‘Chroma’ Exhibit Reconstructs Classical Antiquities Through Color at The MET

The Metropolitan Museum of Art brings to the stage a new exhibition that reconstructs classical antiquities through color. The exhibit, titled Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color, welcomes an array of pieces representing the Cycladic, Archaic Greek, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods and transforms them into complex and colorful entities.

The reconstruction of the 17 replicas were created by husband-and-wife archaeologists Dr. Vinzenz Brinkmann and Dr. Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann. Their work ranges from doll-sized Cycladic figure to a pair of Roman boxers in a stunning range of metals. They also replicated a 6th century statue that is “painted in full, from the gum Arabic lacquer of her brown irises to the gilding and patterning of her red-hued garment”. Several other antiquities can be described as “bursting with color and ornament in terra cotta, metalwork, and glass, from a tiny carved gemstone to room-sized Roman frescoes”. However, the archaeologists didn’t solely recreate past sculptures, but also led an investigation about polychrome. Their findings demonstrated in videos how colors fade during excavation and the aggressive cleaning and polishing that destroys pigments. Hence the process of color restoration steps away from the traditional raw limestone and marble figures unusually seen in galleries and brings spectators closer to their original definition and ornamentation. Therefore, its critical colorful role will continue to serve as a reminder that “classical antiquity was cosmopolitan, with disparate cultures interacting over the course of centuries.”

The Brinkmanns’ striking color reconstructions exhibition is set to be open through March 26, 2023, at the MET.

– Esther Marcos