Antiquities conservator Marie has been working on this Etruscan cinerary urn in one of the conservation laboratories at the Getty Villa. When it was made over 2,000 years ago, it would have been painted with bright colors. The urn—the box base and the decorated lid—would have held the cremated remains of the deceased. The urn was in the Getty Villa conservation lab for treatment, involving stabilization of the paint, and for technical study, which included scientific analyses. We found minor traces of color and could identify the ancient pigments, including madder lake and Egyptian blue. In places, the red madder and Egyptian blue were mixed to make purple. There were also trace amounts of gold discovered on the box. Fancy! Want to see more conservation work? Tell us in the comments. . . 🏷: #GettyMuseum #Museums #Ancient #Art #ArtConservation #GettyVilla