He has a straight nose with a half beard and clear skin. He has a handsome face with accurate characteristics. The portrait was painted on a wooden panel of a young man honoring his life. Their style of painting can be called classical, since they depicted the surrounding environment in accordance with their natural characteristics (Guisepi par. While the Greco-Romans also aspired to keeping the harmony in their artistic works, their approach was different. In addition, the style of painting was linked to mathematical calculation to sustain the balance in the imagery. Usually the Egyptians depicted people in a profile view, so that the nose, chin, and forehead are the most prominent features. Since the Fayum portraits were a result of combining two cultures, it is important to discuss their artistic background. Artistic Conventions of Egyptians and Greco-Romans Furthermore, some portraits were discovered with a string attached to them, which means that they were probably hung in people’s houses. 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.

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.

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. Historical Response Cultural Representation Due to the hot dry Egyptian climate, the paintings are frequently very well well-looked after, often holding their brilliant colors seemingly unfaded by time. About 900 mummy portraits are known at present. They are almost founded in the 19 th century and they were painted between 50BCE and 250 CE. These portraits are the examples of modern portraiture. They are founded before centuries. These mummy portraits have been found in all parts of Egypt, but are mostly concentrated in the Fayum Oasis. Fayum portrait is the modern name for a style of realistic painted portrait which was attached to mummies during the period of roman Egypt.

Fayum mummy portraits