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Polychromy in Africa Proconsularis: investigating Roman statues using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Noémie Kopczynski ,
Laurence de Viguerie ,
Elisabetta Neri ,
Nesrine Nasr ,
Philippe Walter ,
Fathi Bejaoui  and
François Baratte
Noémie Kopczynski
Affiliation:
UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Centre d'Antiquité Classique et Tardive, 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France
Laurence de Viguerie
Affiliation:
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 8220, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France CNRS, UMR 8220, Laboratoire d'archéologie moléculaire et structurale (LAMS), 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Elisabetta Neri*
Affiliation:
UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Centre d'Antiquité Classique et Tardive, 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 8220, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France CNRS, UMR 8220, Laboratoire d'archéologie moléculaire et structurale (LAMS), 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Nesrine Nasr
Affiliation:
Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunis (INP), Musée National de Carthage, place de l'UNESCO, Tunis 2016, Tunisia
Philippe Walter
Affiliation:
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 8220, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France CNRS, UMR 8220, Laboratoire d'archéologie moléculaire et structurale (LAMS), 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
Fathi Bejaoui
Affiliation:
Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunis (INP), Ministère de la Culture, 4 place du Château, Tunis 1008, Tunisia
François Baratte
Affiliation:
UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, Centre d'Antiquité Classique et Tardive, 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: elisabetta.neri@unicatt.it)
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Abstract

Colour was a key feature of Greek and Roman sculpture, but due to the current bare-marble appearance of many such statues, it is now frequently overlooked. This is illustrated here by the first study of polychromy in Roman statues from the province of Africa Proconsularis. Five sculptural fragments dating to the second and third centuries AD were examined using techniques including XRF analysis, and a variety of pigments were detected. The differing colour schemes presented by each of the pieces are here assessed, and consideration is given to the technical process by which they were coloured, the significance of their decoration and the potential for applying similar approaches in future studies of ancient statuary.

Keywords

TunisiaRoman Africastatuespolychromypigmentsvisual aestheticX-ray fluorescence
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 91 , Issue 355 , February 2017 , pp. 139 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017 

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