Ancient painting
The painting of antiquity has its roots in the Orient (from 10,000 v. Chr.). In Egypt (from 3000 v. Chr.), The first major produced murals in the Minoan art on Crete (2000 v. Chr.), The frescoes .
antiquity
In the cultures of the Near East, painting, and especially wall painting, was certainly once widespread, but relatively little has survived. A few examples come from the palace of Mari , there are numerous fragments from the palaces of the Hittites , but these hardly allow a picture of the painting that once existed. Finally, other examples are known from the Assyrians , above all of wall paintings.
Egyptian painting
The painting of the ancient Egyptians is mainly known from wall paintings from burial chapels, from coffins and from the painting of books of the dead . These examples almost all come from tombs that were built in the desert and are therefore often quite well preserved. Wall paintings from the houses of the living are also known, but these are mostly much poorer preserved. Egyptian painting had no perspective yet. The figures are arranged on stand lines and show the essentials. The head is shown from the side, the eyes and chest from the front.
Painting experienced its first heyday in Egypt in the Middle Kingdom (around 2000–1700 BC). Many tombs in Middle Egypt , which were richly decorated, date from this time . Above all, there are depictions of the grave lord, his family and of workshops and the food production that made the things that the dead would not want to miss in the afterlife. Many examples of such paintings come from graves in Thebes and date from the New Kingdom (approx. 1550–1070 BC), although from approx. 1350 BC. BC also increasingly found images of the dead in the underworld and in being together with the world of gods, which is certainly due to new religious ideas. From the Third Intermediate Period (around 1070–700 BC), painting has been preserved mainly on coffins and books of the dead.
Greek painting
In the 3rd century AD, the Greek writer Philostratos describes painting as an invention of the gods (Eikones 1). These and other statements by ancient authors testify that painting was already particularly highly regarded in antiquity, even higher than sculpture, because painting had the advantage of realistic imitation and was able to enable a broader narrative spectrum. Today this is hardly understandable, as only very sparse remnants of ancient painting have survived. This is due to the fact that mainly wood was used as the image carrier , as well as stone, clay and stucco. The use of ivory, glass and canvas hardly occurs. In ancient literature, Pliny functions as the main source for the various techniques of ancient painting. Reference is made to his work naturalis historia 35 or to Vitruvius , de architectura 7,7-14 .
Sources
As mentioned above, the archaeological evidence of Greek painting includes only a few examples. Written sources tell us the names of important artists and the subjects of their most important works of art. Sometimes we have even been given the places where they were attached. We have visual evidence mainly from the sepulkral context, as well as from reflections from other genres or epochs. Figuratively painted vases or mosaics can help to a limited extent to draw conclusions about the lost painting. Caution is advised here, as changes or transformations may have occurred due to the different genera. So you shouldn't count on a faithful copy of a painting.
Examples
After the fall of the Minoan - Mycenaean culture with its high quality fresco painting (for example Knossos ), Greek wall painting did not resume until the 8th century BC. A. Pinakes - painted clay tablets - are the earliest evidence. They were made in the 8th – 6th centuries. Century BC Manufactured in large quantities and used as consecration gifts in shrines. The function of these rectangular tablets is reduced to the image field and clearly reflects the invention of panel painting. A wooden example of this genus did not emerge until the 6th century BC. Chr. And was found in a cave, near Corinth, which was dedicated to the nymphs. On these four wooden tablets there is an inscription and a colorfully painted sacrificial scene (I. Scheibler, Greek painting in antiquity (1994) fig. 40).
Clay tablets were also used as cladding panels or metopes on structures such as temples. In the 7th century BC BC was also already painted on stone, where, according to known sources, both outline and interior drawings as well as monochrome surfaces were used. Large-figured evidence of Greek painting has been preserved to a greater extent in graves that have been preserved mainly in the peripheral areas of the Greek world. The Greek tomb painting influenced the sepulkralen area of southern Italy and Etruria to a great extent and is closely related to Anatolian tomb painting. Good examples of this are the Tomba del Tuffatore in Paestum , which dates from around 480 BC. Dated or the simultaneous "Elmali graves" in southwest Turkey.
