Some Observations
#Hermes #Paris #Greekceramics
Hermes is a bearded adult not the beardless youth of many Hellenistic and Roman works. The painter has used the white slip to emphasize small details that might not stand out on the traditional older black background and has used some kind of yellow ochre as well as a red ochre and black giving him or her a 4 color 5 if you count white palette?
There's a hint of beads or embroidery on Hera's robes and the yellow ochre is used to outline the wings on Hermes' boots and on Hera's crown. Black seems to have been mixed with red to create a dark brown for the edges of robes unless thats fading?
The overall effect is simple elegance with restraint and balance. Some of the rendering seems almost "sketchy" to a modern eye especially if you expect a wider tonal range so bear in mind these images were painted on small objects not massive urns and the Greek painters and potters did not have modern glazes to use. No ceramics supplies stores or factories !
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