Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T21:41:54.178Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Polychromy on the Antonine Wall Distance Sculptures: Non-destructive Identification of Pigments on Roman Reliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2020

Louisa Campbell
Louisa Campbell*
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, University of [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Non-destructive analytical techniques are now widely and successfully employed in the fields of materials science and conservation. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and portable Raman spectrometry have proven particularly valuable for the rapid in-situ analysis of samples, but their applicability for the analysis of archaeological artefacts for which survival of surface treatments can be negatively impacted by post-depositional processes has been underexplored. Roman relief-sculpted monumental inscriptions from the Antonine Wall, commonly referred to as ‘Distance Slabs’, have offered an excellent opportunity to deploy these non-destructive techniques to determine whether they were originally adorned with pigments and, if so, to identify the colours used. This is a revolutionary approach to identifying colours on ancient sandstone sculpture that transforms our understanding of these unique monuments. Elemental composition analysis by pXRF has confirmed evidence for pigments and this is supported by the Raman results, making it possible to develop and reconstruct a palette of colours that originally brought these monuments to life in vibrant polychrome. The research offers a new methodology for identifying pigments on sandstone sculpture and opens new avenues for investigating other classes of material culture alongside the development of bespoke analytical equipment.

Keywords

RomansculptureAntonine WallDistance StonesDistance Slabsfrontierpigmentsmaterials science
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 51 , November 2020 , pp. 175 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © The Author, 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbe, M.B. 2015: ‘Polychromy’, in Friedland, E., Sobocinski, M.G. and Gazda, E. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture, Oxford, 173–88Google Scholar
Abbe, M.B., Borromeo, G.E., and Pike, S. 2012: ‘A Hellenistic Greek marble statue with ancient polychromy reported to be from Knidos', in Gutiérrez, A., Lapuente, P. and Rodà, I. (eds), Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone, ASMOSIA 9 Documenta 23, TarragonaGoogle Scholar
Adriaens, A. 2005: ‘Non-destructive analysis and testing of museum objects: an overview of 5 years of research’, Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy 60.12, 1503–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alföldy, G. 2012: ‘El acueducto da Segovia y su inscripción: dos decenios después de la “Aventura Epigráfica”’, Madrider Mitteilungen 53, 429–54Google Scholar
Aliatis, I., Bersani, D., Campani, E., Casoli, A., Lottici, P.P., Mantovan, S., and Marino, I.G. 2010: ‘Pigments used in Roman wall paintings in the Vesuvian area’, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 41, 1537–4210.1002/jrs.2701CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amadori, M.I., Barcelli, S., Poldi, G., Ferrucci, F., Andreotti, A., Baraldi, P., and Colombini, M.P. 2015: ‘Invasive and non-invasive analysis for knowledge and conservation of Roman wall paintings of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum’, Microchemistry Journal 118, 183–9210.1016/j.microc.2014.08.016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, I.M., Clark, R.J.H., and Gibbs, P.J. 2010: Raman Spectroscopic Library of Natural and Synthetic Pigments, London, http://www.chem.ucl.ac.uk/resources/raman/ (accessed February 2020)Google Scholar
