International Round Table on Polychromy in Ancient Sculpture and Architecture

The International Round Table on Polychromy in Ancient Sculpture and Architecture or the “Polychromy Round Table” is a series of meetings dedicated to the study of the polychromy of ancient sculpture and architecture.

The subject of colour in the ancient world has long fascinated scholars. Within the realm of Classical art, historians stretching back to the late eighteenth century have periodically addressed the topic that sculpture and architectural elements from the Greco-Roman world, and beyond, were originally highly coloured.

Recently, interest in this field has once more been reinvigorated by the advent of new scientific techniques and methodologies, as well as by a community of diverse and interdisciplinary scholars, dedicated to the study of the polychromy of ancient sculpture and architecture.

Since 2009, this growing network of scholars has met on a series of occasions(see Past Meetings), first held annually and, since 2016, biennially.

The meetings have a strong tradition of providing an excellent opportunity for experts from a wide range of fields (archaeologists, architectural historians, scientists, conservators, museum and digital humanities professionals) to discuss new research in a stimulating multidisciplinary setting. Papers from a variety of perspectives are encouraged and cover many aspects of polychromy in ancient sculpture and architecture.

PRT1_Meeting

This website collects the experience of these productive and rich encounters at the Polychromy Round Table, in the form of past programmes, abstracts and published proceedings. It also aims to provide a focal point for this network and research community to share news on its investigations, publications and events.

In the inclusive spirit of the Polychromy Round Table and its network, this site also aims to reach out to other researchers who may be considering the subject of ancient polychromy from the Greco-Roman world or relevant comparative studies from their own interdisciplinary viewpoints, geographical areas and time periods.

For further information or to sign up to the mailing list, please email: polychromyroundtable@gmail.com

Join the Polychromy Round Table LinkedIn Group here

"Chroma. Sculpture in Color from Antiquity to Today"

Edited by Seán Hemingway, Sarah Lepinski and Vinzenz Brinkmann

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

This volume features new research by more than thirty international experts in polychromy, including art historians, conservators, scientists, and photographers. Identified through advanced technologies, scientific analyses, and in-depth research, their discoveries of surviving traces of color span the globe and vary in material, including an Archaic Greek marble sphinx, an ancient Phoenician cloisonné furniture plaque, Mexica (Aztec) lime-stone sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance European marbles and bronzes.

More details (including table of contents) here.

Published - 29/07/2025.

Round Table Discussion - "Colour Matters: Colours and Colourful materials in New Kingdom Egypt" - Online Event

Thursday, 9 October, 2025 - 10:15 - 12:30 (EET)

This round table will discuss the interconnections between colour, culture and crafts in in New Kingdom Egypt (NK: c. 1550–1070 BCE). The round table will discuss the relationships between various aspects of colour in this period and interconnections of these aspects. This includes the scientific study of what these colourful materials are made of, how they are produced, where and by whom. We also ask what coloured substances can tell us about past cognition, behaviour and culture.

Hosted by The Cyprus Institute. More information here.

“METALLON: The Exploitation of Subsurface Resources in Ancient Greece” - ASCSA, Athens, Greece

16th October, 2025.

Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory (ASCSA)
The METALLON workshop aims to present the current state of knowledge on the exploitation of subsurface resources in ancient Greece. Through a variety of approaches and case studies, it seeks to explore the technical, social, and environmental dimensions of these practices. How can we identify and characterize extracted materials – clay, metal, stone – and what can they reveal about the choices made by the societies that utilized them? What extraction methods were employed across different chronological and regional contexts? What can the circulation of these resources tell us about the economic, political, and territorial dynamics of the Aegean world? What impact did these activities have on the environment, and what transformations of the landscape did they generate? Ultimately, temporality is a central thread of this inquiry: how were extractive practices embedded within the longue durée, between continuity, rupture, and adaptation?

In person and hybrid.

More information here.

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