The majority of portraits were found in a damaged condition thus, they probably were not only attached to the coffins of the deceased but also they were available for display. Those were first found by an Italian Explorer called Pietro della valle. however, they used Greek style it was totally Egyptian. There paintings were very different from any typical Egyptian style it was known as, Greco-Roman Egypt. Paintings were mostly painted with different techniques some were painted with beeswax and some were painted with different ingredients. Based on this fact, they were either painted when a person was still alive, or they point at the evidence that the life expectancy of that time was quite low (Lahanas par. By comparing two portraits of the same person, John Prag was able to find both differences and similarities in the way various painters approached their jobs (56).įayum portraits predominantly depict young men, young women, and children. In addition, there is a question about whether the physical characteristics depicted in the portraits were important to customers, or painters themselves. 8).īecause the painters of Fayum portraits possessed different sets of skills, the manner in which the portraits were painted varied significantly. Apart from showing the hairstyles and jewellery worn by people in the Roman-Egypt times, Fayum portraits give an idea about the popular fashion of that time, a fashion that was significantly influenced by the Romans, since portraits show no correlation to the style inherent to the Pharaonic times of Egypt (The Met par. The diverse population of Egyptians and Romans offered a stable framework for the development of new phenomena in art.
![fayum mummy portraits fayum mummy portraits](https://media.sciencephoto.com/image/c0199533/800wm/C0199533-Fayum_mummy_portrait,_Roman_Egypt.jpg)
Thus, if the body is gone, the spirit of a person will also be gone. It was believed that after the death the soul of a person would be alive for as long as the body stays preserved. Mummification was used by Egyptians to support their beliefs that the body of a person was the “house for the soul” (Ancient History Encyclopedia par. With the practice constantly changing, more and more people were able to afford it despite the fact that the initial mummifications were only intended for the population with a wealthy status. The Egyptians used the practice of mummification for almost two thousand years, further extending it to the Roman period. They called the process used to preserve their bodies was mummification.
![fayum mummy portraits fayum mummy portraits](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9c/5b/64/9c5b64d953a143528857ef539cb9ca49.jpg)
Mummies were dead body that have been saved after death, because in the old age Egyptians believed in after life after death. Therefore, the Fayum portraits are the real-life representations of a deceased person (Dash par. Typically, a portrait depicts a face and shoulders of a person, painted on a twelve by six inches piece of wood. These paintings can be regarded as the product of a society that combined several cultures, they link together traditional imagery of religious Egyptian and Roman ideas furthermore, their appearance can be connected to the process of Christianization of the Roman Empire since Fayum portraits are very similar to the style of religious paintings inherent to Christianity. View a silent video of Carrie Roberts investigating the Fayum portrait.Learn More Historical Response Cultural Representation Her purple robe contains a surprising mixture of Egyptian blue and rose madder, each of which shows up clearly in ultraviolet and infrared images.
![fayum mummy portraits fayum mummy portraits](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/fayum-mummy-portrait-petrie-museum-of-egyptian-archaeology-ucl.jpg)
The dark blue stone at the center of her pendant contains indigo. Cinnabar/vermilion was used to paint the bright red gems in the woman’s necklace.
#Fayum mummy portraits skin#
Lead white was mixed with carbon black and various iron-based earth pigments (reds, yellows, greens, browns) to achieve the colors used for the skin and the light gray background. Using investigative techniques such as MSI, PLM, FORS, and FTIR analysis, we discovered that beeswax was used as the binder for a variety of pigments. Which pigments did the artist select to create this portrait? Kelsey conservators teamed up with conservation scientist Christina Bisulca and imaging specialist Aaron Steele from the Detroit Institute of Arts to learn more. This beautiful mummy portrait was created during Egypt’s Roman period, a time when artists were using new materials and painting techniques from all over the Roman Empire. This indicates that the two pigments - rose madder and Egyptian blue - were mixed together to create the lighter shade of purple used for highlights in the robe. Ultraviolet light (center) reveals the orange-pink glow of rose madder in the woman’s robe, while visible-induced infrared imaging (VIL) (right) shows the luminescent glow of Egyptian blue in the same areas. Case Study: Mummy Portrait of a Woman The Fayum portrait under visible light (left), showing what can be seen with the naked eye.