Bersani, D., and Lottici, P.P. 2016: ‘Raman spectroscopy of minerals and minerals in archaeometry’, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 47, 499–530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouchard, M., and Smith, D.C. 2003: ‘Catalogue of 45 reference Raman spectra of minerals concerning research in art history or archaeology, especially on corroded metals and coloured glass’, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 59.10, 2247–6610.1016/S1386-1425(03)00069-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breeze, D. 2015: The Antonine Wall, Edinburgh10.1002/9781118318140.wbra0085CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brinkmann, G., Dreyfus, R., and Koch-Brinkmann, U. (eds) 2017: Gods in Color: Polychromy in the Ancient World, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Bruun, C., and Edmondson, J. 2015: ‘The epigrapher at work’, in Bruun, C. and Edmondson, J. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, New York, 3–2110.1093/oxfordhb/9780195336467.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camden, W. 1607: Britannia, LondonGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L. 2011: A Study in Culture Contact: The Distribution, Function and Social Meanings of Roman Pottery from Non-Roman Contexts in Southern Scotland, unpub. PhD thesis, University of GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L. 2020a: ‘Monuments on the margins of empire: the Antonine Wall sculptures’, in Breeze, D.J. and Hanson, W.S. (eds), The Antonine Wall: Papers in Honour of Professor Lawrence Keppie, Oxford, 96–109Google Scholar
Campbell, L. 2020b: ‘Reading the writing on the Wall: discovering new dimensions to the Distance Sculptures’, Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 7.210.14795/j.v7i2.513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castro, K., Pérez-Alonso, M., Rodríguez-Laso, M.D., Fernández, L.A., and Madariaga, J.M. 2005: ‘On-line Raman and dispersive Raman spectra database of artists’ materials (e-VISART database)’, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 382.2, 248–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catalogue of the National Museum of Antiquaries of Scotland 1892, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Chaplin, T.D., Clark, R.J.H., Jones, R., and Gibbs, R. 2016: ‘Pigment analysis by Raman microscopy and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) of thirteenth to fourteenth century illuminations and cuttings from Bologna’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 374, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0043 (accessed February 2020)Google ScholarPubMed
Charles, V., Klaus, H.C., Manca, J., McShane, M., and Wigal, D. 2012: 30 Millenia of Painting, MishawakaGoogle Scholar
Chen, K., Leona, M., and Vo-Dinh, T. 2007: ‘Surface-enhanced Raman scattering for identification of organic pigments and dyes in works of art and cultural heritage material’, Sensor Review 27.2, 109–2010.1108/02602280710731678CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.H. 2007: ‘Raman microscopy as a structural and analytical tool in the fields of art and archaeology’, Journal of Molecular Structure 834–36, 74–8010.1016/j.molstruc.2007.01.031CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, M., Frederickx, P., Colombini, M.P., Andreotti, A., Wouters, J., van Bommel, M., Eastaugh, N., Walsh, V., Chaplin, T., and Siddall, R. 2005: Art 2005: Eighth International Conference on Non-Destructive Testing and Microanalysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage, LecceGoogle Scholar
Close-Brooks, J. 1981: ‘The Bridgeness Distance Slab’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 111, 519–21Google Scholar
Conlin, D.A. 1997: The Artists of the Ara Pacis: The Process of Hellenization in Roman Relief Sculpture, Chapel Hill and LondonGoogle Scholar
Conneller, C.J. 2011: An Archaeology of Materials: Substantial Transformations in Early Prehistoric Europe, AbingdonGoogle Scholar
Cosano, D., Mateos, L.D., Jiménez-Sanchidrián, C., and Rafael Ruiz, J. 2017: ‘Identification by Raman microspectroscopy of pigments in seated statues found in the Torreparedones Roman archaeological site (Baena, Spain)’, Microchemical Journal 130, 191–710.1016/j.microc.2016.09.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, A., Silva, E., York, K., and Li, C. 2019: Raman Spectroscopy: A Comprehensive Review, RaleighGoogle Scholar
D'Amato, R. 2009: Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Solder: From Marium to Commodus, 112 BC–AD 192, LondonGoogle Scholar
