Were classical statues painted horribly? - Works in Progress Magazine
worksinprogress.co
Many claim that modern viewers dislike painted reconstructions of Greek and Roman statues because our taste differs from theirs.
  • Kalothar@lemmy.caEnglish
    7·
    10 hours ago

    TLDR:

    This is mostly an opinion article

    We discovered Greek and Roman statues during The Renaissance with the look of white pristine marble. then made a cultural association with that look and now it seems we can’t shake it.

    It became the gold standard so when we see a color restoration with vibrant colors immediately it’s taken as knock off trash. This is due to the colors chosen in the reconstruction being done by modern artists.

    Also, there may be some intentionality with making the reconstructions bad to generate buzz from the reactions. Aka trolling.

    • EpeeGnome@feddit.onlineEnglish
      3·
      4 hours ago

      When a headline asks a question, then the answer is usually “It’s not that simple, but, no, not really”. Sounds like it applies here. “Well, they often were painted, but no, we have no reason to assume they did a bad job like we sometimes do.”

      Edit: The post title was changed to a statement, but the article is still titled “Were classical statues painted horribly?”.