Using Refl ectance Transformation Imaging and 3D Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy to Evaluate Relief and Contour Lines on Ancient Attic Greek Vases
Paula Artal-Isbrand* and Philip Klausmeyer Conservation Department , Worcester Art Museum , 55 Salisbury Street , Worcester , MA 01609
*
PaulaArtal-Isbrand@worcesterart.org Introduction
Relief lines and contour lines—two unique decorative features found on ancient Greek red-fi gure vases—were studied on a group of vases and vase fragments in the conservation laboratory of the Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, MA) using two surface examination methods: refl ectance transformation imaging (RTI) and 3D laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). T ese methods helped characterize the lines and answer questions regarding tools, techniques, and production sequence used by Greek vase painters.
Red-Figure Pottery Red-fi gure pottery—a quintessential Greek pottery style
depicting fi gures in silhouette surrounded by a painted black background—emerged out of the black-fi gure tradition (depicting painted black fi gures on the red pottery) during the sixth century BCE, a period of signifi cant transition in Ancient Greece. During this time the inhabitants from numerous autonomous, and oſt en adversarial, city states ( poleis ) unifi ed with the goal of becoming stronger and therefore able to defend their lands and identity from neighbors like the powerful Persians. Red-fi gure pottery remained popular throughout the
fi ſt h century BCE until its demise in the 320s BCE—around the time of the death of Alexander the Great. T e red-fi gure technique allowed vase painters to become far more expressive and realistic in their rendition of anatomy and dress than their predecessors, the black-fi gure painters, who used gravers to incise lines for eyes, mouths, garment folds, etc. T e quality of these lines was rugged and awkward, because in order to produce visible lines within the black fi gure portions, the gravers had to get through the black paint layer, which techni- cally was a fi red glaze. T e red-fi gure painters, on the other hand, could now paint these lines onto the red vases with the glaze material before the pot was fi red using brushes. Depending on the degree of the concentration of the glaze material, they could achieve lines ranging from honey-colored, to brown and black, and even produce lines so thick that they stood proud of the surface, called relief lines . Depending on the size of their brushes, diff erent line widths could be achieved also. While fi ne lines within the red fi gures were painted with very thin brushes, the black background around the fi gures was painted with wide brushes. T e outline (visible only upon close inspection) within the black background that surrounds the red fi gures is called contour line . Pottery shapes . T e Greeks had a wide range of pot shapes, each one associated with a diff erent activity or function. Among them is the stamnos , a large footed vase used for mixing wine and water (Greeks never drank only wine) that has two small handles on each side of the wide body; the elegant kylix , the
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favorite drinking cup among the Greeks consists of a wide shallow bowl with delicate handles that is balanced on a fl ared foot; and the popular amphora, a large vessel used for storing and transporting wine, olive oil, or water that has two sturdy handles on its shoulder. Research goals . Debates continue among scholars over multiple aspects relating to the production of Greek vases. One such debate centers on what tools and methods created certain decorative features such as the relief lines on red-fi gure ware. T ere are also confl icting opinions as to the sequence of the applied decoration, in particular which came fi rst, the relief line or the contour line surrounding the red fi gures. In 2011, the authors published an article describing their research on a stamnos by the Tyszkiewicz Painter in the collection of the Worcester Art Museum ( Figure 1 ) [ 1 ]. A step-by-step description was given of the decorative process on this vessel, followed by a topographic study of the relief and contour lines using RTI and LSCM. T ese examination methods allowed for the lines to be characterized more fully and ultimately helped determine what tools and techniques were used to produce them. Since then, further investigations have tested if the fi ndings made regarding this stamnos are applicable to Greek red-fi gure vases more broadly by examining additional vases from the collection of the Worcester Art Museum, as well as vase fragments from the collection of the Harvard University Art Museums. T ese additional investigations resulted in a
Figure 1 : Stamnos attributed to the Tyszkiewicz Painter, c. 480 BCE. Scale = 10 cm. Courtesy of Worcester Art Museum, 1953.92. Republished with permission of Maney Publishing, from [2]; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC).
doi: 10.1017/S1551929515000565
www.microscopy-today.com • 2015 July
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