Aloof, white and still: This is what Hellenistic marble statues look like when we encounter them in museums, and this is also how they were imitated in the Classicist period. But at the time when they were created, they didn’t look like that at all. “Their stone surface was decorated with a variety of textures, painted in different colors; some wore real clothing and jewelry or weapons made of metal and probably also wood and other materials,” explains Dr. Clarissa Blume-Jung from the Institute of Archaeological Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Like a real sleuth, she detects relevant clues on the surface of the stone. Rubin, the science magazine of Ruhr University Bochum, features an article on this research.
A new taste
Her work focuses on objects from the period between around 323 and 31 BC. Before this so-called Hellenistic period, which lasted around 300 years, Alexander the Great had expanded his global empire as far as India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa. A new taste emerged. The statues examined by Blume-Jung represent, for example, young women in opulent robes, athletes, children, rulers or deities; they stood, depending on their function, in sanctuaries, public squares and even in the homes and gardens of wealthy families.
Ear holes provide a clue
Today, they appear monochrome at first glance. But if we take a closer look, we see that the hair looks darker than the face. “You can tell that the strands of hair are painted with at least three different shades of brown and ochre – we can even see individual brushstrokes in some places,“ explains Clarissa Blume-Jung.
In some statues, the dark iris of the eyes is still clearly visible. “Unfortunately, accessories made of wood and other perishable materials have not survived the passage of time,” says Blume-Jung. “Metal ornaments are usually long gone as well – presumably because the material was required for other purposes and was melted down.” And yet, the researcher is convinced that they existed: “If a statue has pierced ears, you can assume that it also wore earrings,” as she points out.
Light blue and pink were all the rage
“The paints were mostly natural pigments,” says Clarissa Blume-Jung, and adds: “Light blue and pink were all the rage in the Hellenistic period, both for men and women.” She can make the pink color obtained from madder root visible under UV light. Azurite was sometimes used for blue hues. The common practice, however, was to use the artificially produced pigment Egyptian blue. Thanks to infrared photography (using the so-called VIL technique), it’s even possible to make traces of the color visible that the human eye would otherwise no longer perceive.
Detailed article in science magazine Rubin
Read more about other techniques used by Clarissa Blume-Jung and other evidence she found for the use of color and ornamentation in the statues in a detailed article on this topic in the science magazine Rubin, the “At the Surfaces” edition. For editorial purposes, the texts on the website may be used free of charge provided the source “Rubin – Ruhr-Universität Bochum” is named, and images from the download page may be used free of charge provided the copyright is mentioned and the terms of use are complied with.