What was the real original aspect of the two Riace Bronzes? How did they present themselves in the eyes of those who admired them in their day? Were they colored? And how? The international meeting entitled: “A new color reconstruction of ancient sculptures”, organized on Tuesday 12 July in the Curia Iulia at the Roman Forum, promoted by the Directorate General for Museums of the Ministry of Culture, by the Archaeological Park of Colosseum and from National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum in New York to celebrate the c50th anniversary of the discovery of the Riace Bronzes, marvelous works of art from the 5th century. BC of Greek origin, now exhibited, with a new layout, at the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria.
The two masterpieces were found on August 16, 1972, in an exceptional state of conservation, on the bottom of the Ionian Sea in front of Riace Marina by a passionate diver 200 meters from the coast and just 8 meters deep.
During the meeting (introduced by Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park) a video of great and spectacular impact was presented on the exhibition “Chroma Ancient Sculpture in Color”, inaugurated last July 5 at the Metropolitan Museum, in New York, dedicated to the polychromy of ancient sculptures. Right in the exhibition of New York have been placed two perfect bronze copies of the Riace statuesmade with sophisticated technologies.
In parallel, a perfect bronze copy (exactly like the New York copies) of the head of the statue of warrior A was presented in Rome.The bronze head was made by Vinzenz Brinkmann, one of the world’s leading experts in polychromy antiquity and among the protagonists of the evocative exhibition of the Metropolitan Musem in New York. The reproduction of the head, made with a laser scanner with a millimeter scanning and 3D reliefintends to show the public the original color of the statue, without the effects of time and oxidation, also proposing the presence of colors.
Said the minister Dario Franceschini: «The Riace Bronzes are extraordinary statues that also have a beautiful story to tell with still many mysteries. They are also a great challenge: to make the Riace bronzes one of the greatest attractors of international tourism in our country ». The meeting was introduced by Massimo Osanna, General Director of Museums, followed by those of Carmelo Malacrino, Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, by Salvatore Settis, former Director of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and Academico dei Lincei, and of the same Vinzenz Brinkmann, Head of the Department of Antiquities of the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung in Frankfurt am Main. Comments by Sean Hemingway