Excerpts from

"Gods in Colour" by Betty Savourdou, ERT News

Twenty-one coloured replicas of famous ancient statues and sculpture are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens next to the original ones, which still preserve colour. The exhibition entitled "Gods in Colour" is based on research made by the University of Munich since 1982 on the colouring of ancient sculpture.

"We are offering you an experiment, or better, an approach as to how the ancient Greek colours looked on the marbles," argued the head of the research team of the Munich University. "There are many questions on the colouring of the ancient Greek marble monuments," said director of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens Nikos Kaltsas, further adding, "What was the effect of colouring on them? Is it possible that the ancient Greeks used anti-realistic colours because they [monuments] were seen from afar? What techniques did they employ? Archaeology coupled with other scientific fields and technology may provide us some day with more information on the colouring of ancient marble monuments."