Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 104. (Budapest, 2006)
JUDIT LEBEGYEV - ANDRÁS MÁRTON: Early Cycladic Objects in the Collection of Classical Antiquities
of time were made of blue pigment, which more easily vanished. She suggests that the blue painting meant for the whole lifetime of the figure was applied by the sculptor or his close associate; describing the varied paint traces discovered on the pieces of the Goulandris Master, P. Getz-Gentle argues that even the painting was done by the "sculptor". 32 The paint traces with many periods, however, contradict that the figures would have been exclusively or finally painted by their sculptor. Among the effects damaging the painted designs of the figures it must also be noted that in modern times, after the figures were discovered, the patina of their surface and together with that paint traces were removed so that the smooth white surface of the marble w r ould become visible. 31 RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PAINT OF THE BUDAPEST FIGURES On Cycladic figures, paint traces are most often found on the head. However, there are examples for painting other parts of the body too: the pubic triangle was always painted blue. 34 Red painted dots and stripes could appear on the neck and chest, too. 35 In the case of both painted figures in Budapest, traces of paint are visible across the forehead. Three main groups of paint on the forehead can be distinguished. In the case of the first type of paint, two parallel stripes are visible across the forehead, which, on the basis of archaeological analogies, could have been the representation of a diadem, but K. Birtacha put forward the possibility of a hair-band or body painting too. 36 This variant can also be discerned on the forehead of the large Spedos figure in Budapest. The second group consists of those where there is only one stripe across the forehead, which continues on the back of the head, sometimes with an inner division consisting of short strokes. This paint can be interpreted as the representation of hair or some kind of headgear. 3 The third case is more problematic —an example for this is the Dokathismata figure —where again only one stripe is visible, but this does not continue on the back of the head. 3S Therefore, it can signify a diadem in the same way as hair. Diadems are rare among archaeological finds, 39 and only a few examples are known among the paint motifs of Spedos and Kapsala figures. 40 The ghost paint with a concave outline on the back of the head of the Spedos figure, which reaches down to the nape of the neck can be interpreted as coiffure, and likewise the representation of a headgear. 41 This pattern, as here, often appears together with vertical wavy lines visible on the two sides of the head representing locks of hair. 42 Out of the painted details noticeable on the figures, the most common is the representation of the eye. In each case, they are large, wide-open, broad and almond-shaped. Both figures in
