Terre verte is among the oldest pigments continuously used in Western art. Its specific importance in Byzantine and medieval painting is in the "verdaccio" technique — applying terre verte as a grey-green underpainting for flesh tones. When subsequent layers of pink and beige were applied thinly, the terre verte showing through created the characteristic olive-green shadows of Byzantine figures.

Ancient, muted, and contemplative. Terre verte is the quietest of the earth greens — its low chroma and grey-green quality create a sense of age and calm. Associated with the early Italian frescoes, the particular light of Byzantine gold-ground paintings, and the way flesh looks in shadow under warm artificial light.

The verdaccio technique (terre verte underpainting for flesh) defined the appearance of human figures in Western painting from Byzantine through Renaissance — the olive-green shadows in Raphael's and Michelangelo's figures are its legacy. When this technique fell out of use in the Baroque period, flesh painting became warmer and more direct. The revival of interest in terre verte by 20th century painters seeking more complex, luminous flesh tones reflects ongoing engagement with pre-Baroque techniques.