Press release
GODS IN COLOR—GOLDEN EDITION
Polychromy in Antiquity
30 January 2020 to 26 September 2021
Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung
For more than fifteen years, the polychromy of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture has been captivating the public worldwide. Some three million visitors have experienced the GODS IN COLOR firsthand in the museums of cities such as Athens, Istanbul, Copenhagen, London, Malibu, Mexico City, Munich, Berlin, Rome, Vienna and, most recently, San Francisco—as well as those of renowned universities, among them Harvard and Oxford. The Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung is now presenting a major expanded exhibition allowing a nuanced look at the disconcerting phenomenon of statuary polychromy. “GODS IN COLOR—GOLDEN EDITION: Polychromy in Antiquity” features more than 100 objects from international museum collections such as the British Museum in London, the Museo Archeologico in Naples, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, the Archäologisches Institut in Göttingen, and the Skulpturensammlung der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden, as well as the holdings of the Liebieghaus, which encompass 60 recent reconstructions but also some dating from the nineteenth century, along with 22 prints.
“The polychromy of ancient sculpture is a fascinating phenomenon, and one that continues to surprise and astonish us despite in-depth research over the past decades and the publication of important results. The image of white marble sculpture and architecture still dominates our conception of antiquity today. The Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung and a team of scholars around Vinzenz Brinkmann—part of an international research network—untiringly devote themselves to correcting this misconception once and for all. The expanded exhibition “Gods in Color—Golden Edition” at the Liebeighaus Skulpturensammlung presents the latest instructive findings as well as a résumé of forty years of intensive research into the polychromy of ancient sculpture,” Dr. Philipp Demandt, the director of the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, comments on the exhibition.
You can read and download the complete press release here.