Representations: Iconographic and Archaeometric Approaches

This research area focuses on the interdisciplinary study of painting and sculpture in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, combining archaeology, art history, and the natural and physical sciences. By interweaving traditional iconographic and iconological analysis with innovative diagnostic and analytical methods and advanced digital technologies, the projects in this entity approach and highlight the arts of painting and sculpture in their rich polyvalence, as carriers of technical expertise, aesthetic values, and ideological and social norms.

Particular emphasis is placed on the identification and analysis of ancient materials and techniques through non-invasive methods (such as multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, spectroscopy, scanning X-ray fluorescence, and digital microscopy), as well as on the digital restoration of fragmentarily preserved representations using cutting-edge technologies (photogrammetry, digital 3D scanning) and texture infill and synthesis techniques via Artificial Intelligence (AI) software. These advanced technologies enable high-precision digital processing of ancient images and the reconstruction of the original form of the monuments under study, aiming at a more complete revival of the visual experience and image perception—both from the perspective of the ancient and the modern viewer. Moreover, sampling and various methods of material analysis and identification, such as pigment and marble analysis (petrographic and geochemical analysis, isotope analysis), contribute substantially to our understanding of production techniques, workshop origins and mobility, and the commercial circulation of raw materials and crafted objects in antiquity.

The individual projects within this research entity cover a wide chronological and geographical range from the era of the Mycenaean palaces to Roman times, and investigate diverse and significant monuments of ancient sculpture and painting on various types of surfaces (such as wall paintings, wooden panels, marble funerary monuments, marble friezes, etc.). These often involve uniquely preserved or interpretatively challenging cases, forming a polyphonic body of studies that approaches antiquity through the dialectical relationship between representation and material. In doing so, they yield insights into the various “visual strategies” employed by ancient societies and many different aspects of the human condition, from economy and trade to religion, collective and individual identities, memory, hierarchies, and power.