Vitrine EXTRA #6

PITCH BLACK – COLOURFUL?

Current research on polychromy in antiquity

21 February to 31 August 2025

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Greco-Roman antiquity was once much more colourful than it appears to us today. Many statues, monuments, and architectural elements were richly painted in colours that over the course of centuries have often not survived. This multi-colour phenomenon (polychromy) has been intensively studied for a number of years, and now for the first time this research is concentrated in the Danube area around Vienna and Carnuntum. The interdisciplinary research project Colours revealed – Polychromy of Roman monuments of the Danube provinces, with the aid of scientific methods, searches for remains of colour pigments which were once applied to the stones and are now scarcely, or not at all, visible to the naked eye. With non-invasive methods such as multispectral analysis – the investigation of the interaction of different materials with diverse forms of light – even the smallest traces of colour can be detected.

The polychromy of ancient monuments was not only a design medium, but might also have underscored specific messages via a special colour symbolism. This will also be examined in the research project. Additional important evidence for the understanding of the objects is provided by insights into painting techniques as well as the procedures and coordination of a variety of working processes. A special focus of the project lies on the reliefs and sculptures from the Mithras cults from Carnuntum and the Vienna basin area: on these objects, the significance of colour in religious and ritual contexts will be investigated. The relief exhibited here of the bull-killing Mithras, from Stixneusiedl (Lower Austria) represents a particularly impressive example in this regard.

In the early summer of 1816, a relief depicting the bull-slaying god Mithras was discovered in the vineyards near Stixneusiedl (Lower Austria). The upper part, including Mithras’ torso, was missing. Later that same year, the artifact was transferred to the imperial collections in Vienna and handed over to the k. k. Münz- und Antikenkabinett – the predecessor of today’s Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Even at the time of its discovery, the numerous preserved traces of ancient paint were admired, and, fortunately, a rough cleaning – which was quite common at the time – was avoided.

The Research Project

The Vitrine EXTRA #6 draws from the research project Colours revealed – Polychromy of Roman monuments of the Danube provinces, funded by Heritage Science Austria of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Digital Platform for the Research Project
The digital research platform Goobi of the KHM-Museumsverband provides a dedicated research website for the project Polychromon: Current research on polychromy of ancient stone monuments.

Visit the research platform