Del Monte, M., Ausset, P., and Lefevre, R.A. 1998: ‘Traces of ancient colours on Trajan's Column’, Archaeometry 40.2, 403–1210.1111/j.1475-4754.1998.tb00846.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastaugh, N., Walsh, V., Chaplin, T., and Siddall, R. 2008: Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary and Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments, London10.4324/9780080943596CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everett, P.A., and Gillespie, M.R. 2016: ‘Handheld X-ray fluorescence analysis (HH-XRF): a non-destructive tool for distinguishing sandstones in historic structures’, in Hughes, J. and Howind, T. (eds), Science and Art: A Future for Stone: Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on the Deterioration and Conservation of Stone 1, Paisley, 309–16Google Scholar
Ferris, I.M. 2000: Enemies of Rome: Barbarians through Roman Eyes, StroudGoogle Scholar
Formigli, E. 2013: Colore e luce nella statuaria antica in bronzo: indagini archeometriche e sperimentali, RomeGoogle Scholar
Gibson, E. (rev.) 1695: W. Camden, Britannia, LondonGoogle Scholar
Glasgow Archaeological Society 1899: The Antonine Wall Report: Being an Account of the Excavations Etc Made under the Direction of the Glasgow Archaeological Society During 1890–93, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Gosden, C. 2006: ‘Material culture and long-term change’, in Tilley, C., Keane, W., Küchler, S., Rowlands, M. and Spyer, P. (eds), Handbook of Material Culture, London, 425–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, A.S. 2013: ‘The word is not enough: a new approach to assessing monumental inscriptions: a case study from Roman Ephesos’, American Journal of Archaeology 117.3, 383–41210.3764/aja.117.3.0383CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, J.B. 2003: Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone: A Guide to Terms, Styles and Techniques, Los AngelesGoogle Scholar
Grunow Sobocinski, M., and Wolfram Thill, E. 2015: ‘Monumental reliefs’, in Friedland, E., Sobocinski, M.G. and Gazda, E. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture. Oxford, 276–91Google Scholar
Hannon, N., Rohl, D.J., and Wilson, L. 2017: ‘The Antonine Wall's Distance Slabs: LiDAR as metric survey’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 30.1, 447–6810.1017/S1047759400074201CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, W., and Maxwell, G. 1983: Rome's North West Frontier: The Antonine Wall, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Happa, J., Williams, M., Turley, G., Earl, G., Dubla, P., Beale, G., Gibbons, G., Debattista, K., and Chalmers, A. 2009: ‘Virtual relighting of a Roman statue head from Herculaneum: a case study’, AFRIGRAPH ‘09: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality, Visualisation and Interaction in Africa, New York, 5–12, https://doi.org/10.1145/1503454.1503456CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodder, I. 2012: Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationship between Humans and Things. ChichesterCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, T. 2003: ‘Images of war in Greece and Rome: between military practice, public memory and cultural symbolism’, Journal of Roman Studies 93, 1–1710.2307/3184636CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, T. 2015: ‘Roman historical representations’, in Borg, B. (ed.), A Companion to Roman Art, Chichester, 34–5210.1002/9781118886205.ch2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hope, V.M. 1997: ‘Words and pictures: the interpretation of Romano-British tombstones’, Britannia 28, 245–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingold, T. 2007: ‘Materials against materiality’, Archaeological Dialogues 14.1, 1–1610.1017/S1380203807002127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, I. 2001: Cleaning and Controversy: The Parthenon Sculptures 1811–1939, British Museum Occasional Paper 146, LondonGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, I., and Middleton, A. 1988: ‘Paint on the Parthenon sculptures’, Annual of the British School at Athens 83, 183–20710.1017/S0068245400020712CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, R.E., and Campbell, L. 2016: ‘Non-destructive analysis of Samian ware from Scottish military sites’, in Sibberson, E., Jervis, B. and Coxton, S. (eds), Insight from Innovation: New Light on Archaeological Ceramics: Papers Presented in Honour of Professor David Peacock's Contributions to Archaeological Ceramic Studies, Southampton Monographs in Archaeology 6, St Andrews, 118–36Google Scholar
