The Trouble with Authentic Ancient Statues

For hundreds of years, almost all representations of ancient Greek and Roman marble statues have shown them to be clean, white marble. Today it’s clear that many of the statues were originally colorfully painted. But, as sociologist Fiona Rose-Greenland explores, many of us don’t want to see them presented that way.

Rose-Greenland examines the Gods in Color exhibition, which toured Europe and North America from 2003 to 2015. It displayed plaster recreations of ancient Greek and Roman statues...