WFrMrm^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/apologyforcolourOOjone AN APOLOGY FOR THE COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT IN THE CRYSTAL PALACE. BY OWEN JONES. CRYSTAL PALACE LIBRARY; AND BRADBURY & EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON. 1854. AN APOLOGY FOR THE COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. By OWEN JONES. WITH ARGUMENTS By G. H. LEWES and W. WATKISS LLOYD, AN EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO EXAMINE THE ELGIN MARBLES IN 1836, FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS, AND A FRAGMENT ON THE ORIGIN OF POLYCHROMY, By PROFESSOR SEMPER. m r?J i . .i'Mfoia !■* ijgni : j ■■?: oeie ■ ■soot a. ■. ■> odi AN APOLOGY FOR THE COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. The coloured or colourless state of the monuments of the Greeks, and more particularly of their monumental sculpture, has long been, a subject of discussion in the world of art; a discussion which, although it may have been carried on with too much faith on the one side, has certainly been accompanied, on the other, with too much prejudice. At a very early stage in the arrangements for forming in the Crystal Palace a series of reproductions of architectural monu¬ ments, I felt that to colour a Greek monument would be one of the most interesting problems I could undertake; not indeed in the hope that I might be able completely to solve it, but that I might, at least, by the experiment remove the prejudices of many. I felt persuaded that when we had a Greek monument placed side by side with reproductions of other coloured monu¬ ments, the authorities for which were indisputable, people would be more willing to recognise the necessity for believing that the monuments of Greece were no exceptions to those of civilisations which preceded or followed them, but that they also like the rest were coloured in every part, and covered with a most elaborate system of ornamentation. So early as the publication of the “ Antiquities of Athens,” by 6 AN APOLOGY FOP THE Stuart and Revett, the traces of ornaments on the mouldings of the Greek temples were known and published by them, some of the painted ornaments, however, which they found, being engraved in their work as if in relief; but artists were for long after unwilling to accept these fragments as evidence that an entire system of ornamentation prevailed on the Greek buildings. The late Jules G-oury and Professor Semper, from whom will be found a paper on Polychromy in the Appendix, were amongst; the earliest to direct attention to this subject; but the most diligent labourer in the field is M. Hittorff, of Paris, who has devoted many years to the production of a magnificent work, in which will be found all the facts that are known, and a history of the long discussion which this subject has provoked. Mr. Penrose also, in his work on the “ Principles of Athenian Architecture,” has recorded all that he himself saw, but is reluctant to believe that any ornaments existed where traces of ornament can no longer be found. He feels that there is “ some slight ground of evidence that a peculiar yellow tinge upon some parts of the columns, especially of the west front of the Parthenon, is not simply the yellow said to result from the oxidation of iron contained in Pentelic marble, but has been applied externally as a tint, though perhaps so delicately as merely to reduce the high light of the marble without obscuring its crystalline character.” He considers it “ unreasonable to suppose that the ancients entirely concealed, or even materially altered in appearance, the general surface of the white marble, which they made a great point of obtaining whenever possible; but that no one who has witnessed the painfully dazzling effect of fresh Pentelic marble under the Athenian sun will deny the artistic value of toning down the almost pure white of its polished surface, and the more so when considerable portions of the architecture were painted in the most positive colours. We need not suppose,” he says further, “this tone to have produced more than the difference between fresh white marble and ivory.” COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 7 An examination of the facts recorded by these various authorities will convince any one that the question is now narrowed to one of degree only— “ To what extent were white marble temples painted and ornamented ? ” I would maintain that they were entirely so; that neither the colour of the marble nor even its surface was preserved ; and that, preparatory to the ornamenting and colouring of the surface, the whole was covered with a thin coating of stucco* something in the nature of a gilder’s ground, to stop the absorption of the colours by the marble. The Egyptians covered their buildings and statues in a similar way, no matter what the material; the Greek temples, which were built of lime-stone, were so undoubtedly; the ancient Greek terra-cottas almost without exception have traces of this ground. To the belief that the Greeks employed it also on their marble temples, there is only one stumbling-block—the artificial value which white marble has in our eyes. The Athenians built with marble because they found it almost beneath their feet, and also from the same cause which led the Egyptians to employ granite, which was afterwards painted—viz., because it was the most enduring, and capable of receiving a higher finish of workmanship. With these high thoughts of perfection and durability, they not only built their temples of Pentelic marble, but paved their carriage-way to them with the same material. The ruin of the Parthenon, as seen at this day on the Acropolis, with the rich tones which the sun of centuries has developed upon it, is a very different thing from a bran-new white marble Parthenon, with many of its enrichments proved to have been picked out in the strongest colours. Such a building would have been horrible to behold under any sun, much more under that of Athens. Could we set aside the whole of the evidence to the contrary;; 8 AN APOLOGY FOE THE could we forget the paintings recorded on its cella walls—its interior filled with upwards of six hundred statues, many of them of colossal dimensions, enriched with painting, ivory, gold, and precious stones, which would demand a far different treatment of the building which contained them; could we forget that when a marble statue left the hand of the first of sculptors, it passed into the hands of an equally cele¬ brated encaustic painter to receive its ultimate finish ; # could we