Polychromy

It has been known for quite some time that Roman sarcophagi were painted. Clear traces of paint have been preserved on a closing slab of a grave, found in the Isola Sacra necropolis (2.40 x 0.95). The colours that could be recognized are yellow, blue-purple and red-brown. In the centre of the slab are the portraits of husband and wife. On the ground below them lies Terra Mater, holding a cornucopiae. The couple is flanked by four amorini, personifying the Four Seasons, together with birds, cattle and baskets with fruit. The slab has been dated to 240-250 AD.

Sarcophagus of the Seasons in the museum of Ostia. Photo: Wikimedia, Sailko.

The study of colour on Roman sculpture was given an important impetus by new technologies. Eliana Siotto investigated a large number of sarcophagi in the Musei Vaticani, Musei Capitolini and Museo Nazionale Romano. The state of preservation of the paint depends on the nature of the pigments. She noted that both organic and (artificial and natural) inorganic pigments were used. Red is the predominant colour. Green is conspicuously absent. The pigments were used pure, or mixed together in order to obtain different shades. The colour was usually applied directly onto the marble, but sometimes on a white primer with dark grains. Attention was also paid to highlighting details, such as eyelashes, eyebrows, and the spokes of chariot wheels.

For many elements the colours were standardized:
- Bright pink for the inner parts of the mouth and nostrils, and for blood from wounds.
- A similar bright pink for the flames of torches and altars.
- Red with shades created by yellow touches for fruit.
- Blue, not green, for leaves.
- Blue for metallic elements, such as the tips of spears, shields, helmets and wheel rims of chariots.
- Red and yellow for wooden objects and leather harnesses.
- Red for the large wings of Cupids and Victories, blue and sometimes yellow for the short feathers.

With the colour red some caution is necessary: it may also be a primer for gilding, called "bolo" in Italian. Traces of gilding have been seen on the painting of Silvanus in the Sacello del Silvano (I,III,2), on the statue of the reclining Attis in the Santuario di Attis (IV,I,3), and on the terracotta statue of (Isis-?) Fortuna from the shrine in the Caseggiato del Sacello (IV,V,4).

Traces of paint and gilding on a relief of Mithras killing the bull, from the mithraeum below Santo Stefano Rotondo.
Photo: Wikimedia, Carole Raddato.

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