Tag: Roman

Originally posted on Instagram on 8/10/24.

Aristotle discusses color in two main texts, On the Soul and On the Senses. There is a text titled On Colors attributed to him, but it is likely by a follower. On Colors begins with an affirmation of Empedocles’ insight on the connection between the four elements and colors, whereas in On the Soul and On the Senses Aristotle articulates a more dynamic view of color, imho.

For Aristotle color fills and makes visible the transparent. The idea of transparency may seem odd when thinking about color, since we generally equate transparency with lack of color. However, for Aristotle, color by its very nature, color “can produce movement in that which is actually transparent.”

There is some disagreement about how Aristotle understands transparency. He might just mean things like water, air, and solid objects like glass and crystal. But professor of ancient philosophy Katerina Ierodiakonou notes that in On the Senses Aristotle implies that all objects can be understood as transparent and that color fills the transparent in a way that the boundaries or limits of an object can be seen. The color makes the limits of a defined object apparent.

In the case of things that are undefined and more transparent, such as water or air, a person can see brightness and/ or darkness. These qualities, which Aristotle identifies as color, shift depending upon the viewer’s distance from them, their depth, etc. In some sense, more transparent things, which hover between brightness and darkness, help us recognize that all colors are a mixture of light and dark. As Ierodiakonou explains, for Aristotle objects that are more transparency appear white, since they allow in some brightness (fire and air), while objects that are not at all transparent appear black. 

Images: 1) Roman Glass from Pompeii (Naples Arch Museum); 2) Crystals. Cefalu, Sicily. 3) A Roman glass vessel in the shape of a fish that is yellowish in color. British Museum. 4) Brightness and darkness in transparent colored glass. Bodrum, Turkey. 5) White agate intaglio with Athena and Mercury, Istanbul Arch Museum.