The Colour Black and the Sculpture of Classical Antiquity : Shades of Meaning in an Architectural Context

The paper offers a preliminary exploration of the research potential of focusing on the use of a particular colour – black – in the architectural sculpture of Classical Antiquity. An outline is given of references to blackness in Greek and Latin, evidence from the ancient literary sources is presented and the relevant stones and pigments are briefly described. A definition is provided of the sense in which the term ‹black› is applied, covering a spectrum from uniform black to shades of black as in ‹dark›. The main section of the paper is devoted to two case studies on the use of ‹black› in Greek and Roman sculpture, within an architectural context. The first case study is the Frieze of the Erechtheion, involving a debatable, broader understanding of the role of black in sculpture; the second is the portrait statue of Matidia Minor in the scaenae frons of the Antonine era theatre at Suessa Aurunca (Campania). Two ‹dimensions› are tentatively suggested as the primary, but not exclusive, motivators for the use of black in the two case studies: the aesthetic/technical and the symbolic/ideological. A final section recommends this angle of approach to understanding the polychromies of sculpture from Classical Antiquity in general. It is argued that this study generates a synergy with data acquisition by raising new and relevant research questions.