The idea that ancient Greek and Roman sculpture was conceived in white marble has determined our understanding of ancient sculpture and deeply influenced later Western ideals.

Colour was, however, an integrated element of sculpture in the classical world. Jan Stubbe Østergaard of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, surveys present knowledge of ancient sculptural polychromy and discusses its repercussions.

Image above: Detail from Andrea Mantegna, The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome