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Painted Ladies of the Early Bronze Age

ELIZABETH HENDRIX

More than 4,000 years ago, during the EarlyBronze Age, people inhabiting the

islands of the Cyclades in the South Aegean Sea between present-day Greece and

Turkeyproducedvessels and anthropomorphicfigures from the white marble

found in abundancein the mountains and along the coastlines (figs. I, 2). For manmodern viewers the stark,unadorned surfaces of nearly all of these objects seem

consistent with the minimal definition of their forms, leading to the suppositionthat their modern

appearance closelyresembled their

originalstate. But is there

evidence to support this notion?

It is virtuallyimpossible for us to comprehend the intent of the prehistoric

carvers; he works provide the only clues. Although writing had alreadybeen

invented in Mesopotamia and adopted in Egypt by the late fourth millennium B.c.

it apparentlyhad not spreadto the Cyclades of the third millennium B.c.We can

only hypothesize about the language of the ancient Cycladic islanders,how they

perceived themselves, their world, and their cosmos, and the meaning or signifi-cance they attributed to the marble artifactsthey left behind. What is certain,

however, is that these objects were important to the Bronze Age people in and

- Y , 'Y~~NAXOS ?

ANT.PAROS ^i.E IR

.dIPARO0*'

MELOS . v.O

k* '

* THERA .*

I:~~~~~~~~~~

I. ImportantBronzeAge sites inthe Cycladic slands

2. Islandof Paros,coast at Koukounaries. hotographbyauthor- ^

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NEOLITHICTo ca. 3500 B.C.

around)^ the Ceaecadx pso fo o xt (ApproximateatesbasedonJohnE.Coleman,

NtahxanosuM^ "Greece,heAegean, nd

Cyprus:'nR.Ehrich,d.,usedbytheislnr,hsaiChronologies inOldWorld

Archaeology, rd ed.,

Chicago, 992)

EARLYCYCLADIC I

Antiparos Antiparos ~~~~~~~~Ca. 3500-3 100 B.C.

5(11) ~ EARLYCYCLADIC II

Ca. 3100-2400 B.C.

3. Typologychartof Neo- EARLYCYCLADIC III

lithicandEarlyCycladic Ca.2400-2100 B.C.

figures.Compiledanddrawn

byauthor

around heCyclades,as excavated xamples ome from contexts panningmore

thansix hundred ears.

Although marble is a relativelysoft stone, it is harder than the copper tools

used by the islanders,thus raisingthe question of how the figures and vessels

were carved.The occurrence f largeemerydepositson the islandof Naxos has

suggested o some that this abrasivematerial ould havebeen usedin creating he

formsof the figures. ndeed,ElizabethOustinoffhas shownthatmanyof them

wereprobablymadey abradingmarblebeachpebbles,oftenalreadypolished nto

oblong shapesby the gentle, persistentwaves of the Aegean. Pat Getz-Gentle

(formerlyGetz-Preziosi), noted scholar of Early Cycladic figures andvessels, has

shown that the proportions of many were often carefullyplanned with a compass,

resulting in a remarkableconsistency of form. Such studies are inspired by one

of the most compelling features of these Bronze Age creations-namely, their

subtle curves and handsome contours.

It is interesting that there are only a handful of variationsamong the types of

figures, ranging from highly schematic and "violin"shapes to relativelynaturalistic

forms to severe abstractions of the human figure. It would seem that the artisans

were not merely attempting to reproducewhat they sawin the naturalworld, but

ratherwere nterestedn expressinghesymbolic orms hatheld somesignificance

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forthem,suchas theelongated,upward-tiltingace.The maintypes,represented

by exampleswithknownprovenance, rearrangedn approximatehronologicalorder n figure3.The fact thatthesculpturalormsadhered o these few varieties

testifies o the senseof culturaldentitymaintained ythe islanders ver thecours

of the thirdmillennium,a timereferred o as theEarlyCycladicperiod n the

Aegean slands.

