Etruscan statue’s black Coating may Be deliberate
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Conservators in Italy investigated the black coating on a 2,200-year-old Etruscan bronze statue known as the Arringatore, or “Orator” of Pila.
The statue, discovered in 1567, was initially described as green, but later darkened, a change once believed to be natural corrosion. Salvatore Siano of the Institute of Applied Physics “Nello Carrara” and Sonia Mugnaini of the University of Siena removed coatings from the statue and examined the remaining black areas.
The researchers analysed samples using microscopy, X-rays, and Raman spectroscopy. They found layers of tenorite and cuprite, both copper oxides, suggesting the black color came from a heating process. X-rays also showed the statue was made from eight hollow sections and likely once had eyes made of glass paste. The team could not determine exactly how the statue was blackened, but their findings challenge the previous assumption that the color resulted from natural processes.
