The True Colors of Antiquity

The white marble myth is one of art history's biggest errors, and its consequences are still everywhere:

• Statues were painted with mineral pigments like Egyptian blue, red ochre, and gold leaf
• Neoclassical architecture worldwide copies an unpainted style the Greeks never intended
• White supremacist groups have wrongly claimed bare marble as a symbol of racial purity

So when you see a white marble statue, you're looking at a skeleton, not the living body. The skin — the paint — has been gone for two thousand years.