forget the varieties of material which they combined, certainly harmoniously, in the statues of their gods—the varieties of colour which they gave to a material, by us con¬ sidered to be so uniform as bronze, in which to heighten the expression they wished to obtain; (by alloys of iron, silver, and gold, used on the various portions of a figure, the greatest known sculptors produced the paleness of death,—the blush of shame,—the smile on the mouth,—the fire of the eye, and the healthy redness of the cheek ;)t the ornaments of metal with which many of the marble statues were covered—earrings, bracelets, armlets, sandals, bands round the hair, crowns, diadems of pearls, precious stones, eyes of silver, glass, and precious stones ; the metal crown of the Laocoon, the metal casque of the statue of Mars, the metal drapery of the Antinous, the earrings of the Yenus de’ Medici, or her golden hair;— could we set aside the evidence either of that which is recorded, or of that which may still be seen, we should yet have felt that it must have been so, from the knowledge we have of the practice of those civilisations which preceded and followed that of the Greeks. How can one believe that at one particular period in the practice of the Arts, the artistic eye was so entirely changed that it became suddenly enamoured of white marble ? Such an idea belongs only to an age like that through which we have just passed—an age equally devoid of the capacity to appreciate, and of the power to * See page 31. + See Quatremdre de Quincey. COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 9 execute, works of art—when refuge is taken in white¬ washing. Under this influence, however, we have been born and bred, and it requires time to shake off the trammels which such early education leaves. There is another theory which it is necessary to notice, viz., that the marble was not painted, but stained in some way or other, so as still to retain the transparency of the marble. As this has never been tried, and can only be tried on marble, I dare not say that it would not produce an agreeable result. I am not able, however, to conceive it, and feel certain that it could not fulfil the required conditions of monumental sculpture, though presenting more chance of success with isolated works. As far as regards monumental sculpture, the evidence of Mr. Bracebridge, which was produced before the committee of the Institute,* would appear to settle the point. The fragments dug up at Athens in the winter of 1835-36, are stated by him to have been in perfect preservation, and “painted with the brightest red, blue, and yellow, or rather , vermilion, ultramarine , and straw colour, which last may have faded in the earth?' He further states, that “ the colours ivere laid on in thick coats?' COLOURING OF THE COURT. I may state at the outset that I have been restrained in this attempt at rendering the effect of the coloured archi¬ tecture of the Greeks—that I have set bounds to my imagination. I most fully believe that the Greek monuments were coloured and ornamented on a much higher key than I have ventured to attempt, whilst the public eye requires preparation for receiving what there are as yet so few facts to substantiate. See page 40. 10 AN APOLOGY FOR THE The only portions of the colouring of this court for which there is absolute authority, are the leaves on the moulding a, and the enrichments on the pilaster-caps, d, which are thus published by Mr. Penrose, in his work. Traces exist of the enrichment b, and the fret on the architrave band, c, of a stain indicating the form of the ornament, but without traces of colour. The colouring of the moulding A, which is known, is alone sufficient for our purpose. It establishes two broad principles for our guidance ; first, that of the alternation of colour, second, that the colours were so employed as best to define the moulding they enriched. Specks of blue and red (or, as observed by others, green and red) have been found in several monuments on this moulding, which from its form is more likely to have retained colour than any other. The absolute value of these colours is of course not known; hence the liberty of believing that they were only stains or tints, not positive strong colours. A glance at the experiment is sufficient to upset this theory COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 11 at once ; the ornament, with anything short of the strength of colour we have employed, would have been invisible even at the height we see it, much more so at the height the original was placed. As the bed-mould b represents, by the lines of the stain, similar mouldings carved in relief in other monuments, I felt I was safe in using the colours in such a way as best to represent the object it imitated. I have therefore placed the gold where, had the ornament been in relief and gold employed, gold must have been placed to have been seen to the best advantage, that is, on the convex surfaces. So of the other colours. In colouring the fret c I have followed the same principle ; if they took the trouble to paint so minute an ornament at such a height, we may be quite sure that they took every pains to make it as distinct as possible, and, therefore, in using blue and red alternately, I have endeavoured to make the lines of the fret more apparent. I was led at once to adopt a blue ground for the frieze, occu¬ pying, as it does, the place of the usual frieze of triglyphs and metopes in other monuments where the blue ground predo¬ minated ; I felt the Greek eye would have demanded it here had such an arrangement as that of our frieze existed on a Greek monument. The red within the wreaths was necessary, both for general harmony, and also to prevent the eye passing through the wreaths, which would have been the case had the blue ground been uninterrupted. The soffit of the cornice I have coloured red, because I have no doubt that wherever blue, red, and yellow or gold were used, this must always have been the place of the red; and I expe¬ rienced great pleasure, when in speaking on this subject with M. Hittorff of Paris, he brought forth a fragment of a soffit from Selinus, which, as he held it in his hand, showed a surface perfectly white, but removing his hand from it, discovered a 12 AN APOLOGY FOU THE large patch of the strongest red still remaining on the surface of the preparatory coat of stucco with which the temple at Selinus was covered. The boldest step I have taken is in colouring the capitals of the columns; the abacus e and the echinus f. Known. Unknown. The echinus of the Greek column