Project description
Pigments as carriers of cultural information
Ancient artists created impressive paintings and adorned buildings, statues and walls with vibrant colours, using commonly available, rare and valuable pigments. However, little is known about the raw materials and techniques used, as well as the trading practices. Funded by the European Research Council, the HUE project aims to fill this knowledge gap. It will conduct research on the production, organisation and cross-craft interactions involved in creating these artworks. The project will shed light on the cultural and technological developments and connections that arose from the trade of pigments and raw materials in the ancient Mediterranean. This will be achieved through the development of an open-access database and the use of the collected data to evaluate pigments as carriers of cultural information.
Objective
The ancient world was fascinated by color. People processed certain raw materials to use them as pigments. Their material qualities and provenance mattered. Yet little is known about where these materials came from: some might have been broadly available, others rare and traded far. Along the way from resource to artwork much is still unknown.
A plethora of mineral pigments was used in the past; materials were processed ranging from powdered cinnabar to pyrotechnological multi-component materials. They came together to color walls and sculpture alike and now enable the understanding of interaction across production technologies, trade networks and cultural relations in a new way.
So far, identifying the provenance of pigments relies on metal reference. But metals and pigments are not the same. It is thus essential to develop a pigment-specific reference database paired with a proper toolset to push this new avenue in archaeological science to its full potential. Among other pigments, Egyptian blue serves as a cornerstone indicator of cross-craft interaction between metal- and glass work – HUE probes material provenance and production technology by looking at the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Roman period until the 1st century BC-AD, a time of great political reorganization and significant change in the organization of pigment production.
HUE analyzes raw and processed pigments from original artifacts, workshops and trade nodes to bridge the gap from resource, market and workshop to art.
The results are not only relevant for polychromy research, but also for an archaeological evaluation of workshops, discussion of market- and trade network theories and people-environment interaction. The PI has already shown the significance of this approach in pilot studies. Supported by a network of international specialists, new light will shine on ancient pigments to reveal the cultural significance of color in economic and technological developments.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1010 Wien
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.