What this means is that the sculpture and architecture of the ancient world was, in fact, brightly and elaborately painted. The only reason it appears white is that centuries of weathering have worn off most of the paint.

Why do Greek statues have no color?

The idealization of white marble is an aesthetic born of a mistake. Over the millennia, as sculptures and architecture were subjected to the elements, their paint wore off. Buried objects retained more color, but often pigments were hidden beneath accretions of dirt and calcite, and were brushed away in cleanings.

Why did the Greeks paint their sculptures?

The sculptures of the Greek world were in some cases completely, or partially painted. Colors were delimiting the elements of Greek statues painted like the clothes, hair, lips or nipples, as a mere way of enhancing the artistry of the classical forms and achieving a lifelike, polychromed statuary.