is a moulding so perfect, and so much refinement was used upon it by the Greeks, that few believe it was ever intended to be ornamented. It is supposed that much of this refinement was exercised by the Greeks on this curve in order to prepare it for the shadow which the angle of the abacus cast upon it, and that all this would have been lost or disturbed by a painted ornament on the surface. There are others, however, equally strong in the belief that it was painted and ornamented, amongst whom M. Hittorff, who, in his work, gives two illustrations from drawings of Greek columns on vases, one of which has an ornamental abacus, and the other with the honeysuckle ornament on the echinus. As all the ornaments on Greek vases are analogous to those of Greek temples, it is fairly concluded that the painter of the columns on the vases only represented what he was accustomed to see on the columns of buildings. I am not alone in the belief that the echinus was ornamented with the egg-and-tongue ornament; in fact, the form of the moulding suggests this in preference to any other. It certainly gives the best form for resolving the upward running-lines of the flutes. As from all the examples we have, the fret ornament is found COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 13 universally on flat bands, I have adopted it for the surface of the abacus, and have chosen a fret which, returning within itself, prevents the eye from running outwards, upwards, or down¬ wards, which is generally the case with most frets. The spandrils of the abacus I have supplied with an ornament which I thought would best carry the eye from the square of the angle into the circular moulding. It is difficult to suppose that the capitals of the columns could appear unornamented side by side with pilaster-caps so elaborately enriched; and we think it will freely be admitted that of the two, the known Greek pilaster-cap, and that of my experimental column, the latter is more quiet. A simple reference to the cuts will be sufficient to convince any unprejudiced person that the minute scale of the ornaments on the pilaster-cap demands a higher key of ornamentation than that I have adopted. For the general tone of the plain portions of the monument, I have adopted a general tint of yellow, but, as I said before, I believe that the Greeks carried their ornamentation much beyond this. I think the architrave was enriched with ornaments—certainly the soffits; and in monuments like the Parthenon, I can come to no other conclusion but that the columns were gold. In the flutes of the Ionic columns of the Erectheum red has been distinctly seen. This can only have been the ground for gold; the fillets which separate the flutes of the Ionic column may then have been white, but the flutes of the Doric column presenting a sharp arris, which could not receive colour to separate the colours of the flutes, the columns must have had one uniform tint, whatever it might have been, and we can conceive no other worthy of such a building as the Parthenon, or able to support the decoration above, but gold. There is no authority for the gilding of the antefixse, nor for the guttse, but their form suggests the only mode of treatment they could receive with effect. 14 AN APOLOGY FOE THE CEILING UNDER THE GALLERY.—THE TWO END BAYS. Portion of the Ceiling, showing what is known of the Decoration. Portion of the Ceiling as Painted. The diagram at once explains what is known in this attempt of supplying the colours for a Greek ceiling ; the colours how¬ ever even of this are doubtful. Traces only of the stains are known, and some of the ornaments have been supposed to be COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 15 coloured in such a way as to destroy the very effect, which a mere glance at the diagram will show was intended to he produced—viz., to imitate, or rather take the place of orna¬ ments in relief. The star in the centre of the coffer has traces of red upon it, and has been published as a red star on a blue ground ; but Mr. Penrose, in his work, makes it gold, which is a much more probable arrangement. It will be seen that the parts I have supplied are frets on the plain soffits of the beams and the ornament on the side of the beams ; the frets I have used in such a way as best to define the architectural lines of the ceiling. Those who are inclined to believe that wherever the Greeks ornamented, there traces of ornament are found, and that con¬ sequently where no ornament is found none existed, of course stop at the stage represented by the outline diagram, and believe that the general harmony which such partial ornament¬ ing would disturb was restored by covering all the plain parts with stains or tints which may or may not have been varied. Till more is known all this must ever remain matter of opinion and subject to dispute. This opinion, however, is entirely based on the fact that the 16 AN APOLOGY FOE THE traces of ornament which do remain are ail engraved in outline on the marble with a sharp instrument; and it is therefore concluded that this was the universal practice of the Greeks, and that, where no engraved line exists there was no ornament. I think this a very bold assumption. It is evident that in such enduring ornaments as those of the Greeks, provision must have been made for repaintings ; and, therefore, on their moulded surfaces they took care to leave an enduring mark of the pattern, more especially as these mouldings were in positions most difficult of access ; whilst on the broader surfaces this labour in the beginning would not be necessary, as the ornaments may have been readily repainted without it. In the three centre bays we have attempted a still higher key of colour. The ornaments of the coffers are suggested by No. 2, from the coffers of the Propylsea. MOULDINGS ENCLOSING THE PANATHENAIC FRIEZE. The enrichment a, and the fret b and c, are published by Mr. Penrose; a, coloured exactly as I have shown it, and b and c with the fret only in gold, of which he imagines the pattern now on their surfaces may have been the trace. c Architrave Band, as published by Mr. Penrose. The principle of colouring on the moulding a helps to the colouring of the frets B and c, which, placed in the original 40 feet from the ground, would have been invisible in gold alone or any other tint. COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 17 THE PANATHENAIC FRIEZE. I have placed in the gallery behind the Greek and Homan Courts, casts from the Elgin frieze of the British Museum,* for the express purpose of showing how it might possibly