3D imaging
3D reconstruction
Aithiopes
Alexander the Great
Ancient Near Eastern art
Antiquity
Architecture
Art history
Augmented reality
Bronze reliefs
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Category=AG
Category=AGA
Category=AGZC
Digital microscopy
digital reconstruction
Edward Robinson
Egyptian art
Emile Gillieron
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Fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy
Gender
Gian Marco Cavalli
gilding
Gisela Richter
Grave Stele of Poseides
Greek art
Infrared-reflected imaging
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Marble
Mexica (Aztec) art
Middle Ages
Multiband imaging
Museum studies
Optical microscopy
Parthenon
Peplos Kore
Photogrammetry
Pigment
Plaster cast
plaster model
Polarized light microscopy
polychromy
raking light imaging
Raman spectroscopy
Renaissance
Roman art
scanning electron microscopy
spectroscopy
Temple of Dendur
Ultraviolet-reflected imaging
Ultraviolet-visible absorption
Vase painting
Visible-reflected imaging
X-ray diffraction
X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
X-ray radiography
Product details
- ISBN 9781588397966
- Dimensions: 216 x 254mm
- Publication Date: 08 Jul 2025
- Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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New discoveries of surviving color on sculpture spanning two millennia and across the globe, from ancient Greece to Tenochtitlán to Renaissance Europe
Many ancient and early modern works that are viewed in monochrome today were once painted in vibrant colors. Lost to time until recently, the pigments and other surface treatments that originally adorned these objects offer a deeper appreciation of the cultures from which they originate. This handsome volume features new research by more than thirty international experts in polychromy, including art historians, conservators, scientists, and photographers. Identified through advanced technologies, scientific analyses, and in-depth research, their discoveries of surviving traces of color span the globe and vary in material, including an Archaic Greek marble sphinx, an ancient Phoenician cloisonné furniture plaque, Mexica (Aztec) lime-stone sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance European marbles and bronzes. This wide-ranging publication explores how these works further our understanding of ancient ideas around skin color, race, and gender; summarizes recent advances in the field; and considers polychromy’s controversial rediscovery and modern reception— highlighting the role of reconstructions such as 3D-printed replicas and virtual animations in contemporary museum practice as well as the resurgence of polychromy techniques in postmodern and contemporary European architecture.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
Many ancient and early modern works that are viewed in monochrome today were once painted in vibrant colors. Lost to time until recently, the pigments and other surface treatments that originally adorned these objects offer a deeper appreciation of the cultures from which they originate. This handsome volume features new research by more than thirty international experts in polychromy, including art historians, conservators, scientists, and photographers. Identified through advanced technologies, scientific analyses, and in-depth research, their discoveries of surviving traces of color span the globe and vary in material, including an Archaic Greek marble sphinx, an ancient Phoenician cloisonné furniture plaque, Mexica (Aztec) lime-stone sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance European marbles and bronzes. This wide-ranging publication explores how these works further our understanding of ancient ideas around skin color, race, and gender; summarizes recent advances in the field; and considers polychromy’s controversial rediscovery and modern reception— highlighting the role of reconstructions such as 3D-printed replicas and virtual animations in contemporary museum practice as well as the resurgence of polychromy techniques in postmodern and contemporary European architecture.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
Seán Hemingway is John A. and Carole O. Moran Curator in Charge, and Sarah Lepinski is curator, both in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vinzenz Brinkmann is head of the Department of Antiquities and Asia at the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main.
