Visualizzare il colore sulla longue durée: osservazioni introduttive

This introductory essay advocates a *longue durée* and interdisciplinary approach to the study of polychromy, bridging the conventional divide between Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Despite differences in the preservation of monuments and in the nature of the available sources, both periods share comparable materials, pigments, techniques and interpretative problems. Particular emphasis is placed on Late Antiquity as a crucial transitional phase, during which established artistic traditions and chromatic codes were transformed. The gradual replacement of blue backgrounds by gold in ecclesiastical imagery is discussed as an example of broader changes in the cultural and symbolic functions of colour. The essay also stresses the need to integrate archaeological, art-historical, archaeometric, textual and anthropological evidence, overcoming disciplinary fragmentation and approaches based predominantly on written sources. A further methodological issue concerns the visualisation of hypothetical reconstructions of ancient and medieval polychromy, especially the transparent representation of uncertainty, incomplete evidence, metadata and paradata. Existing principles for digital cultural heritage still lack sufficiently specific standards for colour reconstruction. The study therefore calls for shared methodological guidelines capable of supporting research, conservation and restoration, while also enabling rigorous but accessible museum display, dissemination and public engagement.