have been coloured. * The casts obtained from the British Museum were first fixed in their place ; the missing portions were then supplied, by inserting casts of portions of the frieze found perfect in other parts of it. Thus, when a head, hand, or foot was wanting, a cast was taken of a head, hand, or foot, where found perfect, and then inserted. So that this frieze, although not an absolute reproduction of the original, is as nearly as possible all Greek. This restoration was confided to Mr. Raffaelle Monti, assisted by Franz Mitterlochner and Andreas Grass. c 18 AN APOLOGY FOR THE That it was coloured in some manner or other there can he no manner of doubt, and we think that any unprejudiced person who will examine the portion of the frieze in white at the end of gallery, with the known painted ornament above and below it, will at once admit this. There are other con¬ siderations which would lead one to imagine it destined to receive colour, even had no traces of colour been found on the architecture above and around it. As there are still many who believe, and will believe against all evidence, that this frieze never was painted, I must bring forward some arguments which appear to me so strong as to render the idea of its colourless state impossible. This frieze in the Parthenon is 40 feet from the ground to the centre of it, and in the position Aon the section (p. 17), whilst our experiment is only 16 feet, to the centre of the bas-relief: to be seen at an angle of 45°, the eye of the spectator must have been at least 60 feet from it: now only let the visitor stand at this distance from the portion of our cast that remains in white, and he will see how little of the detail is visible to the eye. Section showing the position of the Panathenaic Frieze. COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 19 Let him place himself at the same distance from the portion of frieze which I have painted, and he will see how visibly colour develops form. How many thousands pass daily the Athenaeum Club in Pall Mall and are not conscious that there is above their heads a copy of this divine work of Phidias; if this were coloured (as it ought to be) who could pass by and escape it. The frieze in the Parthenon could not have been seen without colour as distinctly as the copy on the Athenaeum Club, as it was under a portico, and in shadow. People are apt to argue that Phidias never could have taken such pains to study the light and shade of this bas-relief if the fineness of his workmanship had had to be stopped up when bedaubed with paint. How people who argue thus have never understood what colour does when applied to form. The very fact that colour has to be applied, demands the highest finish in the form beneath. By more visibly bringing out the form it makes all defects more prominent. Let any one compare the muscles of the figures in white, with the muscles of those coloured, and he will not hesitate an instant to admit this truth. The labours of Phidias, had they never received colour, would have been thrown away ; it was because he designed them to receive colour that such an elaboration of the surface was required. My attempt is seen under every disadvantage; it is too near the eye and too near the light; and it is painted on a material which is most ungracious for the reception of colour. The minute undulations of marble always lose something in a plaster reproduction, but when the plaster has further to be painted with four coats of oil paint to stop the suction, it may readily be imagined how much the more delicate modulations of the surface will suffer. I have preferred, however, to put forth this experiment with all its disadvantages, than attempt, to soften the asperities by any artificial arrangement, convinced that if it can find AN APOLOGY FOR THE zO some favour in its present position, it would gain immeasurably by being seen in a position analogous to that occupied by tbe original. It will be seen further on that no traces of colour exist at the present time on these marbles ; they were moulded in Athens prior to their removal to this country, and whatever colour they may have then retained disappeared during the cleansing of the marbles by soap-lees, after the process of moulding. We are therefore driven to the remains of colour on other monuments, and to analogy for the proposed restoration of the several colours. BACKGROUND. The colour of the background of some of the pediments of the Greek temples is known to have been blue, and if we admit that the bodies of the figures were painted at all, it could have been no other colour. The flesh colour being necessarily some kind of red, would have been injured by a red ground, whilst yellow would have advanced to the eye, and can form a back¬ ground only to white, the only colour more advancing than itself. I believe, and it is generally accepted as proved, that the ground was blue; and as there are many who stop here, admitting the blue ground, but denying the colouring of the figures, a portion of the frieze has been left in this stage, to enable them to form a judgment upon it. THE HAIR. When I first attempted the experiment, I had a strong instinct that the hair should be gold; but not having then authority for it, I was induced to try it both brown and grey ; neither of these colours, however, was satisfactory; but having afterwards seen the collection of terra-cottas in the Louvre, I became convinced that I was right in supposing that they should be gold. In all these specimens the hair is of an intense red, which can only have been the ground of COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 21 gilding, now obliterated. In the Elgin frieze, in the British Museum, may still be seen the holes which were drilled to fix on the metallic trappings, which were also, no doubt, gilt; and were these affixed in our experiment, the effect would be much more harmonious. THE FLESH. The most difficult point to determine, is the colour of the flesh. It is evident that the Greeks would avoid every attempt at representing nature. "Whatever colours they used, we may be sure that they were treated conventionally only, so as to suggest the nature of the object represented, yet not to attempt a direct imitation; we must feel, however, that they went to the utmost limit of conventionality. M. Hittorff has in his possession a fragment of a figure from Selinus, retaining a flesh colour very similar to that which we have employed. Although colour has been found on the hair, eyes, lips, and drapery of Greek fragments of marble, no traces have as yet. been