images From The Classical World
Roman Baths
A Romantic Vision
For my art, the classics will always be an influential reference point, a romantic vision, an idea of perfection, an ideal of form.
For this classical collection I drew my inspiration from the rich heritage of classical art, especially classical Greek statues and sometimes the later (but often inferior) Roman statues. To paint a 2D representation of a 3D image, especially one over 2000 years old, immediately presented me with two challenges. The first, was how to represent the form and the second was how to colour the image.
The Divine Hero, Heracles
Colour in the Classical World
Each work is a combination of detailed observation of the original statue, plus painstaking desk research. Although what we often see today is a white marble statue, the German scientists Vinzenz Brinkmann and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann researched the colours of ancient Greek sculptures as long ago as the 1980’s, and using a variety of scientific techniques available at the time proved that ancient Greek sculptures were often coloured.
However, more than 2000 years of weather has done its worst and worn out the brightness of the ancient marbles. But a few marbles kept indoors still retain some of their colour allowing for a modern representation of what the original may have looked like.
One can extrapolate from the values and status the ancient Greeks accorded to different colours. Gold, and other bright paints were considered the most appropriate for deities, enhancing their transcendent nature, whilst mortals used colour in a system of codes to represent their social status, so it is likely these were applied to colour statues and busts.
Alexander the Great
Classical Literature
Additionally, classical literature reveals the physical description of heroes and gods, as well as their colouring and character.
In my painting of Alexander the Great I faced a number of challenges.
All primary images are gone but the best representation of Alexander is usually quoted as that of Lysippus. I used a combination of this, plus the Roman copy in Ny Carlsberg Glypotek, Copenhagen and the bust of Alexander the Great in the Capitoline Museum in Rome as my inspiration for the form.
For the colours, the Greek historian Arrian of Nicomedia described Alexander as: ‘strong, handsome commander with one eye dark as the night and one blue as the sky’. Others, however, believe this was an exaggeration. He is often described as having curly hair, lion-maned, or wearing a lion helmet. I painted his hair the colour of a lion’s mane, his eyes using cerulean pigment and gave him a fair complexion.