Setting the Standard: Aquarelles by Wilhelm Dörpfeld of Western Greek Architectural Terracottas in Sicily and Southern Italy

AbstractThe Getty Research Institute has in its special collections thirty-two watercolors of decorated terracotta roof elements drawn by Wilhelm Dorpfeld (1853–1940), a German architect, archaeologist, and eventual director of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut in Athens, during a trip to Sicily and southern Italy in the spring of 1881. Besides their beauty as colorful illustrations of artifacts, these drawings set the standard for illustrations of architectural terracottas to this day: drawn at 1:1 scale, each roof element is rendered in frontal view, alongside a cross section showing the full profile and thickness. The red, white, and black colors, where preserved, are rendered in accurate tones, and annotations made in the margins describe the clay and types of inclusions. Labels identify the type of architectural element and the museum or storeroom in which it was studied. Only one of these drawings has been previously published; twelve others served as preliminary documentation (working painting...