found on the nude portions. And those who believe that the marble of the Greeks was only stained and not painted,, build up a triumphant argument on this. The explanation, however, is very simple ; it is evident that the smooth portions of a coloured object would lose their colour first under the influence of time, and, in fact, all traces of colour that ever are found, are found in the folds and crevices, from which it is fairly argued that the surface of which they formed a part was* of that colour. Even in the Alhambra, which was entirely covered with, colour, and which is so many centuries nearer our time than the Greek temples, colour is but rarely found on the surface : it is only by w hat is found in the depths and hollows, that we know' how the whole was coloured. On the terra-cottas of the Louvre there are figures where the white ground with which the whole surface of the terra- 22 AN APOLOGY FOE THE cottas was covered, remains perfect over the whole of the figures, at the same time that a fragment of flesh tint still remains upon some portion of it. Were this absent, it might equally well be argued, that the Greeks were in the habit of painting the flesh white on their terra-cottas. HORSES. In seeking a colour for the horses, I felt the choice lay between red, white, black, or grey; further, that whatever colour was employed, it would be in such a way as best to define and distinguish the various portions of the groups. I do not think that a single colour, or shades of the same colour, would have fulfilled tfiis condition. White horses would have been too prominent, black too sombre. The red I have employed appeared to be the best colour for the principal horses, as best balancing by their masses the blue background, whilst the relief between horse and horse could be harmoniously obtained by the employment of grey for the back horses. Authority for this mode of treatment exists on the Greek vases and in the Etruscan tombs, where, when one horse passes before another, There is a change of colour. As the horses in this frieze are in ranks of nine, it is most probable that there was still more variety of colour than I have attempted, to keep the various groups together. THE DRAPERIES. I was led to adopt this mode of treating the draperies from the inspection of the Louvre collection of terra-cottas, where The draperies are very well preserved. They are mostly pale blue and pale pink, the pale blue with a pink border and the pink drapery with a blue border. I have arranged the draperies in the way I felt most conducive to the general effect, so as to bring the whole into harmony. The colours of the other portions of the dresses are suggested by the materials which they may be presumed to represent. COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. 23 In placing this experiment before the public, I am quite aware how vain would be the hope that I had produced a result worthy of the Greeks; where there is so little to guide, success is well nigh impossible. The most that I could hope to attain was to produce a result that might have existed, and that would not have been discordant with the other portions of a Greek monument. My failures even would answer a useful purpose, if they served to direct other minds to work out this most interesting problem, and to induce further researches on the monuments of Greece, which have hardly yet been examined in this direction, because they have not as yet been examined with faith, but rather with reluctance. The experiment cannot be fairly tried till tried on marble, and in conditions of space, atmosphere, &c., similar to those under which the originals were placed. I would ask those critics who stand on the ground of tradi¬ tional opinion, not too rashly by hard words to attempt to stop the inquiry which this experiment may suggest The facts are too strong to be put aside by any opinion. If all who are anxious for the truth will only seek it, there is little doubt that we may approach, if we do not reach it. I have done all in my power to aid the cause. I have stood in the breach, and shall be content should others walk over me to a more complete victory. I am only anxious, in the meanwhile, that the Greeks should not be condemned on my account. I have no authority whatever for the colouring of the monument of Lysicrates in the Great Transept. One fact deserves to be recorded, the beautiful bas-reliefs of the frieze were absolutely invisible from below, when in white, and this made me certain that it was a monument designed to receive colour, and I therefore determined to attempt its restoration. OWEN JONES. Crystal Palace, June , 1854. NOTE BY MR. PENROSE. I have seen no reason to alter my opinion (quoted p. 6) tliat the surface of the marble played a considerable part in the general effect, and that it was not concealed with paint, but tinged or stained in some manner to the proper tone. An extensive and careful examination of the Pentelic quarries by the orders of King Otho has shown that large blocks such as were used at Athens are very rare indeed. The distance also from the city is considerable : whereas there are quarries on Mount Hymettus at little more than one-third of the distance (and most convenient for carriage), which furnish immense masses of dove-coloured marble (much prized, it would seem, by the Romans, Hor. ii. 18), and inferior in no respect but that of colour to the Pentelic. It could therefore only have been the intrinsic beauty of the latter material that led to its employment by so practical a people as the Athenians. With respect to the use of the outline traced with a sharp point (p. 16), had this been a provision for repaintings, its absence from the Doric echinus is at least conclusive that there was no ornament painted on that member ; for on no part of the architecture would the difficulty of reproducing the pattern have been greater. But since these outlines are found indifferently both on small and large mouldings, it seems to be a sound conclusion which limits the painted ornaments to the parts so outlined. REPLY. I do not think that, with our present ideas of economy, we are able to appreciate the motives of the Athenians in choosing their marble from the Pentelic quarries in preference to those of Mount Hymettus. We must remember that the Greeks built for their gods ; and the Pentelic marble, by presenting greater difficulties in its acquisition may have been a more precious offering. I can more easily understand this than the use of granite by the Egyptians, which was sought for from quarries much more distant, and pre¬ sented difficulties of workmanship many times greater. Mr. Penrose has examined most minutely the capitals of the columns of the Parthenon, and is convinced that no outline of any kind exists upon them ; but I am not so convinced that there never was one there, because, although outlines are found on fragments of some of the mouldings, they do not exist everywhere on the same moulding : it is only under favourable circumstances that the outline has been preserved. A Doric echinus may yet be found with outlines upon it. OWEN JONES. