Painted Statues

An exhibition at the Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen caught my eye this morning. It's showing 120 original works from Antiquity and painted reconstructions showing how they would have looked when originally finished (CLICK). The myth that all ancient Greco-Roman statues were unadorned white marble has existed for centuries. The reality is that the paint had worn off, but enough traces remain to allow modern scientists to establish the truth. I've combined two photos to show the difference: Caligula (37-41 C.E.) and Caligula painted reconstruction (2011). The infamous Roman emperor looks a nice lad given colour, doesn't he?