WHITE OR COLORED?

[Tarbicus]

Much as I like garish display (and this kind of barbarian splendour feels a lot 'righter' for a culture like Rome than the clinical whiteness of Neoclassicism), I prefer my originals as close to 'as found' as is consistent with conservation.

But are they "as found"? It's my understanding that the plain metal suits of armour we see in museums are like that because Victorian curators cleaned them up vigorously, making them look like what they should look like to the more modern eye. There are heaps of such armours that were supposedly painted originally.

By the way as an artist I have noticed something. They take the traces of color they have found and recreat only using that color. But the look is rather odd for the people as they have no shading etc. Probobly what they are showing is what a basecoat would look like. Then the painter would go back and paint shadows and highlights to make them look more real and for the details to stand out.

I don't see any reason for them to highlight and shade an intricate 3D statue as if it were a modern scale model.