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. NOTE. I hate been favoured by Mr. G. H. Lewes with the following arguments derived from a perusal of Quatremere de Quincey, Winckelmann, and the passages of ancient authors which are sup¬ posed to throw light on this question ; these I have submitted to a well-known authority on Greek literature, Mr. W. Watkiss Lloyd, and place here his observations on the argument of Mr. Lewes, as I am most anxious that the public should be in possession of whatever can be said on either side. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. The idea of the Greeks having painted their statues is so repugnant to all our modern prejudgments, that the mind is slow in familiarising itself with the fact, even when indisputable evidence is brought forward. The Greeks were artists of such exquisite taste, and of principles so severe, that to accuse them of having painted statues , is to accuse them of committing what in our day is regarded as pure “ barbarism. ” The Greeks did not aim at reality, but at ideality ; and the painting of statues is thought to be only an attempt to imitate reality. Nevertheless, however startling, the fact remains : the Greeks did paint their statues. Living eyes have seen the paint. Living testimony supports the testimony of ancient writers, and all that will be necessary in these pages is to furnish some of the principal points of evidence. In the first place, the reader must get out of all sculpture galleries, erase from his mind all preconceptions derived from antique remains and modern practices. Having done so, let him reflect on the historical development of sculpture, and he will see this idea of painted figures falling in its true place. Sculpture of course began in Greece, as elsewhere, with idols. It is the custom of all barbarous nations to colour their idols. The Egyptians, as we know beyond all doubt, not only coloured, but dressed theirs. So did the Greeks. It may be a question, whether the Greeks borrowed their art from the Egyptians, improving it, as they did everything else. Let scholars decide that question. This, however, is certain, that in either case the Egyptian practice would obtain— 1st. If the Greeks borrowed from the Egyptians, they would borrow the painting and dressing. 2nd. If they did not borrow—if their art was indigenous—then it would come under the universal law of barbarian art ; and painting would, at any rate in the earlier epochs, have been 23 COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. employed. (We know that both, painting and dressing were employed in all epochs.) This being so, and the custom being universal, unless the change from painted to unpainted statues had been very gradual, insensibly" so, the man who first produced a marble statue without any" addition would have been celebrated as an innovator. No such, celebrity is known. Ancient literature abounds with references and allusions to tho practices of painting and dressing statues. Space prevents their being copiously cited here. Moreover, many of them are too vague for direct evidence. Of those which are unequivocal a few will be given. Dressing Statues. —Pausanias describes a nympheum, where the women assembled to worship, containing figures of Bacchus, Ceres, and Proserpine, the heads of which alone were visible, the rest of the body being hidden by draperies. And this explains a passage in Tertullian (“ De Jejun.,” 16), where he compares the goddesses to rich ladies having their attendants specially devoted to dress them— suas habebant ornatrices. For it must be borne in mind that the Greek idols, like the saints in Catholic cathedrals, were kept dressed and ornamented with religious care. Hence Homer frequently alludes to the offerings of garments made to propitiate a goddess ; thus, to cite but one, Hector tells Hecuba to choose the most splendid peplos to offer to Minerva for her aid and favour. Dionysius, the Tyrant of Syracuse, according to a well known anecdote, stripped the Jupiter of his golden cloak, mockingly declaring that it was too heavy for summer, and too cold for winter, “ The golden cloak of the Sicilian Jupiter seems scarcely to illus¬ trate the subject of dressing statues—as it was probably not drapery, not cloth enriched with gold—but solid, like the golden .ZEgis of the Minerva of Phidias, which could be removed and replaced.”—W. W. Lloyd. These dressed statues were for the most part dolls, however large. The reader must remember that the dolls of his nursery are the lineal descendants of ancient idols. Each house had its lares or household gods; each house had its dressed idols. Statues, in our sense of the word, were, it may be supposed, not dressed ; but that they were painted and ornamented there seems to be ample evidence. Coloured Statues. —If we had no other evidence than is afforded in the great variety of materials employed—ivory, gold, ebony, silver, brass, bronze, amber, lead, iron, cedar, pear-tree, (fee.. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 29 it would suffice to indicate that the prejudice about “ purity of marble ” is a prejudice. The critic may declare that a severe taste repudiates all colour, all mingling of materials ; but the Greek sculptors addressed the senses and tastes of the Greek nation, and did so with a view to religious effect, just as in Catholic cathedrals painted windows, pictures, and jewelled madonnas .appeal to the senses of the populace. The Greeks made statues of ivory and gold combined. They .also combined various metals with a view of producing the effect of colour. One example will suffice here. Pliny tells us (lib. xxxiy. cap. 14) that the sculptor of the statue of Athamas, wishing to represent the blush of shame succeeding his murder of his son, made the head of a metal composed of copper and iron, the disso¬ lution of the ferruginous material giving the surface a red glow— ut rubigine ejus 'per nitorem ceris relucente , exprimeretur verecundice rubor. Twenty analogous examples of various metals employed for