Earlyexploration f the islandsbyWesternantiquariansndother travelers

firstbrought hemarble igures o the attentionof collectorsand scholarsn thenineteenthandearly wentiethcenturies.Alreadyn 1837 George Finlay,a British

historian racking leadto the tombof Homer on Ios,purchasedeveral"rude

marble igurines"rom ocalson his tourof the island quoted nArnott; ee

bibliography). efore he turnof the century, xcavationswereunderwaybytrainedprofessionalsn theveryyoungdisciplineof archaeology. ythe I970S a

largenumberof EarlyCycladicmarbleobjectshad foundtheirway ntoprivateandpubliccollections, heirsuddenandpowerfulappealareflectionof themod-

ernworld'snewappreciationorthe clean ines andsupple,abstract, ut still

human ormsexemplified ytheworksof suchsculptors sBrancusi,Modigliani,

andMoore(MooreownedthreeCycladic igures).These associationsmake t dif-ficultto imagine he elegantwhite forms n other thantheirundecoratedtate,

interrupted ypatternsof colorpaintedboldlyacross heir surfaces. n factmany,if not most,Cycladic iguresweredecoratedwithone or morecolors, n patternsthat donot necessarily mphasize r enhance heirsculpturalorms.Andjustas

theidea of brightcolorsapplied o the sculptures ndarchitecture f Archaicand

ClassicalGreecewas atfirstdifficult o accept,so elaboratepaintingon the smoot

formsof EarlyCycladic culptedmarblesdefinitely hanges hewayone thinks

about heseobjectsandthepeoplewho created hem.

Overthelast sixyearsI haveconducteda careful tudyof numerousCycladi

marble igures n theMuseumand n collections n GreatBritain,Europe,andGreece.This researchhasshownthatred,blue,andperhapsblackmarkingswere

applied o figuresdatedon thebasisof stylisticdevelopmenthroughout he entir

periodof theirproduction.Today,most scholarswritingon thesubjectacknowl-

edgethatatleastsomeof thefigureswereembellishedwithcolor,butthisfeature

hasgenerallybeengiven ittleconsiderationwithregard o themeaningof

theobjects.Rather,nterpretations avefocusedon the factthatthemajority re

female,andthe standard onclusionbasedon thatobservations thattheyare

eithergoddessesor concubines.Suchasimpledichotomy s limitingandoften

counterproductive. therscholars, uchasChristosDoumasandLucyGoodison

haveobserved hatcertain eaturesof themarbles,ncluding hepresenceof paintmayhavehad asymbolic ignificancehatwe cannotyet interpret,giventhe

scarcityof evidence.

Mywork n theMuseumhasbeendirected oward ncreasingheamount

andqualityof the evidence hatcanbe found n thepainted urface.The painted

patternsofferanadditionalormof expression ndcanbe examined sprimary

information.n the absenceof archaeologicalontext ormostCycladic igures, t

is especially important to note and consider any information that the objects

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4. Head from Figureof a a.Woman.EarlyCycladic I,

Spedostype,cca. 700-

2500 B.C. Marble, .2/2in.

(6.55 cm).Purchase,Arthur 'pe

DarbyNock Bequest, n

honor of GiselaM.A.:

Richter,1969(69.11.5)

S. Author's reconstruction e Eof color of fig.4 done on

photocopyof black-and-

white photograph akenbyauthor

Allof the followingcolor

reconstructions are bythe

same method.

I-I0i -: i.l-.::.

.

.

_ 0

....

themselves can provide (this is of course just as true for those objects that do have

an archaeologicalcontext). Keeping in mind that the sculptureswere the expres-sions of a people silent now for millennia, we might view these materialremains as

anopportunityo get acquaintedwithanancient,remote,andfascinating ociety.Fourteen igures, ivevessels,andthelidof a vesselconstitute he Early

