Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
I’ve been recoloring old photographs for a while now (here and here) but recently I decided to try my hand at coloring statues. The original images of the statues were shot at Ballarat Botanical Gardens in Victoria a couple of years ago. All but one are a part of the same series of statues by Charles Summer, purchased with bequest funds from James Russell Thompson in 1888. The odd one out is Hebe, which is part of the Stoddard Collection.
Whilst the statues have retained their original names in the series, I’ve deliberately chosen not to place them in the context of the historical characters the statues represented, but to see them simply as beautiful women and to imagine who they might have originally been based on.
I originally designed the pieces as still images, but I enjoy the irony of turning them into cinemagraphs. The effects I’ve chosen are subtle but I think that suits the images.
More info: janelong.com.au | Facebook | Instagram
You May Also Like:
Hebe
Susannah
Ruth
Rebekah
Modesty
123Kviews
Share on Facebook
What do you think ?
Lyone Fein 7 years ago
This is interesting. There is good evidence that the ancient Greeks actually painted their statues (the ones that are all white marble now), as art historians have detected microscopic paint chips of numerous colors embedded in their surfaces. So this is right in line with "classical" practices.
Full Name 7 years ago
They have figured out with a certain degree if certainty what the Mona Lisa looked like back when it was new. I guarantee you Leo would absolutely cringe if he saw what we worship now. He' be all "No, you guys have no idea. It was so much better before!"
Load More Replies...
Anna Sheridan 7 years ago
Old statues always make me feel better about my body as they are quite curvy really and this highlights that.
Doron Pinkas 7 years ago
I don't think any of the statues is curvy. They're just normal girls, built like me. I don't know, skinny girls get celebrated, and ''curvy'' girls get celebrated- but girls who are neither.... what are we even? I often feel not skinny enough, but not plus size- in this new sorta dead zone in fashion
Load More Replies... 
Shirley Dowling 7 years ago
I absolutely LOVE these images!! Jane has brought these statues to life.. well as close to life as I have ever seen or could imagine, just beautiful to see.
Beks Czar 7 years ago
^^^^^ is a Rebekah, spelled because of her. For those that don't know, Rebekah is how it's spelled in the bible, well one version. Some do spell it Rebecca (and that name was recognized by Swype amid it was capitalized.... my name, doesn't know lol)
Jane Long (Post author) 7 years ago
Four of the original statues were named, assumably by the original sculptor, after bible characters. I kept the original names even though I chose not to portray them as the original characters.
Load More Replies... 
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
He made all of them very, very pale, didn't he? There isn't even a hint of a tan on any of them....
Doron Pinkas 7 years ago
Which is in line with the beauty ideal at the time, also, note the body- not skinny or plus size, a group hardly represented by media anymore
Load More Replies...
Robert Buxwin 7 years ago
Not so much colorizing as painting a picture of the statue with color. To my mind, "colorizing" would be adding color to a picture of the actual statue, even though that would mean the hair wouldn't look entirely natural, etc.
Jane Long (Post author) 7 years ago
Robert they are painted directly over the image of the statue. The hair and some of the lace patterns are the only areas that don't strictly line up with the underlying image. ;)
Load More Replies...
Lyone Fein 7 years ago
This is interesting. There is good evidence that the ancient Greeks actually painted their statues (the ones that are all white marble now), as art historians have detected microscopic paint chips of numerous colors embedded in their surfaces. So this is right in line with "classical" practices.
Full Name 7 years ago
They have figured out with a certain degree if certainty what the Mona Lisa looked like back when it was new. I guarantee you Leo would absolutely cringe if he saw what we worship now. He' be all "No, you guys have no idea. It was so much better before!"
Load More Replies... Anna Sheridan 7 years ago
Old statues always make me feel better about my body as they are quite curvy really and this highlights that.
Doron Pinkas 7 years ago
I don't think any of the statues is curvy. They're just normal girls, built like me. I don't know, skinny girls get celebrated, and ''curvy'' girls get celebrated- but girls who are neither.... what are we even? I often feel not skinny enough, but not plus size- in this new sorta dead zone in fashion
Load More Replies... Shirley Dowling 7 years ago
I absolutely LOVE these images!! Jane has brought these statues to life.. well as close to life as I have ever seen or could imagine, just beautiful to see.
Beks Czar 7 years ago
^^^^^ is a Rebekah, spelled because of her. For those that don't know, Rebekah is how it's spelled in the bible, well one version. Some do spell it Rebecca (and that name was recognized by Swype amid it was capitalized.... my name, doesn't know lol)
Jane Long (Post author) 7 years ago
Four of the original statues were named, assumably by the original sculptor, after bible characters. I kept the original names even though I chose not to portray them as the original characters.
Load More Replies... Aunt Messy 7 years ago
He made all of them very, very pale, didn't he? There isn't even a hint of a tan on any of them....
Doron Pinkas 7 years ago
Which is in line with the beauty ideal at the time, also, note the body- not skinny or plus size, a group hardly represented by media anymore
Load More Replies... Robert Buxwin 7 years ago
Not so much colorizing as painting a picture of the statue with color. To my mind, "colorizing" would be adding color to a picture of the actual statue, even though that would mean the hair wouldn't look entirely natural, etc.
Jane Long (Post author) 7 years ago
Robert they are painted directly over the image of the statue. The hair and some of the lace patterns are the only areas that don't strictly line up with the underlying image. ;)
Load More Replies... 
Related on Bored Panda
334
34