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Polychrome
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Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. Most often, the term is used in conjunction with certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colours. The word derives from the Greek p??????µ?? (polychromos), "colourful", from p???? (polys), "many, much" + ???µa (chroma), "colour". Its opposite is monochrome.
arly example of polychrome decoration was found in the Parthenon atop the Acropolis of Athens.
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Encyclopedia
Polychrome is one of the terms used to describe the use of multiple colors in one entity. Most often, the term is used in conjunction with certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colours. The word derives from the Greek p??????µ?? (polychromos), "colourful", from p???? (polys), "many, much" + ???µa (chroma), "colour". Its opposite is monochrome.
In architecture
Classical world
An early example of polychrome decoration was found in the Parthenon atop the Acropolis of Athens. By the time European antiquarianism took off in the 18th century, however, the paint that had been on classical buildings had completely weathered off. Thus, the antiquarians' and architects' first impressions of these ruins were that classical beauty was expressed only through shape and composition, lacking in robust colours, and it was that impression which informed neo-classical architecture. However, some classicists such as Jacques Ignace Hittorff noticed traces of paint on classical architecture and this slowly came to be accepted. Such acceptance was later accelerated by observation of minute colour traces by microscopic and other means, enabling less tentative reconstructions than Hittorff and his contemporaries had been able to produce. An example of classical Greek architectural polychrome may be seen in the full size replica of the Parthenon exhibited in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
USA
Polychrome building facades later rose in popularity as a way of highlighting certain trim features in Queen Anne architecture in the United States. The rise of the modern paint industry following the civil war also helped to fuel the (sometimes extravagant) use of multiple colors.
The Polychrome facade style faded with the rise of the 20th century's revival movements, which stressed classical colors applied in restrained fashion. The polychrome movement reappeared in San Francisco, California in the 1970s, to describe and remains popular today on Victorian era houses. During the 1970s, multiple polychrome houses in San Francisco earned the endearment 'Painted Ladies', a term that in modern times is considered kitsch when it is applied to describe all Victorian houses that have been painted with various period colors.
John Joseph Earley (1881-1945) developed a "polychrome" process of concrete slab construction and ornamentation that was admired across America. In the Washington metropolitan area, his products graced a variety of buildings - all formed by the staff of the Earley Studio in Rosslyn, Virginia. The John J. Earley Polychrome Houses in Silver Spring, Maryland, were built in the mid 1930s. The concrete panels were pre-cast with colorful stones and shipped to the lot for on-site assembly. Earley wanted to develop a higher standard of affordable housing after the Depression, but only a handful of the houses were built before he died and written records of his concrete casting techniques were destroyed in a fire. Less well-known, but just as impressive, is the Dr. Fealy Polychrome House that Earley built atop a hill in Southeast Washington, D.C. overlooking the city. His uniquely designed polychrome houses outstanding among prefabricated houses in the country, appreciated for their Art Deco ornament and superb craftsmanship.
Polychrome Brickwork
Polychrome is also used to describe a style of architectural brickwork which emerged in the 1860s which used of bricks of different colours (typically brown, cream and red) in patterned combination to highlight architectural features. It was often used to replicate the effect of quoining and also decorate around windows. Early examples featured banding, with later examples exhibiting complex diagonal, criss-cross and step patterns, in some cases even writing using bricks.
In Australia it was attributed to architect Joseph Reed, although he may have simply popularised it. The earliest modern example is Lisburn House in Dunedin, New Zealand. The style also emerged in England in the 1870s where examples of it can be seen in the work of William Butterfield (who incidentally collaborated with Joseph Reed on St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne). Although there are later examples, including the work of Watson Fothergill in Nottingham, however generally it failed to gain widespread acceptance in the United Kingdom.
Rare examples of its use can be found in Sydney, Brisbane, however it is most prevalent throughout Victoria, Australia and the most elaborate examples can be found in Melbourne from the period of the 1880s and 1890s. It was used extensively as a decorative element in "Melbourne style" terrace houses and workers cottages during the 1880s. Many such terraces were later rendered over to hide the polychrome, but some have later been restored to once again reveal the decorative brickwork. It was also used as a decorative in numerous school and church designs throughout Melbourne.
The art of polychrome brickwork was revived for several mock historical commercial buildings and homes in Australia in the 1990s due to its relative ease of application and faithful reproduction in comparison to other mock historical styles.
Notable examples of its application include:
- Château de Blois, Louis XII wing, France
- Lisburn House Dunedin, New Zealand (1865)
- St Michael's Uniting Church, Melbourne (1866)
- St Pancras railway station (1866)
- Keble College, Oxford (1868)
- Rippon Lea Estate Ripponlea, Victoria (1868)
- Cambridge Terrace Carlton, Victoria (1873)
- Royal Institute for the Blind, St Kilda Road (1876)
- St George's Uniting Church St Kilda East, Victoria (1877)
- Exeter School (1878)
- Boag's Brewery Launceston, Tasmania (1880s)
- Yorkshire Brewery Collingwood, Victoria (1880)
- St Kilda Park Primary School St Kilda, Victoria (1882)
- Holcombe Terrace Carlton, Victoria (1884)
- Rialto Buildings Collins Street, Melbourne (1888)
- Denton Hat Mills Abbotsford, Victoria (1888)
- Old Museum Building, Brisbane (1891)
- Fothergill's Offices, Nottingham (1893)
- Church of England Mission Hall, Melbourne (1894)
- Ascot Vale Presbyterian Church Ascot Vale, Victoria (1897) (destroyed by arson in 2004)
In art
Classical world
Some very early polychrome pottery has been excavated on Minoan Crete such as at the Bronze Age site of Phaistos. In ancient Greece sculptures were painted in strong colours. The paint was frequently limited to parts depicting clothing, hair, and so on, with the skin left in the natural colour of the stone, but it could also cover sculptures in their totality. The painting of Greek sculpture should not merely be seen as an enhancement of their sculpted form, but has the characteristics of a distinct style of art. For example, the pedimental sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina have recently been demonstrated to have been painted with bold and elaborate patterns, depicting, amongst other details, patterned clothing. The polychrome of stone statues was paralleled by the use of different materials to distinguish skin, clothing and other details in chryselephantine sculptures, and by the use of different metals to depict lips, nipples, etc, on high-quality bronzes like the Riace Warriors.
Medieval world
Throughout medieval Europe religious sculptures in wood and other media were often brightly painted or coloured, as were the interiors of church buildings. These were often destroyed or whitewashed during iconoclast phases of the Protestant Reformation or in other unrest such as the French Revolution, though some have survived in museums such as the V&A, Musée de Cluny and Louvre.
Polychromed sculptures were also produced by the Spanish artist Juan Martínez Montańés in the 17th century (Baroque Period).
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