Parthenon, Athens

Conjectural reconstruction of the colours of the entablature. Semper planned a work entitled "Die Anwendung der Farben in der Architektur und Plastik" (The Use of Colour in Architecture and Sculpture) which was to consist of a collection of chromolithographed plates, issued on subscription, with separate fascicules devoted to a restoration of the Doric order, the Ionic order, the Corinthian order, and examples of polychromy in Etruscan, Roman and Christian works. In 1836 proof prints of a mere six plates were all that were produced. The print catalogued here is one of five presented by Semper to the Royal Institute of British Architects on January 12, 1852, the evening when Thomas Donaldson presented a paper "On polychromatic embellishments in Greek architecture"