The ancient Greeks were not as big fans of the whiteness of marble as we think. They painted their statues, bas-reliefs and temples, covered them with patterns, drew eyes for people, gods and heroes. How ancient Greece actually looked can now only be seen in ultraviolet light.
We are attracted to see Greek statues in white, painted only in shades of marble. Greek temples with columns appear in the same way in our imagination. However, many remember that in fact the Greeks were not big fans of monochrome, either in sculpture or in architecture. They painted their statues in bright colors, drew patterns on clothes, emphasized facial features with paints.
The buildings were also decorated with colorful patterns, geometric and floral. It turns out that these patterns can still be seen and even reconstructed.
We are attracted to see Greek statues in white, painted only in shades of marble. Greek temples with columns appear in the same way in our imagination. However, many remember that in fact the Greeks were not big fans of monochrome, either in sculpture or in architecture. They painted their statues in bright colors, drew patterns on clothes, emphasized facial features with paints.
The buildings were also decorated with colorful patterns, geometric and floral. It turns out that these patterns can still be seen and even reconstructed.
German archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann directs the light of ultraviolet lamps at antique statues and fragments of architectural decorations, and he can see the outlines of patterns that once covered sculptures and temples. Then he recreates the ornaments and drawings: with his help, we can see the statues in much the same way as the Greeks saw them.
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Of course, Brinkmann cannot be sure how to arrange the colors - only the outlines of the drawings have survived, without any indication of what paint the artist used. However, the archaeologist tries to use only those dyes that could be obtained in Greece. Green is obtained from crushed malachite, blue is from the mineral azurite, yellow is from natural compounds of arsenic, red is cinnabar, black is from burnt bone and wine.
Unfortunately, those who tried to imitate antiquity during the Renaissance and later did not have the technology to see the patterns on them. Therefore, the architecture of classicism, which considered itself the heir of antiquity, was devoid of cheerful patterns and drawings, preserving the pure "antique" whiteness.
