Head of Jupiter (inv. no. A091144)

Description: The god's head features thick, curly hair and a thick, curly beard. The nose, mustache, and chin beard have been restored. The deity's mouth is half-open, and his brow is furrowed.

Analytical methods: VIS; MO VIS
Autoptic examination: The colossal head of Jupiter preserves chromatic traces visible to the naked eye: thin yellow lines applied with a brush between the beard and the skin of the face, small red or black dots of a few millimetres on the curls of the hair and beard and finally black lines around the eyes.
Imaging: Observation under a microscope allows us to define the palette and its shades more precisely, also revealing colours that are not perceptible to the naked eye.

Under painting traces: Yellow layer applied directly on marble.
Pigments: Red, yellow, brown, black and light blue.
Binder: no
Shading: Traces of darker pigment to create shadows.
Metallic traces: no
Tools marks: The lines were made using a brush.
Restorations: Nose, moustache, beard and lock on right forehead restored.
Polychromy technique: The skin is rendered with a dark red pigment, and yellow and brown pigments were used to create light and shadow. Brown and dark red were used for the beard and hair, while red, blue, and black were used for the central lock of hair to add volume. Black pigment was observed around the rims of the eyes, and blue pigment was found around the sclera.

Predominant colour: Red, brown and yellow.
Polychromy type: The choice of red for the god's skin had strong symbolic value, and this color made tangible the vital fullness of the divinity with which the triumphalists were associated during the pompa triumphalis.
We can even conclude that the eyes were light blue and that this pigment was not used for shading, because it was not found in grains, but rather the colored areas are flat.