Blame the Italian Renaissance. The rediscovery of Greco-Roman sculpture in the 15th century spawned a long-held misperception that the artists of Antiquity intentionally left their work unpainted. For intellectuals of the Renaissance who pooh-poohed the idea of polychromatic sculpture because of its prevalence during the much-derided Medieval period, the use of bare marble signaled yet another achievement of the Classical era…

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