painted Parthenon

[Mark]

Traces of paint confirmed on Parthenon sculptures

Pristine white marbles were once a riot of colour.

Alison Abbott

Researchers have confirmed that the sculptures on the triangular gables of the
Parthenon temple in Athens were originally brightly painted.

Conservation scientists at the British Museum in London used a non-invasive
technique to reveal invisible traces of an ancient pigment known as Egyptian
blue. The team says that this is the first definitive evidence that the
two-metre-high sculptures were not pristine white, as they appear today, but
were precisely painted — as most sculptures from antiquity once were.

rest at

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/0906....2009.574.html