An attempt at reconstruction of color experience in the Greek and Roman cultures.

What is it about?

The linguistic evidence shows that in the Greek and Roman world colors were perceived in degrees of light and darkness rather than in terms of hue. This assumption also underlies both ancient theories on color and vision (Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, and the Peripatetic De coloribus) and the various aesthetic judgments we find throughout ancient literature on the beauty and emotional power of (mainly brilliant) colors. Polychromy in sculpture and the painters’ practices of mixing pigments are taken into consideration as well, along with the relevant comments by ancient authors. Keywords: Vision, Color, Ancient Painting, Polychromy (of Sculpture), Atomism, Aristotle, Plato, Plutarch, Philostratus, Lucianus.

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