Cycladic ollectionof marbleobjects nThe MetropolitanMuseumof Art.All

wereexamined nd,wherenecessary,epaired nd/orcleaned n the ShermanFairchildCenter orObjectsConservationn preparationortheir nstallationn

thenewgalleries orGreekart n the RobertandReneeBelferCourt.Each"type"of EarlyCycladicigure seefig.3)is representedn the Museum's ollection,which thereforeprovidesanoverview f theseworks.None of the examples as a

knownprovenance.Much of the examination rocess ocusedon the identification nd docu-

mentationof tracesof ancientpaintingon the marble.Twelveof the fourteen ig-uresshowevidenceof paint,althoughsome reveal hesetracesonlyunderspeciallightingconditions.Eightof the figuresandone of thevesselspreserveparticles

of redandsometimesbluepigment.Several echniqueswereemployed n theexamination f eachfigure,as the sum of the resultsoftenprovidedmore com-

pleteevidence orpainting hananyone of these methodscould reveal.Five of

the figureswith indicationsof paintarediscussed n detail below.They were

chosen asthe bestexamplesof eachtypeof evidence-from tracesof pigmentand

differentlyweatheredmarble urfaces o those traces hatare revealedby special

techniques o bedescribedbelow,such ascomputerenhancementandultraviolet

reflectography.

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6. Statuetteof a Man.Early

CycladicII,Dokathismata

type,ca.2400-2300 B.C. r

later.Marble,h. 14/8 in.

(35.89 cm). Bequestof

Walter C. Baker,1971

(1972.118.103)

7. Reconstructionof

color of fig.6

In each case, making a careful sketch o

the figure proved to be of singularbenefit.

The exercise of putting to paper a mark or

tone corresponding to every squarecentime-

ter of surface forces one to lookat the surface

much more carefullythan when making a

quick line drawingor setting the object upfor a photograph.

A smallhead in the collection (figs.4, 5)

provides the clearest evidence among the

Museum'spieces that Early Cycladic figures

were painted. The ancient pigment on this

head is relativelywell preserved.Traces of at

least sixvertical red stripes across the fore-

(EDS)a l head can be seen with the unaided eye. Red

forehead stripes have also been noted on a

Cycladic head in the Museum of Art and

Archaeology at the University of Missouri,

Columbia. Low-power magnification shows

that the pigment of each of these stripes

on the Museum's head remains in greater

quantities at the edges than at the centers,

suggesting that the stripes may have been

outlined before being filled in.

Red paintcan also be found along the

length of the nose and on the cheeks near the

nose, perhapsthe remnants of stripesbeginning to extend horizontallyacross the

cheeks.A small trace of red can be found in the neck incision justbelow the chin. In

addition,blue pigment is visible with 3oxmagnificationand appearsto be associate

with the red, both on the forehead,in a stripe just above and slightly to the left of

the nose, and on the right cheek at the end of the logical extension of the red hori-

zontal cheek stripe.Particles on the upper partof the face, ranging from dark

brown to black,correspondto facial features that can be easilydiscerned, including

eyes with pupils and eyebrows, symmetrically arranged n relationto one another.

The left eye is easier to see; the right eye is similar to the left, but appearssmudged.

In September 1993 the red pigment was analyzed by energy-dispersiveX-ray

spectrometry (EDS) and clearlyshown to be cinnabar,with mercury and sulfur

as the only majorelements. Thus far this mineral has not been found in the

Cyclades;the closest sources known to me are in the Almaden region of Spain, in

the Balkansnear Belgrade, and on the coast of Turkeynear Ephesus, a settlement

founded, according to Greek tradition, in the tenth century B.c. The soil on the

island of Naxos, one of the production centers for Early Cycladic sculpture, is rich

in iron oxides and bright red in color. Yet the local red was not used for this head.

Did the rarityof cinnabar enhance the value of the pigment, making it more suit-

ablefordecoratinghesculpture?

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8. HeadfromFigure

of a

Woman.EarlyCycladicII,

early Spedostype,ca. 2700-

2500 B.C.Marble,h. 10 in.

(25.3 cm).Gift of Christos

G. Bastis,1964(64.246)

9a, b. Reconstructionsof

color of fig.8

Another figure in the collection (figs. 6,7) preservesenough pigment to con-

vey at least some of the ancient painting. Considerable detail has been sculpted,

including hair,eye sockets, and a penis as well as female breasts,suggesting that the

figure is hermaphroditic.The Early Cycladic perceptions of gender may have been

flexible (examplesof "pregnantmales"areknown). The two breastsprotrude from

a squarechest, the left breast smaller andhigher than the right, contrasting with

the otherwise symmetricalcomposition of the sculpture.Across the chest are tracesof red pigment that create a series of vertical and diagonal stripes. Other figures of

varyingtypes preservesuch traces, including one in the VirginiaMuseum of Fine

Arts, Richmond,where the pigmentwas also identified ascinnabar.The chart(fig.3)also shows two exampleswith this design that date from the end of the Early

CycladicII period and were found on Amorgos and los. The presence of this par-ticulardesign on figures dating only to the latter partof the Early Cycladic II

period may mean that it had special significance for a small community within the

largerEarly Cycladic culture.

