Yvonne Schmuhl

Today, the panel painting characterizes our understanding of the medium of painting, with the representation of human beings being one of its most important tasks. The technical requirements, conditions and the limiting factors that led to the start of panel painting and its further development are the subjects of this interdisciplinary and epoch-spanning research project. The history of the development of the panel painting will be scrutinized by examining representative examples from antiquity, the early and high Middle Ages. The project focuses on the execution of flesh tones: Which techniques were chosen in order to achieve certain effects at particular times? How was traditional knowledge from antiquity adapted? Is there any correlation between technique and either the function or the original location of a painting? How are social changes and ideological shifts reflected?

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Die Vorgänger römisch-republikanischer Siegesmonumente standen auf griechischen Schlachtfeldern des 5. Jhs. v. Chr. Sie hießen Tropaia und waren aus erbeuteten Waffen und Pfosten gebildet. Auf der Basis vorrangig literarischer Quellen wurde zunächst ein Überblick von diesen frühen Erinnerungsmalen und ihren Bezeichnungen bis in die Spätantike geschaffen. Hierdurch wurde vor allem ein Bedeutungswandel des Begriffes sichtbar, der auch nach Veränderungen im Erscheinungsbild verlangte.

Grundlage des folgenden Teils der Studie ist die umfassende Zusammenstellung der Siegesmonumente republikanischer Zeit. Bei der Auswahl der Objekte waren nicht formale, sondern in diesem Umfang erstmals funktionale Kriterien ausschlaggebend. Das Material deckt einen Zeitraum von etwa 400 Jahren ab und umfasst zentrale Kunstgattungen dieser Zeit wie Malerei, Architektur und Plastik.

Kaiser Augustus kommt als bedeutende Schnittstelle zwischen Republik und Kaiserzeit sowohl in diesem Teil als auch im folgenden auswertenden Abschnitt eine entscheidende Rolle zu.

Neben den verschiedenen Monumentarten werden auch übergreifende Fragestellungen behandelt. So konnten neue Ergebnisse zu staatlich bzw. privat gesteuerter Erinnerungskultur oder deren unterschiedlicher Gewichtung durch Griechen und Römer gewonnen werden. Die Verfasserin versucht aber auch einen Beitrag zur Entwicklung des Barbarenbildes und der Einbindung der Göttin Victoria in die Propaganda der Feldherren zu leisten.

Ein Ausblick auf die Kaiserzeit, in der sich die von Augustus begonnene Denkmalpolitik weiterverfolgen lässt, zeigt Tendenzen für diesen Abschnitt römischer Kunstgeschichte auf. Die neuzeitliche architektonische Umsetzung republikanischer Siegesmonumente wird abschließend anhand der sogenannten Columnae Rostratae bis in unsere heutige Zeit aufgezeigt, wo sie vorläufig 1992 in Terrassa/Spanien endet.

Today, we know the names of many Greek painters but only a few names of Romans. This discrepancy is due to the difference in social status between Greek and Roman painters in Antiquity. While Greek painters often enjoyed elevated reputations, the Romans were only granted the status of craftsmen. Although Pliny’s texts focus primarily on Greek painters and painting, researchers habitually rely on Pliny’s Natural History, even when examining the Roman context. Papyri found in Egypt and the so-called Corpus Iuris Civilis are important, yet less frequently used sources. For the first time, this study examines these documents as major sources of information on painters’ lives, status, education, and working processes in the Roman, Late Antique and Byzantine periods.

The Akademisches Kunstmuseum in Bonn possesses a mummy portrait of a young girl. Along with other works of art, it was examined for the research project “Inkarnat und Signifikanz. Das menschliche Abbild in der Tafelmalerei von 200 bis 1250 im Mittelmeerraum”. The mummy portrait was also analyzed for a Master’s Thesis submitted to the Chair of Conservation-Restoration, Art Technology and Conservation Science at the Technical University of Munich. In the present paper the results of the archeological and art technology examination, going beyond the project, are presented. Initially, the mummy portrait is archaeological classified. For the examination it was documented in high resolution using various photographic methods – VIS photography, raking light photography, UV fluorescence photography and visible-induced infrared photography. Also a portable stereomicroscope was used to examine the complex paint layers. As a result of the extensive examination, this article discusses the painting processes, the use of gold and the instruments and materials used.

This study examines different parameters regulating how flesh tones were rendered in the ancient, Byzantine and medieval periods. Written sources as well as images are considered. First, the study traces the use of the Greek term „ἀνδρείκελον“, which can mean the painters’ base color for flesh tones, from the 5th century BC to the 10th AD.
Next, it lists the different ancient uses of flesh tones to express gender, age, origin etc. in order to compare these with later, Christian conventions. Finally, it recognizes a noticeable shift in practices between Antiquity and the Christian period. In Antiquity, differences in flesh tone were used primarily to distinguish genders, while in the
Christian period, flesh tones began to be used to express concepts. For example, special treatment of the face of Christ could show light imagery or illustrate the belief, present in early Christian written sources, that Mary and her son looked alike.

Up to the present the flesh tone in painting of the classical Greek period has been only in the interest of a few archaeologists. In contrast to the approaches of these researchers, who discuss ancient painting of flesh tone by referring to medieval authors, in the present article only sources from antiquity are analyzed. The focus of this study is on the painting techniques, the changes during the 5th and 4th century B.C., and the Greek or Latin terms, which are used in the literature of this period. A short excursus also outlines the historical and intellectual context of several phenomena. For instance, there are some obvious analogies between the studies of the philosopher Hippokrates and the changes of the composition of the flesh tone at the same time.

Zusammenfassung:
In diesem Aufsatz soll anhand von Inschriften, Votivreliefs, Grabsteinen und alltäglichen Gebrauchsgegenständen  gezeigt werden, wie römische und dakische Elemente zu einer neuen Provinzialkultur verschmelzen. Am Ende soll ein möglicher Grund für das Verschwinden einzelner Elemente der dakischen Kultur vorgestellt werden.

Abstract:
This paper will demonstrate how Roman and Dacian elements were combined on gravestones, votive reliefs and inscriptions in Roman Dacia. The aims are, firstly, to identify indications of the integration of both Roman and Dacian elements into a new provincial culture and secondly, to find causes for the disappearance of any Dacian elements beside their integration.

The eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD wiped out the two Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum within a few hours. Snapshots of everyday life in a Roman city have been preserved. The booklet offers a bilingual guide through the exhibition “Pompeii and Herculaneum. Living and Dying under the Volcano".