Three views of the Arringatore statue after restoration in 2008Siano et al. 2026, Heritage
Posted on 10/20/2026 9:58:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A bronze statue of an Etruscan man wearing a toga found in 1567 may have been deliberately turned black some 2,200 years ago, according to the Greek Reporter. Historical accounts of the discovery indicate that the sculpture was green when it was unearthed. It had been previously thought that the statue, known as the Arringatore ("Orator") of Pila, turned black over time through a natural corrosion process. Conservators, including Salvatore Siano of the Institute of Applied Physics "Nello Carrara" and Sonia Mugnaini of the University of Siena, removed brown coatings on the statue, and found smooth, nearly black areas on the sculpture's face, hair, clothing, and arm. The researchers analyzed 15 samples of these black patches with microscopy, X-rays, and Raman spectroscopy. They identified tenorite, a dark copper oxide, over a red layer of cuprite, another copper oxide, in several of the samples. These layers of patina are thought to have been produced by heating, although the scientists were not able to reconstruct the process. X-rays also revealed that the sculpture was assembled from eight hollow sections. Originally, it likely had glass-paste eyes as well, the researchers concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the journal Heritage. To read about 14 Etruscan bronze sculptures recovered from a sanctuary site in Tuscany, go to "Sacred Spring," one ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2023.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
Three views of the Arringatore statue after restoration in 2008Siano et al. 2026, Heritage
We’ll never hear the end of this now. Just more fuel for all the afrocentric nuts claiming the Etruscans were black.
Racists, making statues in black face.
Hail SunkenCiv: grateful for your SO MANY wonderful posts over time. I’ve never heard of this stunning work.
Also, I enjoy going thru the Thomas Cole paintings in your bio; he was such a talent indeed. Thank you.
Looks like it is hand-gesturing to “stop.”
Must be a statue of limitations.
The discovery came only after they had noodled around with 'Japanese' technology.
This concerns
A bronze statue of an Etruscan man wearing a toga found in 1567...
Apparently thrift shops are nothing new. I didn't know that St. Vincent de Pila had been around for so long.
Perhaps the statue was owned by a rich Ethiopian merchant.
Or not...
Allius Jolsonius
Meaningless. The whole thing MIGHT have been sprayed black.
Sounds like a decorating issue to me.
Isn’t tenorite a by-product of oxidation...?
Per AI, sourced to the MOMA...
“Because of this, tenorite commonly appears as a dull black crust or patina coating other minerals in copper mining districts.”
They had immigration problems even back then..................
Kidding aside, the Etruscan civilization dated to around 600 or 500 BC. Look at the detail of that statue. Its amazingly good. We see art from Northern Europe from a thousand years later that looks much, much worse, almost childish. That culture's ability to create fine art was amazing.
Thanks, SunkenCiv. Always neat to see where old-timers had technology we can’t figure out.
It’s in remarkably good shape, perhaps the coating is one reason.
My pleasure! Seeing his stages of civilization series in person is on my list.
[sighs]
Okay, so, I’m really just corroded with jealousy for not having thought of it first. And I got ‘corroded with jealousy’ from Asimov.
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