The exampleillustrated below (figs. 8,ga, b) actuallypreservesvery little pig-

ment, but shows clear traces of ancientpainted design

that result from differential

weathering of the marble,known as "paintghosts."The right eye and pupil and

the lower line of the left eye were not originallyraised above the plane of the face;

paint protected the original surface from the erosion that slightly lowered the level

of the rest of the face. Similarcurving lines above the chin may represent a mouth.

The once-painted features of the face, including the two wide eyes with taperedcorners and pupils set at their centers, can best be seen in raking light. The right

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10. FemaleFigure.EarlyCycladicII,Kapsala ype,ca. 2700-2600 B.C.Marble,h. 1478 in.(37.1I cm).Fletcher

Fund,1934 (34.11.3)

I I. Computerenhancementof photographof fig. 10

12. Reconstructionof color of fig. 10

eyeis betterpreservedhanthe left.When theheadwas examinedunder ow

(7x-3ox)magnification,edpigmentwasobservedn thesharpangle separatingthe left side of the backof the headfromtheneck; here s no evidenceof differen

tialweatheringwherethispaintremains. t maybe that the kindof paintdeter-

mines the effectsof erosionon the stoneduringburial.

Paintconsistsof acolorant,usuallyapigment,suspended r dissolvedn a

medium.The ingredients an be varied o achieve he best effect for agivencolorant.Thus astrong,densepigmentsuch ascinnabar an be applied o stone

in athin mediumandstillproduceastrongcolor. Suchpaintmaybe thinenoughfor some of it to seepinto theporesof thestone,in effectstaining t.Azurite,how-

ever(whichhas been cited asoccurring n Cycladicobjects), s avery transparent

pigment,so that much of it is requiredbeforeanintense blue results.For thispig-mentabulkymedium-such as waxoregg temperabuiltupin layers-is the best

typeof vehicle.The paintwould then sit on topof thestone,actingas abarrier

between he stone and thesurroundingnvironment.The choice of mediummay

explainwhyred,whichpenetrateshestone,is the mostcommonlypreserved ig-ment on Cycladic iguresbut is rarelyassociateddirectlywithpaintghosts,and

why paintghostsrarelypreserve racesof pigment.Wemight imagine, hen,the

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eyesof thisfigure n blue,witharedlineseparatinghe headfromthe neckatthefrontandsides.

Photographs f painteddetailson Cycladicigures anbecomputer-enhancedto heighten he contrastbetweenareasof paintedandunpainted tone.This tech-

niquewasusedbyLaurenceDoyle,JeanLorre,andEricDoyle to transform

vague mageof the famousShroudof Turin ntoapictureof the clothinwhichnumerousdetailscouldbe identified.Computer nhancement oesnot add nfor-

mation o theimage,but seeks o separatehesignificant isual nformationoundon thesurface romthe randomdiscolorationshatresult rom adventitious irtandweathering.

Computer nhancement f aphotograph f anaverage-sizeigure n the col-lection (figs. Io, I I, I2) revealedmuch more detail about the painting than had

beenobservedinitially.Subsequent xamination f it under ow-powermagnifica-tion confirmedhe detailsrevealedon theenhancement.Specifically,was abletoseeon themarble urfaceboththepupilof therighteyeandthe linedescribinghe

eye.I waspreviously nder heimpressionhat the eyehadbeenrenderedasasolidalmond hape.Afterstudying hecomputer-enhancedhotograph, wasable

to recognize hese features sareason thestonethathad aslightlydifferentpolish.I wasthen ableto measure he widthof the linearound heeyeandfoundthat twasa consistent .2 cm allthewayaround.Eventhoughthedetailsof theeyewerevisibleon theoriginalphotograph, didn't ee hemuntilI noticedthemon the

computer nhancement.Additionaldetailsof painteddesigns ncludeapaintghostat thepubicarea, ndicatedbyasmoothertriangular-shapedatchof marble,andactual racesof color,as shown n thecolorreconstruction.

