Towards a “Polychrome History” of Greek and Roman Sculpture

Abstract

In the early twenty-first century, the polychromy of ancient sculpture has been presented at many exhibitions and discussed in a large number of specialized publications. Scientific analysis has established beyond doubt that most Greek and Roman sculpture was at least partly painted and at times gilded; to some extent even bronzes were coloured. The results obtained by scientific and archaeological investigation should be further explored in art historical studies on perceptual, aesthetic and semantic aspects of sculptural polychromy. In fact, in light of important recent research, a whole new ‘polychrome history’ of Greek and Roman sculpture is warranted.

Keywords

• polychromy
• Greek sculpture
• Roman sculpture
• history of ancient art