The word “polychromy” comes from the Greek “polukhrōmos,” which pairs “polu” (“many”) and “khroma” (“color”). While many Greco-Roman buildings and sculptures are famously depicted in flawless white marble, the ancient world was much more colorful than these images portray. Ancient artists used polychromy to decorate their creations in vivid hues, but many of these colors either faded due to environmental factors or were scrubbed off over time. In 2022 and 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured an exhibit called “Chroma,” in which painted re-creations of statues were displayed with the blanched originals to approximate what they may have looked like in their polychromic glory.