hacer estos falsos tintes y sucedáneos de los hilos de oro. Los resultados eran técnicamente tan buenos que las multas y sanciones legales a las que se enfrentaban los artesanos y comerciantes de estas falsificaciones eran muy altas cuando pretendían hacer pasar sus productos por lo que no eran.

Die 37-bändige Naturgeschichte des älteren Plinius hält als erste überlieferte enzyklopädische Schrift umfangreiche Informationen zu natürlich vorkommenden und künstlichen Farbstoffen in der Antike bereit. Aufschlussreich für (anorganische) Farbstoffe sind hier im Grundsätzlichen die letzten fünf Bücher des Werkes sowie im Besonderen das 35. Buch über die Malerei und die Farben. Im 33. Buch, das Plinius der Metallurgie von Gold und Silber widmet, fällt gleich zu Beginn eine Formulierung ins Auge, die sich auf den Abbau von Gold bezieht: In unmittelbarer Nähe von Goldvorkommen finde sich nämlich eine Substanz namens chrysocolla, welche nach dem Gold benannt worden sei. 1 Die chrysocolla -wörtlich etwa "Goldkleber" -solle durch den Namen wertvoller erscheinen, bemerkt Plinius geringschätzig. 2 Nach Meinung der Goldschmiede stamme der Name von der Verwendung zum Goldlöten, wie er später erklärt. 3 Das Gold stellt Plinius als Krankheit für die Menschheit dar: Mit dem Gold habe man eine Seuche (pestis vitae) entdeckt und sogar der Eiter des Goldes (auri sanies) -gemeint ist hier die chrysocolla -sei wertvoll. Bevor Plinius noch einmal auf die chrysocolla zurückkommt, vertieft er die negativen Folgen der Verwendung von Gold, die Plinius auf zweimalige Untat (scelus) zurückführt: Die schlimmste sieht er im erstmaligen Gebrauch goldener Ringe, die nächste in der Prägung von Goldmünzen mit dem Geld als Ursprung der Habsucht. 4 Gleich zweimal gipfelten im Prinzipat Neros die negativen Folgen, so die Verminderung des Edelmetallgehalts im Aureus, vor allem aber die Verwendung in der Architektur: Nero habe nicht nur das Theater des Pompeius für einen einzigen Tag mit Gold überziehen lassen, als er es Tiridates von Armenien zeigen wollte. Natürlich stehe Nero auch für die domus aurea, die eine ganze Stadt einschließe. 5 Auch in anderen Abschnitten sieht * Für wertvolle Anregungen danke ich Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann (Frankfurt) und Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning (München). 1 Plin. n.h. 33,4. 2 Vgl. Plin. 37,50: quoniam nullis vitiis desunt pretiosa nomina.

If ancient written sources and the visual analysis of polychromies have recently revealed the complexity of the technique of painting on statues and their frequent restoration, the non-invasive punctual chemical analyses carried out do not allow one to access the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This paper presents the analysis of three statues from Roman Africa discussing the results obtained from this understudied territory and chronology. By combining visual observation (VIS, UVL), video microscopy and MA-XRF imaging, we propose here a non-invasive protocol to determine the chemical composition of the different paint layers. This allows one to unveil the complexity of the 'know-how' of a sculpture painter and sheds light on the evolution of the original appearance of the statues.

