Conservators at the British Museum have successfully used Atomic-Force Microscopy (AFM) to identify invisible layers of pigment on 5th-century BCE Greek funerary vessels. These 'white-ground' lekythoi, which often appear monochromatic today, were once painted with vibrant blues, purples, and yellows that have since degraded.
The high-resolution technology allows researchers to map the molecular signatures of mineral pigments trapped within the ceramic's surface. This breakthrough is being hailed as a major shift in digital restoration, allowing museums to create perfectly accurate color reconstructions for the first time without touching the original artifacts.