Of course, this research also has implications for our preconceptions about the overall appearance of the temples and palaces where these sculptures were originally displayed because since the classical revival, particularly with buildings from the 18th and 19th century, we have seen classical architecture as tastefully restrained - in effect we are seeing the Classical World through 18th-century eyes and 18th-century perceptions: the sun-bleached columns and pediments of pale limestone that we admire as tourists do not show the buildings as they would have been seen by the people of ancient Athens or ancient Rome.
Obviously this raises fascinating and broader issues about colour in modern architecture and design: for a start, should pieces of furniture only be made in the colours initially determined by the designer; should interiors be restored to original colour schemes even if that challenges modern taste or does a change of cladding material on a building or a new cover in a pattern or a new colour for a piece of furniture diminish the value and importance of the original design or simply make it more relevant for the present period? To what extent does what we see as accepted good taste now control how we see and appreciate art and architecture from the past?
The significant research work on paint analysis and original colour by the staff at the Glyptotek is to be marked by a major exhibition at the museum in the Autumn with the title The fourth dimension: colour in ancient sculpture. It will open on the 4th of September 2014 and run through until the end of November.
Additional notes:
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Dantes Plads, Copenhagen
Collection donated to the State in 1888 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of the Carlsberg brewery.
A new purpose-built museum designed by the architect Vilhelm Dahlerup opened in 1897.
Architect for the second phase, built between 1901 and 1906, was Hack Kampmann
Most recent additions and alterations to the museum are by Henning Larsen in 1996, by Dissing + Weitling around 2006 and then by Bonde Ljungar Arkitekter