Fading painted signs

Ancient

Continuing the occassional exploration of ‘ancient’ signs, I was thrilled to hear of this evidence that Neanderthals were busy painting the walls of caves across Spain. This species, almost dubbed Homo Stupidus (yes, stupid man!), were not previously known for this type of cultural activity, […]

64,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Cave Paintings

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation Signs in Media Signs of Note and tagged Ancient Cave Painting Hyperallergic Neanderthal Pre-History Spain on July 27, 2018 by Sam Roberts

Thanks to Derek for alerting me to this video which explores some of the earliest known forms of graphic communications and symbolism, building on previous posts here on the blog. Here is the TED blurb, and the speaker has a book, The First Signs: Unlocking […]

Early Graphic Communications in Cave Paintings

This entry was posted in Off Piste Related Work and tagged Ancient Cave Painting Genevieve von Petzinger Graphic Communication TED Video on December 6, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Painting on walls in Pompeii & Herculaneum — When I give talks on the history of signs painted on walls I often refer to their ancient history, going back at least as far as Roman times. Evidence for this comes from the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum as seen before on these photos […]

Signs & Frescoes in Pompeii & Herculaneum

This entry was posted in Photo Essays and tagged Ancient Erik Winkler Fresco Ghostsigns Herculaneum Italy Perspex Pompeii Protection Roman Schitterend on February 11, 2015 by Sam Roberts

Here is the latest discovery relating to the ancient history of paint on walls around the world. This time the image above and others depicting human features and animals have been found in Indonesia and dated to 35,000 to 39,000 years old. This is comparable […]

Ancient Indonesian Cave Paintings

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Ancient Handpainted History Indonesia on December 10, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Before and after of angel on a fresco that was restored following vandalism — This before and after of a fresco in Valencia cathedral shows that smutty humour will never grow old – the drawing on the angel’s wing will be familiar to anyone who has ever visited a school toilet. What is interesting about this one is that […]

Vandalised frescoes with a twist in Valencia’s cathedral

This entry was posted in Off Piste and tagged Ancient Cathedral Fresco Humour Restoration Spain Valencia Vandalism on November 21, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Horse heads cave painting from the Chauvet cave Ardèche — I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the origins of painting on walls, and the evolution of the form over time, up to the current vogue for street art. While the walls of caves were not made of brick, they did nonetheless provide people with an early […]

The origins of painting on walls

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Aboriginal Ancient Ardèche Art Australia France Handpainted History Neanderthal Pre-History South Africa Spain Wales on July 11, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Mayan mural from Guatemala — This article discusses the recent discovery of these wall paintings in Guatemala dating from AD814. More images in this guided tour of the site. See also this past post on the walls of Pompeii.

Astronomical charts and calculations on 9th Century Mayan wall paintings

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Off Piste Painted Lettering and tagged Ancient Article Ghostsigns Guatemala History on June 24, 2012 by Sam Roberts

A headline that started “Where there’s a wall” led me to this page (fittingly for today’s date the image is called ‘April’) and subsequently to the wikipedia entry for fresco. This is clearly an area that I will have to do more research into, especially […]

April and the fascinating world of fresco

This entry was posted in Sign Making Signs in Media and tagged Ancient April Fresco History Italy on April 1, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Herculaneum Vinters Ghostsign by Will Collin — Vote Titus (Pompeii) Are these the oldest ghostsigns in the world? Will at Naked came back from a trip to Italy where he visited the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum which were covered in volcanic ash for around 1,700 years following the eruption of mount […]

Ancient Ghostsigns

This entry was posted in Off Piste Painted Lettering Photo Essays and tagged Ancient Herculaneum History Italy Pompeii Related and Random Research Roman on January 21, 2010 by Sam Roberts

I just came across this interesting slideshow which was linked from an excellent set of photos from Montana (currently six pages worth). It is a series of photos depicting the restoration of some Renaissance Graffito on the wall of a Tuscan villa. Graffito is obviously […]

Renaissance Graffito

This entry was posted in Photo Essays Related Work and tagged Ancient Italy Production Related and Random Restoration on January 12, 2008 by Sam Roberts