Colour Concept. “Secoli bui” a colori. Codici cromatici e architetture dipinte nell’età tardoantica e medievale

This volume examines the role of colour in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, exploring its use in art and architecture through archaeological, art historical and scientific research. It highlights how colour was produced, perceived and experienced, and its importance in shaping later visual and cultural traditions. Although colour was considered to be essentially for the perception of objects in ancient thought, its importance in archaeological and art-historical studies was underestimated until the 20th century. Recent scientific innovations in cultural heritage diagnostics have enabled a qualitative and quantitative increase in colour studies for the Classical and late medieval periods. Less well explored remains the transitional period of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, crucial for the development of the cultural history of colour in subsequent eras. Divided into two parts, firstly the book aims to explore the chromatic profile of various media in Late Antique visual culture, attempting to grasp the possible development of a distinct chromatic culture. The second part addresses issues related to colour in architecture, considering the evolution of chromatic space and its perception through a series of excavation, restoration, and research projects that reveal and interpret it.