Color Them Old Fashion-wise, most fossils are color-challenged, having lost their original pigments in favor of the drab minerals that fossilized them.

The original pigments of red and green had mostly flaked away, for the bed was old, a hundred years at least.

This detail of the Jaguar Paws Temple mask shows what remains of the original pigment.

The cast terracotta figure bears traces of its original white pigment.

Black paint had been sloshed over it when the original pigment expired.

But most of the original pigments are there on both screens.

Likewise, the original Egyptian pigments were discarded in favor of Greek lead-based inks.

Another problem occurs when the original pigment came from a material no longer available.

We were very, very careful with the original pigments.

Medieval statues were also usually painted, with some still retaining their original pigments.