We are so used to the white purity of ancient marble sculptures that we imagine the Greeks and Romans felt the same: certainly the artists and patrons of the Renaissance and later centuries believed that white was right. New research using strong raking light sources and beams of ultraviolet light has shown, however, that many Classical statues were gaudily painted in a plethora of colours.   more »

Worth a look if you are teaching Greek architecture.   more »

How bright were the colours used by the ancients?   more »

Mary Beard has been to see the Louvre exhibition and recommends that we do the same, even though the one and only undoubted original isn't there. (Come to think of it,   more »

One of the excellent series on the ancient agora published by the American School of Classical Studies in Athens is now on line as pdf, with all the pictures.   more »

This popular picture is often downloaded. To conserve blog bandwidth it is now lodged on PhotoBucket, but still freely available:   more »

Two sculptors took over two years to carve a 2.2-ton ionic capital for the Propylaea on the Acropolis at Athens. Apparently the Propylaea is being extensively restored, and will be seen in renewed glory next year.   more »

"A recent cleaning operation by laser revealed traces of haematite (red), Egyptian blue and malachite-azurite (green-blue) on the sculptures of the western frieze," senior archaeologist Evi Papakonstantinou-Zioti told AFP. The subject reminds me of my first visit to Greece, when my friend Mark ...   more »

After eight years of renovation, the Getty Museum will reopen its antiquities museum Saturday in a replica Roman villa on the California coastline.   more »

'The Parthenon sculptures which Elgin brought back have been in the British Museum far longer than Greece has existed as a country.'   more »

Thanks to David Meadows and Explorator for pointing out this link to a slide show on the Parthenon marbles.   more »

It is one of the masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture. But could the Laoco� really be a fake by Michelangelo? Jonathan Jones reports.   more »

Today's report from the ARLT Summer School, where the weather is wonderful, the surroundings are inspiring, and the lectures are intriguing.    more »