The heyday of Greek painting is mainly attested to by the Macedonian chamber tombs. In Vergina there is the grave of Philip II, on whose facade a multi-figure hunting frieze is depicted. Another group gained importance in Hellenism, namely wall painting of residential architecture. Since the 5th century BC For example, in Pella , Priene or Delos, the walls in the so-called masonry style were partially decorated with figurative or ornamental friezes.
The subjects of the depicted were based on the purpose and location of the painting. There are four main areas in Greece:
- Sanctuaries: architectural decorations, votives, cult images, etc.
- private buildings: painting in houses, painted statues, etc.
- Public buildings: stoai, for example the stoa poikile (colorful hall) in Athens , where a cycle of paintings with four battles was attached
- Graves: grave goods, painted facades, sarcophagi etc.
Roman painting
Sources
The number and type of archaeological evidence of Roman painting differ significantly from that of Greek painting. Numerous evidence of Roman wall painting have been preserved , although it is obviously a Roman phenomenon and not just a coincidence of the traditional situation. In his naturalia historia 35, 118 Pliny laments the clear change from panel to wall painting.
Roman artist names are mentioned in the written sources in far fewer numbers than their Greek counterparts, although the painter's profession may well have been considered respected. In the late Republican period, Greco-Oriental painters, probably mostly as slaves, worked for Roman clients. Not only were they more trained than their Roman counterparts, but they were also familiar with the Greek style, which was particularly popular at the time. For some Romans known by name it is not certain whether they were really painters, e. B. Saecundanus Florentinus .
Examples
History painting is one of the official representational art of the Roman Empire. At the time of the change from the 4th to the 3rd century BC Originating in BC, it can only be grasped through literary references and a small number of reflexes in Sepulchral Art. These pictures showed scenes of wars won, conquered cities, defeated peoples with their rulers, as well as maps with marked theaters of war. These probably mostly panel pictures could be carried in triumphal procession and let the people participate in the victory of the respective emperor. Literary sources emphasize the faithful reproduction of the people and scenes depicted. The earliest surviving example of this group is a fresco fragment from the Fabier tomb of Esquiline in Rome . This is part of a large cycle of paintings from the early 3rd century BC. BC with representations from the Samnite Wars (R. Ling, Roman painting (1991) Fig. 6) In four preserved registers, reference is made to the Roman virtues, virtus and fides populi Romani .
As a second example, reference is now made to the genre of portrait painting , which played an important role in the Roman cult of ancestors. The portraits were painted on wood, canvas, glass and stucco. In imperial Egypt, the time-honored custom of mummification was combined with the desire for Roman self-expression. Individual looking portraits were painted on wooden panels and placed on the face of the mummified deceased in place of the Egyptian death masks. In Fayum , a large oasis in the Libyan desert, the largest number of the 1000 mummy portraits known to us was found. Due to the dry desert climate, the pieces are in excellent condition, which makes it possible to study and analyze the polychromy and the painting techniques sufficiently.
Today's knowledge of ancient painting comes mainly from the findings of the wall paintings of the buried Vesuvius cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii . This traditional situation has had a very strong influence on research. In 1882 August Mau published his "History of Decorative Wall Painting in Pompeii", in which he divided the wall paintings known at the time into four major styles. The "four Pompeian styles" were used across the borders of Pompeii for all of Roman wall painting up to 79 AD.
1. Style: incrustation style, masonry style
This Roman version of the Greek masonry style (see Delos ) essentially imitates monumental ashlar masonry through colored painting, scratching or plastic design with stucco.
2. Style: architectural style
In the beginning, real, buildable architecture is imitated, the walls are increasingly torn open and reveal "architectural windows". In the further development there are several levels, the depth effect of the architecture is reinforced in the foreground and background. In the late phase, the architectural elements such as columns, arches, pillars etc. are thinned out more and more, are unrealistic and no longer buildable. In addition, the walls are increasingly closed again and there is a tendency towards two-dimensionality.
3. Style: Ornamental style
The walls are now completely closed and designed in two dimensions, with monochrome painted surfaces in black, red and white. Ribbons, lines and architectural elements divide the surfaces into zones. The central zones can have framed picture windows, for example with villa landscapes or mythological scenes.
