Discovering Pigment on Roman Sculpture – Dr Louisa Campbell, University of Glasgow

In October 2024 on a tour of the Great North Museum , FORA members were intrigued by projections of colour on the stone work as part of the Roman Britain in Colour display. Andrew Parkin, Keeper of Archaeology and their guide for the day said, “We’re used to the look of sandstone altars and reliefs in museums but we forget that they were originally painted in bright colours. The paint has been lost over the centuries but researchers have found trace amounts of pigment using ultraviolet light and x-rays.”

Paint pigments were made from local, natural materials made earthy colours and rare colours like blue were only used for special artworks. These pigments could have travelled over 1000 miles from other parts of the Roman Empire to reach Britain and were used in small amounts

Dr Louisa Campbell is a Lecturer in Heritage Materials Science at the University of Glasgow with a specialism in material culture. Her primary research interests focus on developing methods to analyse and interpret artefacts using cutting edge scientific techniques. Part of her research has involved investigating evidence of pigments on prehistoric, Roman and Medieval sculpture. Louisa’s talk will focus on discovering pigment on Roman sculpture and will ensure that we look at it in a completely new light.

We very much look forward to welcoming her to Aldborough.

Talks are free to Friends of Roman Aldborough members.

Visitors £7.50