Colorful distance stone statuary on the Antonine Wall in Britain

Angela

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As with buildings and free standing statuary, what we thought was a white or gray monochromatic classical world was actually vibrant with colorful.

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It will be nice to see it digitally colored.

""The public are accustomed to seeing these sculptures in bland greys, creams, white (for marble) and don't get the full impact that they would have had on the Roman and indigenous audiences 2000 years ago."These sculptures are propaganda tools used by Rome to demonstrate their power over these and other indigenous groups, it helps the Empire control their frontiers and it has different meanings to different audiences."
Dr. Campbell said that some of the colour sculptures tell stories of different Roman legions and their loyalty to the Emperor as well as their part in the construction of the Antonine Wall, one of Scotland's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
She added: "The distance stones tell us how many feet were built by each legion and are dedicating their allegiance to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. These sculptures are unique to the Antonine Wall and the best preserved example of frontier statuary from any Roman border.
"They were embedded into prominent positions on the wall (probably crossing points at militarised forts) for full visual impact. The colours would have been a very powerful addition to bring these scenes to life and aid in the subjugation of the northern peoples."

https://phys.org/news/2018-04-archaeologist-red-yellow-antonine-wall.html
 

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