The largest figure in the Museum'scollection (figs. 3, I4, I5) illustratesthat

additionalevidence of paint on Cycladicfigurescan sometimes be obtained byultraviolet-reflectancephotography.UV-reflectance photography documents the

way materialsreflect light in the spectrumjust outside the visible range.Manytypes of film are sensitive to this range, even when the human eye is not. The film

can, in effect, rendervisible what otherwise is not. Vinzenz Brinkmannhas demon-stratedhow once-painted marblecould preservethe original design, even when no

pigment remained. He appliedtechniques using ultravioletlight andphotographyto painted Greek sculptures from the Archaic period (ca.700-500 B.C.),achieving

startlingresults, inspiring me to try to enhance the tracesof paint on Cycladic fig-ures with this form of documentation.

Red pigment was found in many places on the front andbackwhen the figurewas examinedunder low (7x-3ox) magnification,in incisions at the backof the left

jaw,the back of the right knee, the top of the backleg groove, the top of the neck

groove at the back,and on the top and the right line of the pubic triangle.There isalso red paint on segments of flat surfacesthat describe a varietyof almond shapeswhen the stone is viewed in ultravioletlight. In the UV reflectographs(see fig. 14)the outlines of almond shapes, sometimes with dots in their centers or straightlines radiatingfrom them, can be seen on the face, chest, and even on the backofthehead.Therearealsoshorthorizontal llipsesbelowthenosethatappeardarker ndsuggest he samekindof mouthas on thesculpturen figure o. One

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13. FemaleFigure.Early

CycladicII,ate Spedos type,ca. 2600-2400 B.C. Marble,

h.24Y/4n.(62.8 cm).Gift of

Christos G.Bastis,1968

(68.148)

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14. Black-and-white ltra-

violet reflectographof fig.13

15. Reconstructionof

color of fig. 13

almond shape appears ustto the left of the front leg groove, anotherappearson the

backof the left side of the head, threeappearon the rightside of the face,and one on

the left side. The colorreconstruction(fig. 15)illustrates hat the preserved racesof

red pigmentmost often correspondeither to incisions or to these darkshapesthat

become most apparenton the reflectographs.This evidencejustifiesthe identification

of some of the markingsvisiblein the UV reflectographas traces of ancientpainting.

The proportions of the large sculptureseem to have been carefullymeasured

with a compass, a technique describedby Getz-Preziosi in her book Sculptors fthe

Cycladessee fig. 16). The arc of the head swings down to bisect the figure at the

curve of the waist,the shoulder curve s completedby the oppositecurve at the knees,

and the curve of the toes is followed through in the implied curve described by the

sides of the hips. In this way the sculptureis divided into four very nearly equal

parts.Yet the small breasts areagainpositioned asymmetrically,so that the rightone is higher than the left one. The neck incision meets in the back to form a

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16. Proportion drawingof fig. 13byauthor

/-X'Tf ^,~ ^broad V,thepointof which s justto the left of andhigher han the

8~/ Y W ~incision that describes he spine,

certainlyanotherbit of intentional

asymmetry.Moreover,hetopof thel ^ \OO C)15 leg grooveat the back ailsto join

p/ 1t j~~ f~with the bottomof aspine ncision

?;Y ~~ , ^_;/ \which also serves to divide the but-

/ \VJ tocks.The oddpainteddesignscon-

j \L/ tinuethiscontrastwith the overall

....i | symmetry f theproportions.I\^^/vThe examinationfthefigure/ in thecollectionof theMetropoli-

;)(; ^y;~~ @tan and n othermuseumsmakes t

~/ $\ 0~/ ,~/ \~

clearthatmost,if not all,of them

/ ^?^. X were coveredwithstrongcolors

in patternsthat are not always

(V \J0omprehensibleo viewers oday.

|\ X/ Whenrecognizable natomical

\ Xf featureswerepainted n locations

\ / that makesense to us (suchas the

'\f'

~^: i O<Jmouth centeredbelow thenose),

~"-....-s^...we arepreparedo see the tracesof

thepainting n those areas. t is a

greaterchallenge o acceptsimilar

evidence orasymmetrical esignsor familiar hapes n the "wrong"ocations suchas severaleyelikealmondshapeson one sideof theface).It maywellbe thatsymmetrical atternshavebeen

retainedmore oftensincetheyare easier o recognize, hus nspiringmore care

on thepartof thehandler,whethercurator, ealer,owner,or restorer.

