polychromy

American  

[pol-ee-kroh-mee] / ˈpɒl iˌkroʊ mi /

noun

1. the art of employing many colors in decoration, as in painting or architecture.

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polychromy British  

/ ˈpɒlɪˌkrəʊmɪ /

noun

1. decoration in many colours, esp in architecture or sculpture

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Other Word Forms

• polychromous adjective

Etymology

Origin of polychromy

First recorded in 1855–60; polychrome + -y ³

Example Sentences

While this new monochrome work — inspired by the expression of yin and yang — is more tranquil than Brown’s usual party of polychromy, his paintings still dance with an appealing musicality.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2023

Awareness of polychromy has been cyclical ever since the Mediterranean empires fell hundreds of years ago.

From New York Times • Aug. 17, 2022

This spirit is in the polychromy of Islamic buildings, in the working of stone to look like tapestry, in the appearance of geometric evocations of infinite harmony in the middle of cacophonous towns.

From The Guardian • Aug. 29, 2020

Mark Abbe, who has become the leading American scholar of ancient Greek and Roman polychromy, believes that, when such a delusion persists, you have to ask yourself, “Cui bono?”—“Who benefits?”

From The New Yorker • Oct. 22, 2018

They imparted to her their love of luxuriant decoration, and of violent polychromy, and they gave religious sculpture and painting the complicated symbolism that pleased their abstruse and subtle minds.

From The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism by Cumont, Franz