4th style: the last Pompeian style
In the 4th style, the achievements of the four styles are combined. Ribbons, free-floating medallions and image fields are worked into the horizontally and vertically separated walls. The architectural elements are regaining volume and are represented much more vividly. Luxurious and richly designed ornaments with light and shadow effects give an overall richer and more bodily effect.
The opinion that is often read that the heyday of Roman painting came to an end with the fall of the Vesuvius cities can hardly be substantiated. Even after AD 79, high-quality paintings were still found in many places. However, these testimonies from different parts of the Roman Empire are often difficult to classify chronologically, and they are not yet as adequately processed as Pompeian painting. As the 4th style has already shown, the well-known repertoire of representations was still used and reconnected after AD 79. Artful paintings have also been documented in late antiquity, just think of the catacomb painting .
Ancient polychromy through the ages
The art agent of King Ludwig I, Johann Martin von Wagner , visited an auction on behalf of the king in 1812 in order to acquire the recently found gable sculptures of the Aphaia temple in Aegina for the Glyptothek . After a detailed examination, he describes the condition of the sculptures and concludes that they have been painted. He also notices that the colors have withstood the effects of the weather for different times. The Glyptothek itself was splendidly furnished by Leo von Klenze, with walls, cornices, marble plinths, etc. painted in color . Numerous opponents said that the colored furnishings would impair the effect of the sculptures and exhibits, but the awareness of ancient polychromy was already there. King Ludwig I became the driving force in an attempt to revive the polychromy of architecture. For example, in 1836 he had a small, colored round temple built in the English Garden. But here, as in other polychrome experiments, the paint peeled off quickly. The stone was shiny again because a permanent binding agent against the Munich weather could not be found. John Gibson was the first to reconstruct a marble sculpture in color from 1851–1856, the "tinted Venus" in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. The technique of wax painting was used to tint lips, eyes, hair, clothing and also the skin.
In the second half of the 19th century, Dresden became the center of the discussion of ancient polychromy. The director of the Dresden Sculpture Collection, Georg Treu, vehemently defended his opinion that the ancient sculptures would have been completely colored. He had plaster casts of sculptures made, which were then painted by artists. However, these are not reconstructions, as no paint residues were left on the sculptures. They orientated themselves on colored terracottas and other marble sculptures with preserved paint residues. However, it is thanks to Treu that the conception of ancient polychromy was spread and understanding aroused in the public. At the turn of the century it was now certain that ancient sculptures were painted, and people were now discussing what this painting had looked like. Several parties formed, whose opinions ranged from an absolute support for total polychromy to a complete rejection.
Adolf Furtwängler , the director of the Glyptothek at the time, gained fundamental knowledge about the antique painting . After the First World War , interest in this topic was lost. During the Second World War , the Glyptothek was badly damaged, which means that only a few watercolors are evidence of its appearance at that time. Today's Glyptothek promotes the effect of the marble sculptures through the low color contrasts and the free arrangement of the sculptures. Almost all colored reconstructions that are exhibited today have been reconstructed by Vinzenz Brinkmann . From December 16, 2003 to February 29, 2004, the State Collection of Antiquities and the Glyptothek in Munich hosted an exhibition entitled “Colorful Gods. The Colourfulness of Ancient Sculpture ”instead. If you were not lucky enough to visit the exhibition yourself, please refer to the literature list and catalog.
Even when we stand in front of the sculptures reconstructed in color, it is still extremely unusual to imagine the colors of ancient sculptures. The image of white, shiny temples and sculptures is still predominant in our minds, even if we know better.
Painting in the Villa of the Mysteries
Menander
Casa del frutteto
Fresco from the villa of P. Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale
Painting of the Parthians and Sassanids
Painting was also a widespread art form among the Parthians , in today's Iran and Iraq . She is best known for examples of wall paintings.
Although Parthian painting evolved from Greek painting, it clearly shows its own style forms. The figures are all shown frontally and even in narrative representations there is hardly any interaction between the actors, but a complete orientation towards the viewer. The perspective has largely dissolved, the figures mostly float in space and space is usually only indicated by a few shadows more than realized. These stylistic elements are supposed to live on in Byzantine painting.
The painting of the Sassanids who followed the Parthians is poorly documented, but is mainly linked to pre-Hellenistic Persian art. The figures are usually shown in profile and the stance regains importance.
Ancient painting techniques
On wood
For the painting of wood found the encaustic or tempera application.