Ifwehopeto understandhis culturebetter,we mustkeepanopenmind

toward tsartifacts,ndwe mustsupport fforts o conduct ystematicxcavations f

Cycladic ites.Unprovenancedemains anonlyoffer solated luesregardinghe

peoplewhomadeand irstappreciatedhem.The bits of informationheydocarry,however, houldbecarefullyxamined ather hanassumed.

The presentexamination f the surfaceof EarlyCycladicmarbleobjects nthe Museumprovides everalpiecesof information bout he BronzeAge Cycladiislanders.Some featuresof thepainting eemsignificanto me and are outlined

below.Futureexcavationsmayprovide upporting rcontradicting vidence or

my hypotheses,which are offeredas an initialsteptowardunderstandinghe

paintedCycladic igure.Boldpainteddesignsdrawattention o the surface f the sculptures,o thatthe

surfacemaybe seen as at leastequal n importanceo thesculptedorm.The huge

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dark yes,brightredstripeson the forehead ndcheeks,andperhaps thermarkingson thesmallhead llustratedn figure4 arecertainly sstriking s thecontours.

The choiceof cinnabar, t leaston occasion, uggests hat thispigmenthad

somevaluebeyond tscolor,sincebrightred iron oxideswouldhavebeenreadilyavailable n manyof the islands. fcinnabarwasanimportedmaterial,ts exotic

originsmayhaveaddedprestige o this colorfor theislanders.

Cinnabarwas dentifiedon thesmall-to-average-sizeculpturellustratedn

figure4. Itspresence ndicates hatpainting,or evenpaintingwith rarecolors,wasnot reserved orlarge-scale culptures.The questionarisesasto whether he

islanderswouldhaveheld thelargerones in greater steem,sincetheymaynot

havebeenimpressedwith"monumentality"sother cultureswere orare.

The asymmetry f muchof thepaintings consistentwiththe subtleasym-metriesof sculpturalorm,as noticedmost often in theplacementandsizeof thebreastsand n theslightlyoff-center ncised ines(forexample, hespine).Thistells us much about hemakers' enseof order; ontrastingymmetrical ndasym-metrical ormsanddetailswerepartof theEarlyCycladic onsciousness.

The almond hapeseemsto be a favoredmotif andmayhavehadsome

special,evensymbolic, ignificance.tsuse foreyeson manyof thesculpturesmaybe a clueto thissignificance.t is startlingo see eyessuchasthoseon thesculp-ture n figure13in numbersand n locations hatdonot correspondo nature,yetit is aplacementhathas to be consideredn the faceof theevidence.Furthermore,

multipleoroverlapping oloredshapesmight ndicate hat someof the figureswerepaintedon morethanone occasionbeforebeingburied,perhaps spartof a

periodicceremony. t shouldalsobenotedthat theactof paintingmayhavebeenasimportant s the design tselfandcouldexplain,atleast n part, herepetitionofcertainmotifs.

The different ypesof preservationf painting,evenon one sculpture, uch

asthatshown n figure8, suggest hattheartisthadaccess o atechnology hathaddevelopedarangeof paints o takeadvantage f the differentproperties f the

pigments.Moreover, heverythin,evenoutliningof aneyeon thesculpturen

figure o showsoff theconsiderable killandsense of refinement f theartist.

Myprimary oalhasbeento increase hebodyof evidencebyproposing hatwe takeanother ookatthesurfaceof EarlyCycladicmarblefigures,a lookthat sin somecases mpossiblewiththeunaidedeye.The variousmethodsdescribedabovehelpedme see thesurfaceof thesebeautifulmarble iguresandperhapsalloweda glimpsebelow t as well.

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