Kakoulli, I. 1997: ‘Roman wall paintings in Cyprus: a scientific investigation of their technology’, in Bearat, H., Fuchs, M., Maggetti, M. and Paunier, D. (eds), Roman Wall Painting: Materials, Techniques, Analysis and Conservation: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Friboug 7–9 March 1996, Fribourg, 131–42Google Scholar
Kampen, N.B. 2006: ‘The art of soldiers on a Roman frontier’, in D'Ambra, E. and Metraux, G.P.R. (eds), The Art of Citizens, Soldiers and Freedmen in the Roman World, Oxford, 125–34Google Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 1979: Roman Distance Slabs from the Antonine Wall: A Brief Guide, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 1998: Roman Inscribed and Sculptured Stones in the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, LondonGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 2004: The Legacy of Rome: Scotland's Roman Remains, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Keppie, L.J.F. 2012: The Antiquarian Rediscovery of the Antonine Wall, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Kolb, A. 2014: ‘Communications and mobility in the Roman Empire’, in Bruun, C. and Edmondson, J. (eds), Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy, Oxford, 649–70Google Scholar
Leroi-Gourhan, A. 1993: Gesture and Speech, Cambridge, MAGoogle Scholar
Liritzis, I., and Zacharias, N. 2010: ‘Portable XRF of archaeological artifacts: current research, potentials and limitations’, in Shackley, M.S. (ed.), X-Ray Flourescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology, New York, 109–42Google Scholar
Liverani, P. 2010: ‘New evidence on the polychromy of Roman sculpture’, in Brinkmann, V., Primavesi, O. and Hollein, M. (eds), Circumlitio: The Polychromy of Antique and Mediaeval Sculpture, Munich, 290–302Google Scholar
Macdonald, G. 1934: The Roman Wall in Scotland (2nd edn), OxfordGoogle Scholar
Macmullen, R. 1982: ‘The epigraphic habit in the Roman Empire’, American Journal of Philology 103.3, 233–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marucci, G., Beeby, A., Parker, A.W., and Nicholson, C.E. 2018: ‘Raman spectroscopic library of medieval pigments collected with five different wavelengths for investigation of illuminated manuscripts’, Analytical Methods 10, 1219–3610.1039/C8AY00016FCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mateos, L.D., Cosano, D., Mora, M., Muñiz, I., Carmona, R., Jiménez-Sanchidrián, C., and Rafael Ruiz, J. 2015: ‘Raman microspectroscopic analysis of decorative pigments from the Roman villa of El Ruedo (Almedinilla, Spain)’, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 151, 16–2110.1016/j.saa.2015.06.091CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merello, P., Beltrán, P., and García-Diego, F.J. 2016: ‘Quantitative non-invasive method for damage evaluation in frescoes: Ariadne's House (Pompeii, Italy)’, Environmental Earth Sciences 75, 165CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D. 2005: ‘Materiality: an introduction’, in Miller, D. (ed.), Materiality, New York, 3–5210.1215/9780822386711Google Scholar
Monumenta Romani imperii = Monumenta Romani imperii, in Scotia, maxime vero inter vestigia valli, auspiciis Antonini Pii Imperatoris, a Fortha usque ad Glottam perducti, reperta, et in Academia Glasguensi adservata, iconibus expressa 1768, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Moormann, E.N. 2015: ‘Images of statues in other media’, in Friedland, E., Sobocinski, M.G. and Gazda, E. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture, Oxford, 638–52Google Scholar
Murcia-Mascarós, S., and García-Ramos, J.V. 2008: ‘Raman spectroscopy: principles and some case studies’, in Schreiner, M. and Strlic, M. (eds), Handbook on the Use of Lasers in Conservation and Conservation Science, Brussels, http://www.science4heritage.org/COSTG7/booklet/chapters/raman.htm (accessed February 2020)Google Scholar
Olsen, B. 2010: In Defense of Things: Archaeology and the Ontology of Objects, LanhamGoogle Scholar
Østergaard, J.S. (ed.) 2011: Tracking Colour: The Polychromy of Greek and Roman Sculpture in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Preliminary Report 3), Copenhagen, http://www.trackingcolour.com/publications/preliminary-reports (accessed February 2020)Google Scholar
