The thing about ancient Greek marble sculpture -- is that there's not much of
it left -- and most of what is left -- is of no aesthetic interest (at least
to me) -- i.e. it's either badly weathered/broken, or lacking that spark that
separates the beautiful from the banal- not to mention that there are many
different styles included within the millennium of stuff that could be called
Greek.
Last year, I began to sift through all the books on ancient Greek sculpture at
the Ryerson Art Library -- and though there are plenty of books -- there's
only a few pictures, so far, that I've wanted to save - and most of those
were of terracottas.
The statues that I do find breathtaking - amazing - thrilling - and endlessly
exciting are the reliefs from the Parthenon.
Were they once painted? Yes --and probably repainted many times -- but not
before the sculptors had finished carving them -- and perhaps their special
qualities were only there for that moment when the patrons approved the work
in the studio -- before it got painted -- and before it got hauled 50 feet up
in the air when it's delicate qualities cannot be seen anyway.
BTW - on how many statues did Rhys Carpenter base his statements about that
"carefully fractured stone" - and has anyone here ever seen even one of
them?
*********************
William wrote:
Talk about old news. People have known for decades
that the antique sculptures were painted, and not only
painted, but waxed, over (for the Greeks but not the
Romans) carefully "fractured" stone to enhance the
apearance of living flesh. By fractured is meant a
chiseling technique that causes tiny superficial
"crazing" in the stone that refracts light, absorbing
some of it, softening the look of the surface. Over
that went the waxed pigments. (see Rhys Carpenter).
The Romans mostly "pointed" their work, copying Greek
poses by measuring and drilling to a depth and then
clearing away the surplus, then refining the surface.
Leon Battista Alberti described this in his book on
sculpture. But the Romans added a highly convincing
degree of illusionism in relief sculpture and in
portraiture. I used to tell my students that the
ancient Greeks would have had moving, speaking
sculptures on the Parthenon if they had the technology
(as in Las Vegas!). We're still trying to come up with
convincing virtual sculpture in digital games, etc.
The ancient Greeks would love it. Incidentally,
painted architecture was also popular as evidenced by
traces found on ruins, etc.
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