During the encaustic process, warm wax acted as a binding agent into which the color pigments were mixed. The warm or cold wax was applied with brushes or metal tools. This technique is complex, but results in a long shelf life and high color gloss.
With the temperature technique, the color pigments are mixed with emulsified oil or fat, egg yolk serves as an emulsifier. Since wood weathers or is only preserved under certain conditions, there is hardly any archaeological evidence of this application.
On stone
The tempera technique is also used on stone. Modern experiments have shown that the brush can be guided very easily on a smooth marble surface and a very good painting result is achieved. On rough surfaces of other types of stone, such as porosity or limestone, one or more layers of stucco or chalk ground first had to be applied in order to even out the surface.
On clay
Clay was mostly painted with fire-resistant earth colors or clay slurry, in rare cases with brightly colored opaque paints. The large amount of painted ceramics, also called vases, from Italian: vaso - the vessel , falls into this material group . A distinction is made between black and red-figure vase painting , red-figure and black-figure technique.
The black-painting developed in the Archaic period and was used as the first of the Corinthian workshops. Only from the middle of the 6th century BC Athens became the leading production facility for black-figure vases. With this technique, the ornamental and figurative representations were applied to the vessel with a black clay slip with a brush. The internal structure was then scored with a sharp tool. Only then was the vessel fired.
The red-figure technique came around 530 BC. BC in Athens and replaced the black-figure technique. The reverse principle was followed here. The vessel was covered with a glossy black shade, whereby the ornaments and figures were left out. The interior drawing could therefore be painted instead of scratched, which enabled a softer, more organic body representation of the figures.
On plaster
For the wall painting, lime mortar was applied in several, increasingly finer layers and formed the painting base for the subsequent application of paint. For this purpose, the surface was smoothed, the preliminary drawing ( Sinopia ) applied with the help of grid transfer and then the pure color or color mixed with binding agents was applied to the fresh plaster (therefore "al fresco"). Marble powder, casein or clay water are traditionally used as binders . Due to the chemical reactions during drying, the paint sintered with the plaster, which made these so-called frescoes particularly durable. If, on the other hand, you paint on dry plaster, this technique is called al secco .
Ancient colors
Due to the small amount of archaeological evidence, the color spectrum of antiquity can only be reconstructed very inadequately. It can also be observed that the colors red and blue have been preserved best.
In addition to ancient written sources, the modern techniques, which can provide an insight into the ancient world of colors through material analyzes, UV and grazing light photos, are helpful here. From these sources it is known that color pigments could be produced naturally as well as artificially. The material used were mineral and earth colors, vegetable and animal substances, but also, for example, crushed glass to produce the color blue. As already mentioned, colors could be applied pure, but also mixed. Several layers of paint could also be applied one on top of the other.
literature
- Hugo Blümner : Technology and terminology of trade and arts among Greeks and Romans. Volume 3. Olms, Hildesheim 1995, ISBN 3-487-02384-9 , pp. 159-187 (reprint of the Leipzig 1884 edition).
- Vinzenz Brinkmann (ed.): Colorful gods. The colors of ancient sculpture. Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-933200-08-3 (exhibition catalog).
- Vinzenz Brinkmann: The polychromy of archaic and early classical sculpture. Biering & Brinkmann, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-930609-19-3 .
- Valentina Manzelli: La policromia nella statuaria greca arcaica. L'Erma, Rome 1994, ISBN 88-7062-854-X .
- Harald Mielsch : Roman wall painting. Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1632-0 .
- Ingeborg Scheibler : Greek painting of antiquity. Beck, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-406-38492-7 .
- Monika Trümper : Greek painting. In: Tonio Hölscher : Basic knowledge of classical archeology. Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1653-3 , pp. 277-292.
- Norbert Zimmermann , Sabine Ladstätter : Wall painting in Ephesus from Hellenistic to Byzantine times. Phoibos, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85161-035-2 .
- Walter Paul Schussmann: Rhadamanthys in the Tomba del Tuffatore. The tomb of the mystics: a reinterpretation. Phoibos, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-85161-061-1 .
- Lâtife Summerer, Alexander von Kienlin (ed.): Tatarlı. Renklerin dönüşü. The return of the colors. Istanbul 2010.
