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CLOSEThe Aigai Hunt Frieze Revealed: An Interdisciplinary Investigation and Digital Reconstruction
Hariclia Brecoulaki
Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”
Ephorate of Antiquities of Emathia; XRAYlab, Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (ISPC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Catania
Centro di Eccellenza SMAArt, Università degli studi και το Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta”, CNR, Perugia
Imaging and Sensing for Archaeology Laboratory, Art History and Conservation, Nottingham, U.K.
Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology; Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
National Archeological Museum; University of the Peloponnese, Department of Archaeology
University of Cincinnati, Department of Classics (collaboration within the framework of the publication of the wall paintings from Hall 64 of the Mycenaean palace at Pylos (Pylos Regional Archaeological Project)
University of Missouri, St. Louis (collaboration within the framework of the publication project of the wall paintings from Iklaina, Iklaina Archaeological Project).
The hunting frieze that adorns the façade of the royal Tomb of Philip II at Aigai is the most important and largest surviving painting of the Classical world revealed to date. The interdisciplinary ReVis project constitutes the first comprehensive and scientifically documented study of the Aigai wall painting, applying cutting-edge, non-invasive diagnostic and imaging techniques. The ultimate aim of the study is to deepen our understanding of the technique and iconography of the frieze and to propose a new, full-scale digital restoration, based on archaeometric data and combining artificial intelligence tools with contemporary artistic creation. This innovative study sheds new light on ancient pigments, stylistic features, and the iconography of this emblematic painting from Aigai and, more broadly, on monumental Greek painting of the 4th century BCE.
- Brecoulaki et al., “A pilot technological investigation of the Aigai (Vergina) Hunt Frieze: Retrieving Ancient colours, Rethinking Modern Reconstructions”, στο H. Brecoulaki (ed.), Archaeology of Colour. Technical Studies in Greek and Roman Painting and Polychromy, MELETHMATA 87 (Athens 2023) 95-145.
- Brecoulaki, G. Verri, “ ‘Standing out of the Panel’: Logic and Experience of Light and Shade in Greek Painting”, in A. Santucci (a cura di), Pittura, luce, colore, AIRPA 4 (Roma 2023) 31-50.
- Organisation of an international conference of the IHR/NHRF, 4-5/4/2025 (venue: American School of Classical Studies at Athens) titled “The Aigai Hunt Frieze Revealed: An Interdisciplinary Investigation and Digital Reconstruction”, in the framework of the funded project “ReVis: The Hunt Frieze of Tomb II at Vergina, Greece: A Novel Interdisciplinary Approach for the Scientific Investigation and Revisualization of a Painted Masterpiece of the Classical World”. https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/events/details/the-aigai-hunt-frieze-revealed
- “The Aigai Hunt Frieze Revealed: An Interdisciplinary Investigation and Digital Reconstruction”, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Classics, Classical Archaeology Seminars 20.05.2025.
- “Copper Arsenate Greens in Ancient Art: Advanced Mobile and lab-Based X-RAY Methods for Re-Defining the Palette of Macedonian Funerary Painting” (co-authored), TECHNART 2025, International Conference on Analytical Techniques for Heritage Studies and Conservation, 6-9 May 2025, Perugia, Italy 06.05.2025.
- “The Afterlife of Ancient Polychromy”, Keynote Lecture, 12th International Round Table on Polychromy in Ancient Sculpture and Architecture. Art & Science Unite!, 18-21 November 2024, Getty Villa and Getty Center, Los Angeles, 19.11.2024.
- “The Vergina Hunt Frieze: Investigating and reconstructing its colours and iconography”, Polychromy. Cross views on the use, the extent and the materiality of colours in ancient societies, 06-07 June 2024, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux, 07.06.2024.
- “The MOLAB transnational access for an in-situ investigation of the Hunt Frieze of the Tomb of Philip II at Aigai (Vergina, Greece)” co-authored, X-ray fluorescence imaging (MA-XRF) and reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS), 2024 meeting, 04-07 June 2024, Washington DC, 04.06.2024.
- “Between the Visible and the Non-Visible: A New Approach to the Vergina Hunt Frieze”, Deliberations in Honour of Bert Smith, Ioannou Centre, Faculty of Classics, Oxford, 23.06.2023.
- https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Μια+Ελληνίδα+ειδήμων+της++αρχαίας+ζωγραφικής+μάς+αποκαλύπτει+ένα+πολύχρωμο%2C+συναρπαστικό+κόσμο»%2C+30.07.2023&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
- https://www.lifo.gr/culture/arxaiologia/pos-i-tehnologia-apokathista-simantikotero-ergo-tis-klasikis-zografikis-23
- https://www.kathimerini.gr/culture/563549134/o-agnostos-stefaniforos/
- https://www.tovima.gr/2025/03/29/culture/vergina-pos-apokatastathike-i-toixografia-me-to-kynigi-ston-tafo-tou-filippou-v΄/
- https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/archaeology-around-the-world/article-848097
- https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/vergina-the-hunting-mural-in-philip-iis-tomb-a-groundbreaking-depiction-of-a-masterpiece
- https://www.culture.gov.gr/el/Information/SitePages/view.aspx?nID=5288
A.G. Karydas, K. Tsampa (Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”), G. Verri (The Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Conservation and Science), F. Paolo Romano, C. Caliri (XRAYlab, Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale-ISPC), A. Romani, B. Doherty (Università degli studi και το Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta”, CNR της Perugia), H. Liang (Imaging and Sensing for Archaeology Laboratory, Art History and Conservation, Nottingham, U. K.), M. Kalaitzi (Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation), Ch. Simatos (Visual artist, Athens School of Fine Arts), E. Bitsakis (Painter, Athens School of Fine Arts), E. Tzimas (Art conservator, Athens School of Fine Arts), A. Georgiadou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Emathia), Ch. Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, A. Kyriakou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki).
“ReVis: The Hunt Frieze of Tomb II at Vergina, Greece: A Novel Interdisciplinary Approach for the Scientific Investigation and Revisualization of a Painted Masterpiece of the Classical World”
The ReVis project is funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the Action “2nd Call for HFRI Research Projects to Support Faculty Members and Researchers” (Project No. 4366). Principal Investigator: Dr Haricleia Brekoulaki, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Historical Research. ReVis secured access to the technologically advanced experimental infrastructures of the European consortium IPERION-HS/MOLAB.
User report – E-RIHS: ReVis – The Hunt Frieze of Tomb II at Vergina, Greece
€145,500 Start date: 17/03/2022. End date: 17/05/2025
Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”
Ephorate of Antiquities of Emathia; XRAYlab, Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (ISPC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Catania
Centro di Eccellenza SMAArt, Università degli studi και το Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta”, CNR, Perugia
Imaging and Sensing for Archaeology Laboratory, Art History and Conservation, Nottingham, U.K.
Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology; Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
National Archeological Museum; University of the Peloponnese, Department of Archaeology
University of Cincinnati, Department of Classics (collaboration within the framework of the publication of the wall paintings from Hall 64 of the Mycenaean palace at Pylos (Pylos Regional Archaeological Project)
University of Missouri, St. Louis (collaboration within the framework of the publication project of the wall paintings from Iklaina, Iklaina Archaeological Project).