Passage
What do we mean by ‘colour’? This might seem uncontentious enough. In spite of the old solipsism that I can never know if my experience of ‘red’ is the same as yours, we all agree when the term is appropriate and when it is not. Yet there are hordes of ‘lower-level’ colour terms in most modern languages over which the scope for dispute is limitless: when does puce become russet, burgundy, rust-red? This is partly a matter for perceptual psychology; but the language of colour reveals much about the way we conceptualize the world. Linguistic considerations are often central to an interpretation of the historical use of colour in art.
Pliny claimed that painters in Classical Greece used only four colours: black, white, red and yellow. This noble and restrained palette, he said, is the proper choice for all sober-minded painters. After all, didn’t Apelles, the most famous painter of that golden age, choose to limit himself within this austere range?
We cannot check the accuracy of this claim, for all of Apelles’ works are lost, along with almost every other painting his culture produced. Yet we do know that the ancient Greeks possessed a considerably wider range of pigments than these four. As for the Romans, no fewer than twenty-nine pigments have been identified in the ruins of Pompeii. Might Pliny have exaggerated the paucity of Apelles’ palette? And if so, why? In part, the reason might be metaphysical: four ‘primary’ colours equate neatly with the Aristotelian quartet of elements: earth, air, fire, water. But the breadth of colour use in classical painting may also be obscured by linguistics. In interpreting archaic writings on the use of colour in art, there is, for example, ample scope for confusion between red and green. The medieval term sinople could refer to either red or green until at least the fifteenth century. The Latin word caeruleum carries a similar ambiguity between yellow and blue. There is no Latin word for brown or grey, but this does not imply that the Roman artists did not recognize or use brown earth pigments.
How could red and green ever be conflated? From a modern-day perspective this appears absurd, because we have in our minds Isaac Newton’s rainbow spectrum and its corresponding colour terminology, with its seven bands firmly delineated. The Greeks saw a different spectrum, with white at one end and black at the other – or more properly, light and dark. All the colours lay along the scale between these two extremes, being admixtures of light and dark in different degrees. Yellow was towards the light end (it appears the brightest of colours for physiological reasons). Red and green were both considered median colours, midway between light and dark – and so in some sense equivalent. The reliance of medieval scholars on Classical Greek texts ensured that this colour scale was perpetuated for centuries after the temples of Athens stood in ruins. In the tenth century AD, the monk Heraclius still classified all colours as black, white and ‘intermediate’.
Thus whether or not an artist considers two hues to be different colours or variants of the same colour is largely a linguistic issue. The Celtic word glas refers to the colour of mountain lakes and straddles the range from a brownish-green to blue. The Japanese awo can mean ‘green’, ‘blue’ or ‘dark’, depending on the context; Vietnamese and Korean also decline to distinguish green from blue. Some languages have only three or four colour terms.
Question for 100 RCs for Practice Questions- 65
Try yourself:Which of the following, if true, does NOT explain why Pliny claimed that painters in Classical Greece used only four colours?
Explanation
Option 1 is incorrect. If there were only four words for colour in the ancient Greek language, it would have explained Pliny’s claim that painters in Classical Greece used only four colours. In fact, even if the ancient Greeks actually used more than four colours, they called them by only four names. We can eliminate option 1.
Option 2 is incorrect. The author himself speculates that Pliny’s motivation in claiming that Greek painters used only four colours ‘might be metaphysical’, i.e. his views could have been shaped by his culture’s philosophical inclination towards simplicity. So, option 2 explains why Pliny claimed the use of only four colours in Classical Greece. Eliminate option 2.
Option 3 is incorrect. If it is true that Classical Greeks considered colours such as blue and purple to be shades of black, it would suggest that the ancient Greeks used the same name to refer to multiple colours. This could explain Pliny’s claim that painters used only four colours. Eliminate option 3.
Option 4 is correct because it does not explain Pliny’s claim. Pliny mentioned four colours-- White, Black, Red and Yellow. However, blue cannot be obtained by mixing these. So, there were at least five colours – and four names. Did two colours have the same name? If this option is true, Pliny’s claim becomes confusing. Retain option 4.
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Question for 100 RCs for Practice Questions- 65
Try yourself:Why, according to the author, did people in the classical period refer to red and green using the same term?
Explanation
Option 1 is incorrect. There is no evidence in the passage indicating that the ancient people physically saw colours differently; it only suggests that they thought about them differently. Eliminate option 1.
Option 2 is incorrect. It merely repeats the question rather than answering it. Reject option 2.
Option 4 is incorrect. There is no basis in the passage to conclude about the colour restrictions in art or about the deliberate act of using same terms for both red and green. This option is out of the context of the passage. Eliminate option 4.
Option 3 is correct. Refer to the penultimate paragraph where this supposed paradox is explained. According to the author, the ancient Greeks thought of colour differently—unlike what we modern people do: they categorized colours in terms of brightness, and in their scheme. Red and green were of similar brightness, and therefore considered similar colours. Retain option 3.
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Question for 100 RCs for Practice Questions- 65
Try yourself:Choose a suitable title for this passage.
Explanation
Option 2 is incorrect. Classical Greek art is only an example in the passage, not its overall topic. Eliminate option 2.
Option 3 is incorrect. The passage does not indicate how colour differed between past and present. Also, the title fails to cover a vital point of the passage, i.e. the importance of the names of colours. Eliminate option 3.
Option 4 is incorrect. ‘Psychology’ is the study or science of the mind and behaviour, i.e. the way a person or a group thinks. The passage does not delve into how colour affects the mind or the science behind it. Eliminate option 4.
Option 1 is correct. It is the best title, as the passage focuses on how colours are differentiated (or not differentiated) based on how they were named in the past and how they are named in various languages. Retain option 1.
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Question for 100 RCs for Practice Questions- 65
Try yourself:The author of this passage is most likely to be a/an:
Explanation
Option 1 is incorrect. There is no particular reason as to why the author should be an artist – one does not need to be an artist to write about an art-related subject and there is no intricate knowledge of art reflected in the essay. Eliminate option 1.
Option 3 is incorrect. A historian usually records the major events of a time. He need not go into the specific history of art and colours. Eliminate option 3.
Option 4 is incorrect. The author may have some interest in linguistics, but his preoccupation is not language, but colour. Eliminate option 4.
Option 2 is correct. The author discusses minute aspects of art history knowledgeably – such as the colours used in Classical Greek paintings or the pigments available to the ancient Romans. So, it is likely that the author is an art historian. Retain option 2.
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