True Treasures

True Colours Of Antiquity

Suzanna Murawski | New Criterion | 9th November 2022

Were ancient Greek and Roman statues generally displayed as bare white marble, or painted in stylised colours? James Fenton has argued for white. Chroma, at the Met, argues for colours, showing copies of the Met's classical statuary tricked out in antique pigments. These novelty versions confuse the modern eye. They appear "brand-new" and therefore "unreal". They are art, but not art history (1,300 words)

China’s Forbidden Treasures

Sun Jiahui | World Of Chinese | 10th November 2022

A brief history of the Forbidden City in Beijing, built in 1406 as an imperial palace. After the last Chinese emperor was deposed in 1911, the palace was turned into a museum, if not without cost. "Many eunuchs panicked, having long smuggled treasures from the palace and sold them to antique dealers. To cover their tracks they set the palace alight, destroying countless relics in the process" (1,300 words)