(Re)peindre, dorer, cirer. La thérapéia en acte dans la sculpture grecque hellénistique

Abstract

Polychromie et restauration de la sculpture dans l'Antiquité TECHNÈ n° 40, 2014 (Re)peindre, dorer, cirer. La thérapéia en acte dans la sculpture grecque hellénistique Brigitte Bourgeois Brigitte Bourgeois, conservateur en chef, chargée de mission sur l'histoire de la restauration, C2RMF

Ancient Restoration in Roman Polychromy: Detecting Aesthetic Changes?

“…The eight new case studies presented here confirm that, in the Roman Imperial Age, the practices of repainting and maintaining the colour of statues continued to be followed, as attested by the Christian sources during the 2nd-4th century CE. [5][6][7].…”

“…Although little information on these acts recurs in sources from Roman republican and imperial times, these practices must have had some continuity. The Christian apologists of the 2nd-3rd centuries CE (e.g., Minucius Felix, Octavius, XXIV, 9) [5] and Arnobius, a century later [6,7], describe with a disparaging point of view (and probably caricaturing the phenomenon) these curative actions towards the statues. A passage by Arnobius, in particular (Arnobius, Adversus nationes, VI, 16,6), underlines how the colour gives the illusion of the vitality of the statue and how this, without human care, vanishes in the rain and through the passage of time.…”

Unveiling the paint stratigraphy and technique of Roman African polychrome statues

“…Recent studies on the literary sources describing the technical processes involved in paint application on statues (Henke 2020), and visual observations corroborated by observations and chemical analyses of micro-samples (Verri et al 2010;Bourgeois 2014;Lazzarini et al 2019;Şare Ağtürk 2021) have demonstrated a multi-layered polychromy with preparatory layers of different compositions, as well as binders of differing natures. Furthermore, according to ancient sources, the surface of the statues was in fact subject to frequent renovations, which included erasure, washing, re-painting of the statue and ganosis operations (Leka 2014;Bourgeois 2014Bourgeois , 2016. As underlined by recent studies, already in Antiquity, the polychromy could undergo restorations that maintained the original aspect or altered it during the Greek (Bourgeois 2014(Bourgeois , 2016 and Roman periods (Liverani 2014, Neri et al 2022.…”

“…Furthermore, according to ancient sources, the surface of the statues was in fact subject to frequent renovations, which included erasure, washing, re-painting of the statue and ganosis operations (Leka 2014;Bourgeois 2014Bourgeois , 2016. As underlined by recent studies, already in Antiquity, the polychromy could undergo restorations that maintained the original aspect or altered it during the Greek (Bourgeois 2014(Bourgeois , 2016 and Roman periods (Liverani 2014, Neri et al 2022. There is little information on these operations in the sources of the Roman Republican and Imperial times, but the early Christian sources (2 nd -4 th c. CE) describe the ritual care of statues and the attention paid to restore their colour (e.g.…”