Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were originally painted, not pure white.
Sculpture from classical antiquity is often presented in museums, textbooks, and more as a world of white marble. Whether unearthed from the ground or perched upon crumbling temples, these supposedly pale masterpieces also influenced Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo, who — in the throes of a classic art obsession — created sculptures meant to highlight the natural beauty of stone. Other Renaissance masterpieces, such as Raphael’s early 1500s fresco “The School of Athens,” placed colorful figures of antiquity against a backdrop of white marble. But these representations aren’t an accurate portrayal of the past: Ancient Athens and Rome were full of eye-popping color, with statues sporting vibrant togas and subtle skin tones — in fact, no sculpture was considered complete without a dazzling coat of paint.
Over time, these impermanent paints — left unprotected from the elements — wore away, leaving behind unblemished stone and a false legacy of monotone marble. This perception of the “whiteness” of antiquity was cemented in the 18th century, tied to racist ideals that equated the paleness of the body with beauty. When German scholar Johann Winckelmann (sometimes called the “father of art history”) glimpsed flecks of color on artifacts found near the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, he brushed off the work as Etruscan — a civilization he considered beneath the grandeur of ancient Rome. Besides bits of color still clinging to some statues, other evidence of the Mediterranean’s colorful past survives in frescoes from Pompeii (which even depict a Roman in the act of painting a statue); the Greek playwright Euripides also mentions colored statues in his work Helen. In recent decades, the art world has been busy recreating the colorful past of Western civilization as archaeologists use UV light to illuminate certain pigments and art exhibits travel the world to unshroud the colorful palette of these ancient civilizations.
Even 4,500 years after its construction, the Pyramid of Giza never fails to impress. The largest of the pyramids at 455 feet tall, it’s the last-surviving of the Seven Wonders of the World, and every year hosts several million visitors. However, the Pyramid of Giza would likely be a sorry sight to ancient Egyptians who witnessed its beauty back in the 26th century BCE. Today, the pyramid’s earthy color matches the surrounding desert, but archaeologists now believe that the original structure was encased with highly polished white limestone so that the pyramids appeared white and glistening. Some experts believe that the capstones, called pyramidions, were also plated in gold. One leading theory suggests these limestone coverings were repurposed millennia later to build mosques, a process that exposed the pyramids we know and love today.
