Dulcia's Roman Closet

SALVETE OMNES! "Dulcia's Roman Closet" is a collection of articles, research, images, and resources gathered and created in an attempt to expand my own knowledge of the ancient Roman world and my own historical accuracy as a Roman persona within the Society for Creative Anachronism. I hope that others who are interested in ancient Rome will also find this collection useful.

This site is now, and will forever be, under construction as I continue to learn about Rome and find new sources and resources. If you discover that something here is wrong, please let me know! If I'm missing some valuable information, let me know what I've missed. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask! If you have comments, I would love to hear them!

Images of Colored Roman Statues and other Artwork

The images used on this site are mine. They consist of: photographs that I have taken of my own work; images I have drawn or created; images provided for my use by the individuals who took them; or are images that I have manipulated to better illustrate the garments, hairstyles, and accessories depicted. The "manipulated" images have been "painted" with various semi-transparent colors to either enhance the existing painted details, or to create different colors where none currently exist.

When enhancing painted art I color match the existing colors as closely as possible in order to make it easier to see the extant details. When enhancing sculptures and friezes, where there is no visible paint to act as a guide, I use the lines in the drapery to guide my interpretation. I color what I believe I am seeing, but this does not mean that I am correct in every instance! There have been many times when I have changed my mind about my interpretation of a piece of art. Sometimes it's because I seeing a detail I didn't notice before. Sometimes I've found a photograph from a new angle, or with better lighting, or better resolution. Sometimes I learn something new about Roman clothing, culture, religion, society, or symbolism that changes my interpretation of what I'm seeing.

The colors I use are not meant to represent period colors or period color combinations. The limitation inherent in using semi-transparent color painting, which is necessary in order to allow the details of the art to show through the color overlay, is that only deep or bright colors show up well over darker grayish or brownish stone, and those colors tend to appear as chalky pastels. I typically choose to use visually distinct colors for the different layers of Roman garments in order to make it easier for everyone to visualize the layers.

Please do not use my colorized versions of these pieces of art as "documentation" for your Roman clothing colors! I plan to create some versions that use more realistic color combinations in the future, but for the moment the goal is to make the layers and garment shapes easily discernible.

I really appreciate all the positive feedback that I have received on my colorized Roman art, but please - don't steal it!

Respect the hundreds of hours I have dedicated to this project over many years. If you would like to get copies of my images to use, please contact me. If you use my images, or information you got from this site, please give me all appropriate credit for my work:

Elizabeth Bair Brooks, known in the Society for Creative Anachronism as Comitessa Marcia Dulcitia/Countess Dulcia MacPherson

© 2020 Elizabeth Bair Brooks, known in the Society for Creative Anachronism as Comitessa Marcia Dulcitia and Countess Dulcia MacPherson, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.