Those of us who are of a certain age were taught in school that classical Greek and Roman monuments and sculptures were pure white in color. Thus, despite the fact that we now know that they were painted with bright colors, it is difficult for some of us to change our mental picture of these monuments.
According to The New York Times (“Technology Identifies Lost Color at Roman Forum“, by Elisabetta Povoledo, June 25, 2012), it was recently discovered through the use of ultra-violet visual absorption spectrometry that the menorah on the Arch of Titus was originally painted a rich yellow color to simulate gold. Now, color will have to be restored to both our mental picture of the Arch and to its digital representation in “Rome Reborn, a three-dimensional digital model of the ancient city.