Phillips, E.P. 1972: ‘The Roman distance slab from Bridgeness’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 105, 176–82Google Scholar
Piovesan, R., Siddall, R., Mazzoli, C., and Nodari, L. 2011: ‘The temple of Venus (Pompeii): a study of the pigments and painting techniques’, Journal of Archaeological Science 38, 2633–4310.1016/j.jas.2011.05.021CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RCHME 1962: ‘Roman York: inscription, sculptures and architectural fragments’, in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York 1: Eburacum, Roman York, London, 111–35, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol1/pp111-135 (accessed February 2020)Google Scholar
Richmond, I.A., and Gillam, J.P. 1951: The Temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh, Newcastle upon TyneGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A.S., and Keppie, L.J.F. 2001: The Antonine Wall: A Handbook to the Surviving Remains, GlasgowGoogle Scholar
Roux, V. 2016: ‘Ceramic manufacture: the chaîne opératoire approach’, in Hunt, A. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis, Oxford, 101–13Google Scholar
Rozenberg, S. 1997: ‘Pigments and fresco fragments from Herod's Palace at Jericho’, in Bearat, H., Fuchs, M., Maggetti, M. and Paunier, D. (eds), Roman Wall Painting: Materials, Techniques, Analysis and Conservation: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Friboug 7–9 March 1996, Fribourg, 63–74Google Scholar
Russell Robinson, H. 1975: The Armour of Imperial Rome, LondonGoogle Scholar
Ryberg, I.S. 1955: The Rites of the State Religion in Roman Art, RomeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sare Ağtürk, T. 2015: ‘Painted reliefs from Nicomedia: life of a Roman capital city in colour’ Antiquity Project Gallery 89.346, https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/sare346Google Scholar
Sare Ağtürk, T. 2018: ‘A new tetrarchic relief from Nicomedia: embracing emperors’, American Journal of Archaeology 122.3, 411–1610.3764/aja.122.3.0411CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siddall, R. 2006: ‘“Not a day without a line drawn”: pigments and painting techniques of Roman artists’, In Focus Magazine: Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society 2, 18–23Google Scholar
Siddall, R. 2016: ‘Pigment analysis’, in F. Hunter, M. Henig, E. Sauer and J. Gooder, ‘Mithras in Scotland: a Mithraeum at Inveresk (East Lothian)’, Britannia 47, 148–51Google Scholar
Siotto, E., Dellepiane, M., Callieri, M., Scopigno, R., Gratziu, C., Moscato, A., Burgio, L., Legnaioli, S., Lorenzetti, G., and Palleschi, V. 2015: ‘A multidisciplinary approach for the study and the virtual reconstruction of the ancient polychromy of Roman sarcophagi’, Journal of Cultural Heritage 16, 307–1410.1016/j.culher.2014.05.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoll, O. 2007: ‘The religions of the armies’, in Erdkamp, P. (ed.), A Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford, 451–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strong, D.E. 1961: Roman Imperial Sculpture: An Introduction to the Commemorative and Decorative Sculpture of the Roman Empire down to the Death of Constantine, LondonGoogle Scholar
Verri, G., Opper, T., and Deviese, T. 2010: ‘The “Treu Head”: a case study in Roman sculptural polychromy’, British Museum Technical Research Bulletin 4, 39–53Google Scholar
von Eynatten, H., Barceló-Vidal, C., and Pawlowsky-Glahn, V. 2003: ‘Composition and discrimination of sandstones: a statistical evaluation of different analytical methods’, Journal of Sedimentary Research 73, 47–5710.1306/070102730047CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolf, G. 1996: ‘Monumental writing and the expansion of Roman society in the early Empire’, Journal of Roman Studies 86, 22–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wootton, W., Russell, B., and Rockwell, P. 2013: ‘Stoneworking techniques and processes (version 1.0)’, The Art of Making in Antiquity: Stoneworking in the Roman World, http://www.artofmaking.ac.uk/content/essays/3-stoneworking-techniques-and-processes-w-wootton-b-russell-p-rockwell/ (accessed February 2020)Google Scholar