colouring purposes might be cited. Quatremere de Quincey, in his great work, “ Le Jupiter Olympien,” has collected many. The reader may, however, admit that statues were made of Various materials, and that the bronze statues—which were incom¬ parably more numerous than the marble, may have been tinted, but still feel disinclined to believe that the marble statues were ever painted. A few decisive passages shall be adduced. Let it be remembered that Socrates was the son of a sculptor, and that Plato lived in Athens, acquainted with the great sculptors and their works ; then read this passage, wherein Socrates employs, by way of simile, the practice of painting statues ; “ Just as if, when painting statues, a person should blame us for not placing the most beautiful colours on the most beautiful parts of the figure —inasmuch as the eyes, the most beautiful parts, were not painted purple, but black—we should answer him by saying, Clever fellow, do not suppose we are to paint eyes so beautifully that they should not appear to be eyes.” {Plato, “De ftepub.” lib. iv., near the beginning.) This passage would long ago have settled the question, had not the moderns been pre-occupied with the belief that the Greeks did not paint their statues. They, therefore, read the passage in another sense ; many translators read “pictures” for “statues.” Put the Greek word aubpias signifies “ statue,” and is never used to signify “picture.” It means statue, and a statuary is called the maker of such statues, avdpicivTonoios. (Mr. Davis, in Bohn’s 30 COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. English edition of Plato, avoids the difficulty by translating it 4 ‘human figures.”) “ This passage is decisive as far as it goes, but it does not touch the question of colouring the flesh. It proves that as late as Plato’s time it was usual to apply colour to the eyes of statues; and assuming, what is not stated, that marble statues are in question, we are brought to the same point as by the iEginetan marbles, of which the eyes, lips, portions of the armour and draperies were found coloured. I forget whether the hair was found to be coloured, but the absence of traces of colour on the flesh, while they were abundant elsewhere, indicates that if coloured at all it must have been by a different and more perishable process—by a tint, or stain, or varnish. The HCginetan statues being archaic, do not give an absolute rule for those of Phidias. The archaic Athenian bas-relief of a warrior in excellent preservation, shows vivid colours on drapery and ornaments of armour, and the eye-balls were also coloured; but again, there is no trace of colour on the flesh. ”— W. W. Lloyd. Here is a passage which not only establishes the sense of the one in Plato, but while unequivocally declaring that the ancients painted their statues gives the reason why the paint is so seldom discoverable in the antique remains. It is from Plutarch (“Quaest. Roman.” xcviii., at the end) : u It is necessary to be very careful of statues, otherwise the vermilion with which the ancient statues were coloured will quickly disappear .” ee This passage refers to archaic sacred figures, and at Rome (not in Greece), where after providing for the sacred geese and ganders, the first duty of certain officials on taking office was to furbish the agalma , or statue, which was necessary on 4 account of the quick fading of the vermilion with which they used to tinge the archaic statues .’ This is an accurate translation and a literal —and implies a difference between the archaic and the more modern in respect of colour, though not necessarily excluding all colour from the latter. ” — W. W. Lloyd. Had this passage been generally known the dispute could never have maintained itself. There is nothing equivocal in the use of the word fuXrivop, which means u vermilion nothing which admits of doubt in the phrase eo ra iTcikcua r tov ayakparoiv expco£ov. And there are abundant notices extant which illustrate it. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 31 One will suffice. The celebrated marble statue of a Bacchante by Scopas is described as holding, in lieu of the Thyrsus, a dead roebuck which is cut open, and the marble represents living flesh. People have tried to explain this by saying that Scopas discovered coloured veins in the marble, which he used to indicate living flesh. The explanation is absurd. In the first place veins do not so run in marble as to represent flesh ; in the second, unless statues tvere usually coloured, such veins, if they existed, would be regarded as terrible blemishes, and the very thing the Greeks are supposed to have avoided—viz., colour as representing reality— would have been shown. But colour was used, as we know, and Pausanias (“Arcad.” lib. viii., cap. 39) describes a statue of Bacchus as having all those portions not hidden by draperies, painted vermilion, the body being of gilded wood. He also distinctly says that the statues made of gypsum were painted, describing a statue of Bacchus yv\f/ov nenoir]- fievov, which was—the language is explicit—“ ornamented with paint” emKeKoo-piyjievov ypacpr). “This statue was apparently ithyphallic, and probably archaic. Hot drapery, but ivy and laurel, concealed the lower part of it. The colour of the exposed part was not local, but applied to the whole of it.”—W. W. Lloyd. Virgil, in an epigram, not only offers Venus a marble statue of Amor, the wings of which shall be many-coloured and the quiver painted, but he intimates that this shall be so because it is customary— Marmoreusque tibi, Dea, versicoloribus alis In morem picta stabit Amor pharetra. And in the seventh Eclogue, Virgil, speaking of the statue of Diana, describes it as of marble with scarlet sandals bound round the leg as high as the calf. Si proprium hoc fuerit, levi de marmore tota Puniceo stabis suras evincta cothumo. And there is a passage in Pliny which is decisive, as soon as we understand the allusion. Speaking of Nicias (lib. xxxv. cap. 11), he says, that Praxiteles, when asked which of his marble works best satisfied him, replied, “ Those which Nicias has had under his hands.” “So much,” adds Pliny, “did he prize the finishing of Nicias”— tantum circumlitioni ejus tribuebat. The meaning of this passage hangs on the word circumlitio. 