Anatolia was the cradle of many civilizations for thousands of years and a melting pot of peoples of different ethnic origins and religions. Because of its coveted natural resources and trade routes, Anatolia was coveted by many conquerors from east and west. Prior to the campaigns of Alexander the Great, it had remained for 200 years under Persian Rule. One of the bridges between the eastern and western civilizations was Afyonkarahisar, where the tomb of a Persian nobleman survived until 1969, when it was pillaged. However, its painted friezes have been reassembled, restored, reconstructed, and now with the exhibition "The Return of Colors" the tomb chamber has been recovered. Regarding the appreciation of cultural values, I consider it very important that all information on these wooden friezes is presented in a book accompanying the exhibition. The illegal trade of movable cultural assets and natural goods should be taken seriously and prevented. The effectiveness of efforts against the illicit trade of antiquities depends on the sensitivity for collaboration. The best example for such a cooperation is the exhibition of the tomb chamber of Tumulus Tatarlı, which will hopefully be the beginning of future cultural cooperation with Germany. I would like to thank the Government of Bavaria, to the Federal Republic of Germany, to the scholars from Ludwig-Maximilians University and to the staff of our ministry who were involved in the restoration of this unique monument. I wish them continued success. Anatolien war seit Jahrtausenden die Wiege vieler Zivilisationen und ein Schmelztiegel vieler ethnischer Gemeinschaften und Glaubensrichtungen. Wegen seiner natürlichen Ressourcen und Handelswege von Eroberern von Osten wie Westen begehrt blieb Anatolien bis zum Eroberungszug Alexanders des Großen 200 Jahre unter dem Einfluss des Persischen Reichs. Eine der Kreuzungen zwischen östlichen und westlichen Zivilisationen war Afyonkarahisar, wo das Grab eines persischen Adeligen bis 1969 überdauerte dann, aber geplündert wurde. Seine gemalten Friese wurden wieder zusammengetragen, restauriert, wiederaufgebaut und jetzt mit der Ausstellung "Rückkehr der Farben" zurückgewonnen. Für die Wertschätzung des kulturellen Erbes halte ich es für sehr wichtig, dass die Informationen über diese Holzfriese in einem Buch zur Ausstellung vorgelegt werden. Der illegale Handel mit den beweglichen Kultur-und Naturgütern muss ernst genommen und verhindert werden. Die Effizienz der Bemühungen in diesem Bereich hängt von der Sensibilität für die Zusammenarbeit ab. Das schönste Beispiel einer solchen Kooperation ist die Ausstellung über die Grabkammer vom Tatarlı Tumulus, mit der die kulturelle Zusammenarbeit mit Deutschland hoffentlich ihren Anfang nehmen wird. In dieser Hinsicht danke ich der Regierung Bayerns, der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, den Wissenschaftlern der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität sowie den Mitarbeitern unseres Ministeriums, die bei der Zurückgewinnung dieses einmaligen Monuments beteiligt waren. Ich wünsche allen weiterhin viel Erfolg.

The attention for lights and colour is one of the peculiarities in the Euripidean drama, especially in the last production, where they are matched with particular attention. Only few details are used as decorative while they usually create passages with a particular dramatic function, as it is confirmed by later dramas such as Ion and Bacchant. Moreover, a new combination of traditional hues and images creating polychromies seems to appear with more frequency and in similar contexts. Even if the decorative aspect of the lyrics cannot be denied, the general impression is that Euripides creates, thanks to colour, a strong visual impact, giving specific meanings to particular scenes and in particular dramas.

RÉSUMÉ – L’auteur montre l ’existence d’une structure mnémique dans le Purgatoire, en s’intéressant à la distribution très précise de symboles chromatiques et lumineux, tout particulièrement le “smeraldo”, le “purpureus”, et la “lucerna”. En plus de la Bible, cette architecture symbolique trouve ses fondements théoriques dans la hiérarchie des vertus chez Macrobe et dans la doctrine des Dons du Saint Esprit chez saint Thomas d’Aquin.
MOTS-CLÉS – Dante Alighieri, littérature du Moyen-âge, théologie, symbolisme des couleurs, philosophie du Moyen-âge, littérature italienne

ABSTRACT – The author shows the existence of a mnemic structure in Purgatorio, focusing on the very precise distribution of colorful and bright symbols, especially the smeraldo, the purpureus, and the lucerna. Along with the Bible, this symbolic architecture finds its theoretical foundations in the hierarchy of virtues in Macrobius and in the
doctrine of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

KEYWORDS – Dante Alighieri, medieval literature, theology, symbolism of colors, medieval philosophy, Italian literature