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ANCIENT LITERARY SOURCES ON PAINTED STATUES
The Greeks painted their statues. This fact is not readily accepted even by specialists, as some mistaken translations and misinterpretations of the ancient sources amply testify. In the paper I analyze the most famous ancient testimonies and suggest, in some cases, their correct Russian translations. Thus, andrianta graphonta (Plato, Rep. 420 c 4) must be understood as an indication of painting of a statue, rather than a picture; equally well, circumlitio in Seneca (Letter LXXXVI) is related to a colorful painting, not waxing as some authors still think, etc. Ancient techniques of painting are finally illustrated by an outstanding example: a reconstruction of the funeral statue of a beautiful girl, called Phrasikleia (Athenian National Museum; Brinkmann et al. 2010).
Keywords: ancient aesthetics, scientific reconstruction of art objects, painting, colors, Greek statues, Euripides, Plato, Pliny, Seneca, Quintilian, Plutarch
References:
Brinkmann 2003 – Brinkmann V. Die Polychromie der archaischen und frühklassischen Skulptur. Mit einem Beitrag von Oliver Primavesi. München, 2003.
Brinkmann et al. 2010 – Brinkmann V., Koch-Brinkmann U., Piening H. Das Grabmal der Phrasikleia. In: Brinkmann V., Scholl A., hrsgs. Bunte Götter. Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur. Berlin, 2010. S. 76–83.
Brinkmann, Scholl 2010 – Brinkmann V., Scholl A., hrsgs. Bunte Götter. Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur. Berlin, 2010.
Gummere 1917 – Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Moral Epistles. In 3 vols. Transl. by R.M. Gummere. The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1917–1925.
Kakoulli 2009 – Kakoulli I. Greek Painting Techniques and Materials from the Fourth to the First Century B. C. London, 2009.
Koch 2000 – Koch Nadia J. Techne und Erfindung in der Klassischen Malerei. München, 2000.
Osherov 1977 – Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Epistulae morales ad Lucilium. Ed. by S.A. Osherov. Translation into Russian. Moscow, 1977.
Primavesi 2010 – Primavesi O. Antike Dichter und Philosophen über die Farbigkeit der Skulptur. In: Brinkmann V., Scholl A., hrsgs. Bunte Götter. Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur. Berlin, 2010. S. 28–39.
Schopenhauer 2001 – Schopenhauer A. Works. In 6 volumes. Vol. 6. Translation into Russian. Moscow, 2001.
Shorey 1969 – Plato in Twelve volumes. Transl. by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969. Vols. 5 & 6.
Taronyan 1994 – Pliny the Elder. Natural science. About art. Translation into Russian by G.A. Taronyan. Moscow, 1994.
Wünsche 2011 – Wünsche R. Kampf um Troja. 200 Jahre Ägineten in München. München: Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 2011.
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Issue: 1, 2014
Series of issue: Issue 1
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 31 — 40
Downloads: 515