Customer Reviews

The Color of Life: Polychromy in Sculpture from Antiquity to the Present

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The Color of Life is a good surprise. An enjoyable and educational book that I find quite inspiring. Ancient and contemporary works of art with polychromy. The quality of the photography is excellent. But the most impressive aspect is the selection of unique sculpts.

It's shocking to think that after all these years of lauding sculpture of ages past, for most of us it's news to find that they were once painted. Each page is a thrill of discovery. Large, detailed color photos abound throughout. A series of chapters explores polychromy in different periods, together with photographs. This study of polychromy in sculpture is young--there've been fits and starts--and so there are so many mysteries left, so many questions raised. Will time tell? An absolutely brilliant trove for the imagination. At the end there's a great catalogue of statues/sculpture--not a quick and small dab, mind you, but over 70 pages of exquisite photographs.

What would make this book even better would be if sculpture from more far-flung parts of the world were included, and if the catalogue of photos at the end were in chronological order--they are not, in order to, I don't know, universalize the question of color in sculpture, but...it would be nice to begin to trace the development of this facet of sculpture (insomuch as one can imagine one is doing so). But these are more suggestions for the future editions of this book than real quibbles. This book isn't just a keeper--it's a mind-blower. I absolutely love it and HIGHLY recommend it. The pieces in it are...such masterpieces, and the discussion (and application) of polychromy is Just. Incredible.

It's heart-stopping, the art and beauty in this book. And the questions are stimulating... FIVE STARS. I'm so happy I went for it.