Colour reconstruction of Achaemenid reliefs and the skill of painters compared with sculptors

We have long known that the distant past was far more colourful than its ruins. Here is an attempt to restore colour to the artefacts of ancient Persia, using the example of Achaemenid stone reliefs, on the basis of chemical analysis of microscopic pigment residues in the stone. It is not the only reconstruction of its kind: we have seen painted heads of Roman emperors, and the Parthenon in colour. But do you know why, in such "before and after" comparisons, the coloured version looks considerably worse than the monochrome or colourless "museum" one, even allowing for the relative imprecision of the pigment restoration? Because the skill of the painters was far inferior to the skill of the sculptors

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Colour reconstruction of Achaemenid reliefs and the skill of painters compared with sculptors

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s