Seeing Color in Classical Art
Theory, Practice, and Reception, from Antiquity to the Present

Analyzing the dyes, pigments, stones, earth, and metals, this book examines the traces of color a variety of media in ancient art works.

Jennifer M. S. Stager (Author)

9781316516454, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 December 2022

342 pages
28.6 x 22.4 x 2.1 cm, 1.18 kg

'Seeing Color in Classical Art stands to make a much-needed intervention in the field due to the author's ability to bring the study of material traces of color in Greek art into conversation not only with literary and philosophical models of color perception in antiquity, but also to frame this recovery of ancient color in thought and practice within the complex theoretical, political, and historiographical reception of classicism. This is a high wire act that the book admirably pulls off, thanks to the sophistication of Stager's intellectual approach and her command of the art-historical landscape.' Verity Platt, Department Chair of Classics and Professor of Classics and History of Art, Cornell University

The remains of ancient Mediterranean art and architecture that have survived over the centuries present the modern viewer with images of white, the color of the stone often used for sculpture. Antiquarian debates and recent scholarship, however, have challenged this aspect of ancient sculpture. There is now a consensus that sculpture produced in the ancient Mediterranean world, as well as art objects in other media, were, in fact, polychromatic. Color has consequently become one of the most important issues in the study of classical art. Jennifer Stager's landmark book makes a vital contribution to this discussion. Analyzing the dyes, pigments, stones, earth, and metals found in ancient art works, along with the language that writers in antiquity used to describe color, she examines the traces of color in a variety of media. Stager also discusses the significance of a reception history that has emphasized whiteness, revealing how ancient artistic practice and ancient philosophies of color significantly influenced one another.

1. Material color, language, and khr?ma1. Material color, language, and khr?ma
2. Additive colors, kosm?sis, and care
3. Kh?ra, relief, landscape
4. Inlaid eyes, effluences, and vision
5. Atoms, lithoi, and animacy.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]