32 COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. Winckelmann follows the mass of commentators in understanding this as referring to some mode of polishing the statues ; but Quatremere de Quincey, in his magnificent work “ Le Jupiter Olympien,” satisfactorily shows this to be untenable, not only because no sculptor could think of preferring such of his statues as had been better polished, but also because Nicias being a painter , not a sculptor, his services must have been those of a painter. What were they ? Nicias was an encaustic painter , and hence it seems clear that his circumlitio —his mode of finishing the statues, so highly prized by Praxiteles—must have been the application of encaustic painting to those parts which the sculptor wished to have ornamented. For it is quite idle to suppose a sculptor like Praxiteles would allow another sculptor to finish his works. The rough work may be done by other hands, but the finishing is always left to the artist. The statue completed, there still remained the painter’s art to be employed, and for that Nicias was renowned. Even Winckelmann (“ Geschichte der Kunst,” buch I. kap. 2), after noting how the ancients were accustomed to dress their statues, adds, “ This gave rise to the painting of those parts of the marble statues which represented the clothes, as may be seen in the Diana found at Herculanseum in 1760. The hair is blonde ; the draperies white, with a triple border, one of gold, the other of purple, with festoons of flowers, the third plain purple.” There are still traces visible of gilding in the hair of statues. Even the Venus de’ Medici has such. And the bored ears speak plainly of earrings. While the testimony of antiquity is thus explicit, there is the still more convincing testimony of living eyes, which have seen this painting on statues. The celebrated Swedish traveller, Akerblad, says, “ I am convinced that the practice of colouring marble statues and buildings was much more frequent than is supposed. The second time I visited Athens, I had opportunity of narrowly inspecting the frieze of the Temple of Theseus, and I came away convinced it had been painted. ” Quatremere de Quincey mentions statues he has seen, and refers especially to the Apollo in the Louvre, made of Pentelic marble, almost all over the naked surfaces of which a trace of red was faintly perceptible. The same with a Diana at Versailles ; but he adds, “ these traces grow daily fainter.” The eyes and mouth of the colossal Pallas de Velletri still retain the violet colour. Such are a few of the evidences. On examining them, we find HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 33 them not only unequivocal in themselves, but complementary of each other. Living testimony, supposing it to be accepted without demur, would not suffice to settle the question of what was the ancient practice ; for it might not unreasonably be argued that these traces of painting on the statues are only evidences of a degenerate taste—like our whitewashing of cathedrals—and no evidences of Greek artists having perpetrated such offences against taste. But when it is seen, by the testimony of ancient writers, such as Plato, Pliny, Plutarch, and Virgil, that the Greek, artists did colour their statues, the fact of the statues being discovered with traces of colour is explained, while on the other hand this fact helps to clear away all trace of doubt which might linger in a supposed equivocalness in the passages from ancient writers. Gr. H. LEWES. “ As regards archaic sculpture in Greece, we may be considered to have decisive proof from Pausanias and others, that the ancient sacred figures, that were rather venerated as idols than admired for art, were often entirely coloured—flesh and drapery with vermilion, perhaps conventionally and rudely enough, as we find on the archaic vases, the flesh of women painted white, and that of men black. The marble statues of rEgina, and others, that are works of truly fine art, offer a second form of the application of colour. Here the eyes, lips, draperies, ornaments, and details of arms, have their true local colour, but the monuments themselves only give us the negative evidence with respect to the flesh, that if coloured at all, it must have been less solidly. Unless it were tinged or stained, it is difficult to understand how the effect of the coloured part could have been otherwise than very disagreeable—spotty, patchy, crude, ghastly to the last degree ; but the experiment might be tried. On the other hand, it is most certain that in the chryselephantine statues, the Minerva of the Parthenon, the Jupiter Olympian, the Juno of Argos, by Phidias, and by Polycletus, the greatest variety of colour was applied throughout—or rather variety of colour was given by the different materials of which these figures were composed, ivory, gold, various coloured woods, stones and gems. But painting or staining in .the proper sense of the words, was certainly applied to some portions ; as, for instance, Pausanias states that the robe of Jupiter had lilies painted on it. D 34 COLOURING OF THE GREEK COURT. The application of colour to the details of the architecture at least, and to portions of the architectonic sculpture, would be absolutely required, to harmonise them with the chief object in the temple itself. Lastly, as to the flesh of marble statues of the best age, no rule can be deduced for this from any practice that obtained in primitive times, or from chryselephantine works, which seem to have been in designed contrast in the whole of their treatment. The argument for colour on marble flesh of the best age, from existing remains, so far as I am aware, is equal to zero. But the passage respecting Nicias and Polycletus, is of very great force. There is no escape from its application to marble statues, nor from the great skill that there was occasion and scope for in the circumlitio. Whatever this tinging or colouring may have been, we may be sure that it was so employed as to heighten the purest effects. The edge and sharpness, and smoothness and brilliancy, of the material, cannot have been destroyed by it ; rather sobered it may be, but still enhanced. Doubtless it aided the peculiar glories of sculpture, the display of forms, by rendering them more visible—idealised rather than imitated nature, and treated every part under the law of regard to the supreme intention and sentiment of the whole. The same remarks (such as they are) apply to bas-reliefs, which, however, have difficulties of their own. Vitruvius (vii. 9), after describing the preparation of minium or vermilion, goes on to speak of its liability to change colour from the action of direct sunlight, and gives instructions for protecting it; he does not mention the medium employed with the colour, but as it is insoluble, we must assume the use of size, as in other instances, or gum,